{"id":824,"date":"2008-05-26T23:32:41","date_gmt":"2008-05-26T14:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-05-26\/824"},"modified":"2008-05-26T23:32:41","modified_gmt":"2008-05-26T14:32:41","slug":"camping-with-anthony-day-5-sort-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-05-26\/824","title":{"rendered":"Camping with Anthony: Day 5 (Sort of)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

Day 4 of my camping trip\nwith Anthony<\/a> to Kotobikihama beach (northern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan)\nwas a day<\/span> full of sun and sand, marred only by a few<\/span> minutes of wind-driven\nterror (or, at least, wide-eyed surprise, as my tent almost got blown\naway).<\/p>\n\n

The night was pleasantly warm, as opposed to the freeze-your-toes-off\ncold that it had been on previous nights, so that was welcome.\nUnfortunately, along with the warmth came a howling<\/span> wind that buffeted the\ntent in loud gusts that were jarring both mentally and physically. I spent<\/span> from about 1:30am to 3:00am trying to make sure my tent and Arthur's\nsunshade didn't get blown away, but the sunshade eventually succumbed.\nArthur and I just<\/span> balled it up and put it out of the wind.<\/p>\n\n

Anthony slept through it all.<\/p>\n\n

It was mostly calm in the morning, but we heard that it might rain in\nthe evening. A little<\/span> rain can really spoil things, especially making it\nmore difficult to put away the tents (you have to ensure they're\ncompletely<\/i> dry before you store them). Even at 8am, the sky didn't\nlook all that inviting, so we decided to hedge our bets and make a\ncontingency<\/span> plan, with Arthur's wife checking around to the more\nexperienced campers to see what they would do were it to rain.<\/p>\n\n

She came back with great info about an inn that was near, had\navailability, and was reasonably priced. The timing<\/span> was perfect, because\njust as she was telling us, we felt a few<\/span> drops of rain. It was still<\/span> only\n10am, but that decided it, and she made the reservation.<\/p>\n\n

We had four hours before we could check in, but we'd felt only a few<\/span>\ndrops, and it didn't “feel” like it would really rain for quite a while.<\/span>\nSo, we slowly started packing up.<\/p>\n\n

At one point a man came over to present us with a tiny<\/span> octopus he'd just caught....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 35 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nTiny Octopus<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Yesterday, the same man had unexpectedly caught a big<\/span> octopus –\nits head was the size of a volleyball,<\/span> and it took two grown men to carry\n– that he had shared with everyone. It was tasty<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

We continued packing, with a few sprinkles coming and going, but it\neventually really did start to rain, and everything became a complete<\/span> mess. As I mentioned<\/span> earlier in this story, there was a staggering amount of\nyellow pollen<\/a> everywhere, and now with the rain, it became a soppy<\/span>\nmess. It didn't seem to be water soluble, so didn't just run off with the\nwater; you had to actually wipe it off.<\/p>\n\n

Here's a the top of my car, sporting little puddles of pollen-filled water...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nPollen-Dotted Drops<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Toward the end, a storm arrived in full force. The wind became<\/span> so\ncontinuously strong that I could<\/span> actually pack away the three poles on one\nside of Arthur's sunshade, leaving it supported by only the three poles on\nthe other side. The wind did<\/span> the rest and kept the tarp well and completely\nover us the whole time, offering some protection from the rain as we\nfinished packing. The wind was<\/span> that<\/i> strong.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 65 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nArthur Under the Tarp<\/span>\nSupported on one side by three poles, on the other by the wind.\n<\/div>\n\n

By the time we got the last things and ourselves into our cars, it was a\nfull<\/span> downpour, and we were soaked. At least<\/span> we'd made the reservation for\nthe inn.<\/p>\n\n

I had no idea where the inn was, so followed Arthur as his wife\nnavigated. I was quite<\/span> surprised when 30 seconds later – I kid<\/span> you\nnot – we arrived. It was a<\/span> third of a mile<\/span> away, just outside the\nentrance to the beach.<\/p>\n\n

At a time when a dry area under an overpass would have been a welcome<\/span>\nluxury, this place was heaven. The New\nMarutasou<\/a> is a clean,<\/span> neat, ryokan<\/a>-style\ninn with three huge hotspring-fed baths. We took advantage<\/span> of the hot baths\nright away, and Life was Good. Very Good.<\/p>\n\n

After our baths we relaxed for a while,<\/span> and I snapped<\/span> this picture of\nArthur's wife sitting in the window of their room as the wind and rain\nroared outside....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 27 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 640 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nRelaxing<\/span>\n( image processed to create a “Dave Hill Look<\/a>,” sort of )\n<\/div>\n\n

Toward the evening, the rain had stopped and we could see a nice<\/span> sunset\nbrewing, so I went<\/span> out with the camera...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 48 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 640 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nThis Sign Says “Kotobiki Beach”<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nSlipping Softly<\/span>\ninto the dark night\n( uh, or something like that )<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The sunset ended up being fairly lackluster (a photo<\/span> of it appeared on this post<\/a> on the day I returned<\/span>).<\/p>\n\n

The rain had stopped, but the wind was still blasting away powerfully,\nas were the wind-whipped waves. The area where<\/span> we'd played yesterday<\/a> was now\nall different, as both the storm-driven river and waves resculpted the\nsand.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 44 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 640 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nRiver Meeting the Sea<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

When I returned, they were all playing Go Fish...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 22 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>45 sec, f<\/span>\/3.8, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nFamily Fun<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

This inn is apparently known for its meals, but we got the non-meal\nplan, so ended up having what turned out to be wholly uninspiring bentos\nfrom a shop<\/span> in town. But let me<\/span> tell you, a shampoo<\/span> and a hot<\/span> bath makes\neverything okay, and we all slept wonderfully that evening.<\/p>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 4 of my camping trip with Anthony to Kotobikihama beach (northern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan) was a day full of sun and sand, marred only by a few minutes of wind-driven terror (or, at least, wide-eyed surprise, as my tent almost got blown away).<\/p>

The night was pleasantly warm, as opposed to the freeze-your-toes-off cold that it had been on previous nights, so that was welcome. Unfortunately, along with the warmth came a howling wind that buffeted the tent in loud gusts that were jarring both mentally and physically. I spent from about 1:30am to 3:00am trying to make sure [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}