Old Navy Flip Flops are NOT a Good Choice of Exploring Shoes!

There where two good reason to leave the house today:

1. I've been needing wanting a pair of white walking shoes, I know they wont stay clean but they look good the first time you wear them! I already have a blister from my black wanna be vans so my only shoe choice is my flip flops.
2. Meet up with someone off our base yard sale page for a $5 stroller :)

We have walked the wheels off the umbrella stroller and its not tall enough for Zack or I to push comfortably, so I've been on the hunt for a compact stroller suitable for the streets and trains here as our American Graco travel system wont be leaving base! One night I saw a compact Jeep stroller for $7 and thought it would work good. Today I met with the gal and its perfect! Its just as light as our umbrella stroller, has a basket under his seat so now I don't have to hang bags from the handles, it folds up in half so I can stow it away easy on the trains or in the trunk, its got a sun shade for Sawyer and its tall enough it doesn't hurt my back to push! Best part of it I bought it for $5!

Sawyers New Ride

 

Next stop was the BX because my friend tipped me off that they had some Nike's on clearance. Lucky for me and my small feet I was able to grab a pair for $20 since I fit into kids shoes!

My New Kicks

I have been wanting to do this walking tour of Fussa I found on a website, but everyday it seems to be too hot to go anywhere. When leaving the BX that's when the wild hair got me. It was already 2:30pm and starting to get cloudy with a breeze and since I was right by the Main Gate I should just start walking. Sawyer had a full water bottle and with the breeze I figured we would be fine, so off we went!

With my camera and phone only halfway charged I figured I would walk until one of them started to die or the sky started to look like rain. From our first adventure off base I remembered our friends driving by this little park. Letting my photographic memory take over I maneuvered the stroller through the streets and on the small sidewalks with ease, very proud of my purchase! Walking through the streets was really fun. They have informative maps on major roads and paths when you are closer to the train station and base. I noticed as I got farther from base stuff was not in English as much!

Map near the Train Station

The architecture and way they utilize all spaces amazes me. I had not thought about where they had cemeteries until I ran across one today. It wasn't in the middle of down town but nestled away by one of the creeks. I would have walked right passed it and not noticed had I been on the other side of the road. Of course I couldn't just walk by and not peek around. I plan on doing a little research to see the significance of what gets placed at the burial sites.

Cemetery

 

Once we did a quick walk through of the Cemetery I knew the park was just around the bend that I had remembered. Its a cute little park with a fountain and small play structure which I figured would be perfect for Sawyer. There were many adults at the park sitting there meditating and relaxing as well as children fishing in the small pond. I will be taking Sawyer back there!

Park #1

There was a small picnic area by the pond so I might take a lunch out there one of these days as it starts cooling down! Sawyer set the tone here and instead of wanting to play he starting walking back towards the road so I put him back in the stroller and continued on. My new goal was to find a temple. I knew my phone didn't have enough battery to keep the map up so I started walking towards the river! We eventually came to the river and found another playground! Sawyer was excited to get out and run around. This park had a jungle gym that looked like a rocket ship, a zip line, and teeter totter! Sawyer also found a Whale to rock on :)

The river from park #2

 

Rocking away!

I knew we had to be getting close to the temple, since I kept sneaking a peek at the map on my phone, and since it was already 4 o'clock we continued on. Not long after leaving the park we found this:

 

Not quite sure what it was, but it was very cool to look at. Then the clouds over in the direction of the base starting looking a little too dark for my liking especially since the umbrella was sitting in the apartment! I made our way to the nearest main road and once I saw signs for Fussa Station I knew we weren't lost!

Sawyer and I started a decent pace back and my feet were already screaming at me! I wandered back through main street Fussa and contemplated a Mister Donut treat but decided that a stop at 7-Eleven for a Pacori Sweat was a better decision! With the Main Gate in sight, I decided that since it was only a little after 5 walking to the supply gate and past all the shops you can see from base would be more fun than the same base scenery we see daily.

Not 3 blocks away was yet another playground, which prompted "play, play, play" to be coming from inside the stroller. So being the coolest Mom around, we stopped to play some more!

 

Playing at Park #3

 

One thing is for sure, they have some awesome play equipment around here! After two and a half hours of exploring, and three playgrounds later we made it safely back to base!

According to my phone we are about 1.8km from the park by the river but that is the shortest distance and I know we didn't go that way!!! Boy did I learn a lesson today.... when you buy walking shoes put them on!!! My feet are screaming at me and I have blisters to show that rubber flip flops are not a good choice when adventuring through Japan (no wonder I didn't see anyone else wearing sandals)!!!

I will put more pictures up on my facebook since it takes forever to upload them to my blog!

Until the next adventure!

XOXOXO
Jenn