Despite a rocky start here at the Hotel Route Inn, Susukino we have had a good stay here. Being in such a rough area, we finally found a solution to store our trikes and Barry found his way back to,the hotel. The Onsen cured all ills we may have been feeling and we feelrefreshed and determined to make it beyond Sapporo city limits today.
But first we get the complimentary breakfast buffet which is always very good at Route Inn Hotels.
The creators of this route have take great care to make it welcoming with rest stops, good signage and clear guidance on how to, co-exist on the route with walkers, joggers, skateboarders, etc.
We stopped for lunch and this woman, Keiko, wanted to chat. She is learning English from a tutor and she speaks very well. Her daughter has been living in Vancouver, Canada and is also learning English. We had a great visit.
A few days ago while riding against a fierce headwind Barry’s Azub flag and flagpole was blown off of his trike. He didn’t notice that it was missing until the end of our ride.
We often talk about our fondness for Michi-no-Eki’s for car routes….this is a trail side Eki for bicycles with bathrooms, cold water, electricity and rental bikes. When we came through before, it was locked up so we didn’t stay. The field behind would make comfortable camping, but we prefer to have a bathroom available nearby.
Unfortunately, the route creators have a few glitches to work out. We arrived at the road and we couldn’t figure out where it continued, so we had to ride on the road. It was great while it lasted.
We have arrived at Maple Camping Ground outside of Chitose. Their sense of humour is immediately evident with this sign.
The campground is on the site of a former golf course and it is very pretty. It is mostly geared to tenters and the services are limited to toilets, a building for cooking and a clubhouse.
As the clubhouse closes at 6:30, we rushed to get a few things charged before they locked up. Hopefully Barry’s bike battery will be good to,go tomorrow.
Lovely soft grass and I think a few foxes in the night who attacked our garbage…soft growls were heard close by. It is always a conundrum how to cope with garbage here as the policy is that you take it away. There are rarely garbage bins. We had put our minimal garbage in a cement burning bin, but it still attracted them. Better there tha. In our tent.