Beppu: Monkey Mountain

 I planned a stop at Monkey Mountain, a few miles from our hotel, because I thought the kids would like it and it looked interesting. Once they found out you could not hold or pet the monkeys, Callie lost interest.  I still made her go.  And I definitely thought it was worth the stop, and the $20 to get us all in.

We got there about an hour before it closed, and that was plenty of time.  It was smaller than I expected, but the sheer number of monkeys so close to you was pretty impressive.  And then, when they shook grain out for them, it was like locusts descending!

It was pretty cool and we tried to see how close we could get to take photos before the monkeys became cranky at us.

Check out this big guy!  The monkeys pretty much ignored the people unless they got too close. 

The monkeys were literally everywhere! 

This guy is checking Callie out. 

The little ones were SO cute! 

So tempting to try to pet the cuddly-looking babies. 

Even Dan went in for a photo. 

 Joshua was a little more leery.

 Yep, we were up from the ocean. (Well, and across a 6 lane highway!)   Delaney wanted a picture with this guy.

We tried a fun pose, but I didn't get it centered.

Ah, much better! 

Feeding time!  This does not capture the chaos and insane number of monkeys coming in to gobble it up.

The monkeys do have their own playground! 

Me and the feeding frenzy! 

See, they did have fun! 

Marian was coaxed into posing with these two, who were busy grooming. 

This big guy was awesome, and it was so funny to see Callie sidling up behind him. 

Me and my new friend! 

Heh heh heh... Marian was coming in for a photo and the money snarled at her and scared her. 

 This was the awesome sign they have there; the rules and the natural consequences.

And Rylee insisted on one last picture on the way out.

Tsuwano Taikodaniinari Shrine

Dan likes to take grand trips, and the kids don't really want to go anywhere.  I decided I was going to plan a trip that I wanted to do.  So I did.  I have been wanting to go to this shrine, with 1200 red tori gates for a while.  It is one of the 5 greatest Inari shrines, and was built in 1773. It is the Tsuwano Taikodaniinary Inari Shrine.  That's a mouthful!  It was a 2 hour drive away, so I planned to stop there on our way to an overnight trip to Beppu.  It was so worth it!

We took meandering roads through the mountains to get there.  It was quite the adventure.  Fortunately it as quite scenic, and rural Japan is awesome.

Roads like this were less fun for those with queasy stomachs!  The mountains here are pretty steep, so it was extra fun.

Coming down the opposite mountain, we could see the shrine on the other side.

At the parking lot and I'm so excited at how pretty it is!

The temple was gorgeous.

Rylee wanted to pose with everything.  This is the fox, who is the messenger for the gods of the Inari shrines.

 Delaney and Rylee, at the entry to  the stairs of Torii gates.

So fun!!

I'm loving it!

Joshua was so pleased that he could read a bit of the writing on the wooden plaques on each post.

Pretty awesome, isn't it?!

Oh, it was so worth the visit!

A little mini shrine on the side of the path.

A less-than-enthusiastic Marian.  I think the only thing she said the entire trip was, "Are we going home now?"

I think this is the original Tsuwano Castle.  It was at the bottom of the shrine.

The kids enjoyed the lovely gardens.

Ah, my heart skips a beat.

The bottom of the stairs of the gates.

And then we walked back up the stairs through all 1200 Torii gates!

Rylee, Delaney and me, at the top of the shrine, overlooking the valley.  

And then we drove back out, over that mountain there on the left!

Lunch with the Minions

Wednesday's excursion for Spring Break was a trip to the library and lunch at the amazingly delicious Indian place.  I have been there a few times, but the kids had not.  And none of them like curry, aside from Joshua.  I wanted them to try something new though, so off we went.

I told them they could just get naan if they didn't want to be adventurous.  Rylee did that.  The other 3 girls tried some tandoori chicken. (Marian didn't like it because it was green, Callie only liked drumsticks and wouldn't eat the breast pieces, and Deaney said it looked and smelled funny and didn't want it.)  Fortunately the bread was a hit.  I got my yummy curry fix, Joshua had a great lunch, and all the girls tried naan.  Not a bad result.

Callie and her tasty drumstick.

I told Marian that the cheese and garlic naan was the best.  She was unconvinced. But liked it. 

Joshua ordered this sampler set.  And ate it all. 

Rylee happily ate her cheesy naan.

Kuga Park

 We had an aborted attempt to go to Kuga Park back at New Years.  We finally made it for Spring Break and it was worth the trip!  It was a glorious day Tuesday and the kids had a great time.  I'm sad I did not get a photo, but Joshua and Callie tried out the Hot Vending Machine and bought some Yakisoba from it.  They said it was tasty.   Everyone else was happy to stick with the ice cream vending machine.  Yummy.

Aside from vending machine nirvana, we enjoyed the giant roller-slide,  the little kiddie park, and the sledding hill.  We brought some little plastic sleds which were well used. It was especially nice that we were just about the only ones there,  (We went with 2 other families)  so the kids could run rampant and rudely run up the slide and play on it the wrong way without bothering anyone else.

This is the large roller slide.  Not as big as Hachigamine, but this one is free!

Delaney had a blast.

Marian taking a ride. 

Rylee had to play on the kiddie equipment first, but she did get brave enough to go down the big slide by herself. 

Even Joshua went down and had fun! 

Marian was awesome.  I wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch her surfing attempt, because it was quite brief.

On the sledding hill. 

She did have some great wipeouts, but did not want those documented.