Heading to Wakayama

Today’s weather forecast was rain all day. We had to make a decision whether we would stay another night or head to Wakayama and just put up with the inclement weather. Fortunately the rain held off until we got 10 kilometres from Wakayama.

We booked this place before we left Canada. The rating on booking.com was 92. However, we found it a rather frustrating experience. We had a room on the second floor. The staircase was very steep and quite dangerous. The tiny toilet, and I mean TINY, was on the first floor. Barry had difficulty using the toilet and closing the door. It was like flying in economy, and the person in front of you has their seat tilted all the way back. After Barry completed his business, he had to open the door to pull his pants up. Sorry for the oversharing.

For us older folks, who have to get up several times to use the toilet in the night it was rather inconvenient and a bit scary.

While we were riding to Wakayama a man stopped us and gave us this gift of dates. The kindness of strangers always astounds us.

We discovered this wonderful shrine close to where we were staying.

We are not sure what the significance of the horse is.

We love golden retrievers. This dog was very excited or maybe a little stressed because he was going to the dog groomers.

After a long climb we got to the summit of the pass. We are also entering the Wakayama prefecture.

As we were riding by a large mall. The weather turned really nasty. We were really hungry so we decided we would take a break from the rain and have lunch as well. It was a rainy Sunday and the mall was super busy with shoppers. This is a capsule store. You put your money in, and in return you get a plastic capsule filled with a toy, etc. These stores are super popular in Japan.

What an amazing food court. The quality of food available was excellent. We choose to have ramen at this establishment .There was a long line of people waiting to order. There were hundreds of tables to eat at. It was difficult to find a table to eat at.

It was a hive of activity in the ramen restaurant’s kitchen.

The cook responsible for the broth and veg is tasting it to see if it is ready.

Mary Ellen wanted a smaller meal, so I ordered her the kid’s meal. She was very happy with her meal, that included orange juice, one piece of fried chicken, a small bowl of ramen and a box of chocolate filled cookies.

Barry had a jumbo bowl of ramen without the koala bear chocolate filled cookies. Mary Ellen was kind enough to share her cookies.

They were making balloon animals for the kids.

We had a coffee at the James Taylor coffee shop. I wonder if there is a connection to James Taylor the musician.

We shopped for merino tops at our favourite Japanese outdoors store. Barry gave the Mont-bell bear a friendly bear hug.

We are staying at the Daiwa Roynet Hotel in Wakayama. This is the view from our room after the rain stopped. We plan to visit the castle tomorrow.

Today's ride: 39 km (24 miles)
Total: 140 km (87 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	5
Comment on this entry	Comment	1

Steve Miller/GrampiesThanks for oversharing! It gave a good giggle.
Reply to this comment
1 week ago