Day 28: 88 Temples (none) - Ozu

Mike arrived about 7:30 last night and we went to a nearby place for dinner.  This hotel is in the big box store part of town and even though the restaurant was just a few business down the street it was a 5 minute walk.  My dinner had a little beef.  It seems like a long time since I had beef ... the hamburger over two weeks ago?


Breakfast was a strange setup with the tables divided by plexiglass.  It was a little hard to hear.


Mike brought my second pair of shoes and the timing was perfect.  The pair I've been wearing are giving out.  The first sign of that is blisters and I've been using the Compeed pads for a few days now.  Most running type shoes - I am using trail runners - have a limited lifespan in the cushion of 500-800km mostly depending on your weight and if you don't use the shoes every day.  On these I almost worn through the tread which is probably because of all the pavement walking.


We walked out of the suburbs mostly on roads the ran parallel but were forced onto the main road at times. When the road approached a long tunnel it was our time to climb.  The forest was serene with straight tall red pines.  It got steep and somehow we got off the Henro trail and on to some new service roads.  There were many new roads cut through the area.  The GPX route guided us back to the actual trail and we soon reached the top.  The route over the tunnel was the best walking of the day.


After the main descent we joined the main road - Route 56 - had some of the worst walking of the trip along a busy road with a very narrow shoulder.


Just near the bottom we stopped at an old school coffee house called Co-Co.  The chocolate parfait I had was pretty good.  As we left, Lynn and Michelle were coming down the road and we chatted and walked for a bit.


The night's accomodations was not my most luxurious booking.  I had felt a little rushed and just booked something.  It's a bed ... and not much else.


We did end up at a fun yakatori place for dinner.  Lots of meat kabobs and a few beers.




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