Takayama #3 April 2010

Since The Takayama Spring Festival is so popular, the only hotel Hallie could find on the internet was an hour away. So, after the parade stopped, we walked back to where we parked the car, and then waiting on traffic to slowly clear, it was LATE when we got there.
They had kept dinner waiting for us! This is the kids meal.
The trout is salted and smoked, but I just couldn't eat it. Sometimes smoked fish and I don't mix. But I ate everything else. The colored mochi balls, the shrimp...
That is tea to my right. They really had everything going, even these little pots on bunsen burners.
The hida beef and the mushrooms were cooking. Nummy on rice.Even the pickles are pretty here! Japanese have a lot of little plates of things.
This was pretty good. A scallop in it's own pickles and sauce.
A little sashimi.
Ian is also eating dinner. We all got a good meal out of it.
There were 4 futons on the tatami mats. Hallie and Stefan, William and me. The 'babies' (Dougie and Ian) were free. But, if you'll notice, Ian had one to himself, Dougie and Hallie shared one, Stefan ended up next to me, and William was the other one who got his own futon. The only thing better than a sleepover is...
...waking up to snow on the ground!
It was April 15th. Tax day back home, and the trees were in bloom. But, at altitude, you get snow.
And breakfast was also included. Instead of a private tatami room, it was in a major area. We enjoyed a big breakfast.
The view from my seat reminded me of a woodblock print I once saw from the area.
By the time we got outside, there wasn't much snow left, it was melting fast. But, it was enough for a good snowball fight amongst the boys while we packed up. When done and checked out, we put the boys in, belted them in, and I put Ian in his baby seat, buckled him and slid the door shut. I climbed in, asked Hallie if she was ready to roll, and she said, "Yes!"

So, we pulled out, and started to go, and the Ryokan guy started yelling and waving at us to stop. So we did. Apparently, a big chunk of snow had slid in when I was closing the side door on Ian, and a large chunk had landed on him. He is rear-facing, and we were unaware. We remedied the situation, said, "Arigato gozaimasu," and THEN headed into town.

Hallie did a great job finding this ryokan and setting it all up.