Mt. Mitake Misadventure!

So, yesterday we went to this beautiful mountain with Mr. #1 and his wife. (Mr. #1 and his wife attend my English class in Ome.) It was Jude, Sister, Mr. #1, Mr. #1's wife, and I all piled into my small Honda Civic. We were like sardines. I hadn't planned on driving, but I felt more comfortable taking my car since we had a booster seat for Jude. But, unfortunately, my car only had 1/4 tank of gas. And, going up a 15% grade mountain road, sucked gas like a mosquito sucking blood! I was tempted to tell my sister to get her fat ass out of the car and help push, but luckily we found a parking spot in the nick of time. After driving for 45 minutes in traffic and up steep hills, my fuel gage on 'E'.


It was hot, too! It was 94 degrees Fahrenheit with a heat index of 104. It was hot and humid. Sister, Jude and I were sweating like pigs. Sweat was pouring down us like waterfalls. We are fat, inactive Americans, and it showed yesterday! After walking around for about 2 hours in the heat and up stairs, Sister got sick and puked. She said she felt nauseated. Then, all of a sudden she gagged, and that was it. The flood gates were open. She puked up about a gallon of water on some sacred plants near the bottom of the Shrine pictured below. I thought she was having a heat stroke, but she recovered a few minutes later. Thank God! I would hate to have to explain to my parents about how I killed my sister after her 2nd week in Japan. Mr. #1 and his wife felt bad for nearly killing us. We walked slowly, but the heat was just too much for us. We typically stay indoors during the hottest time of the day, and we are not acclimated to the heat, unlike Mr. #1 and his wife. For being 70 ish years old, they left us in the dust!

After the puking incident, Sister was okay. We had lunch and made our way down the mountain. It was quite beautiful, but it was hard to see with sweat pouring down our brow.

Jude made out like a bandit! Mr. #1 and his wife were gracious beyond belief. They bought Jude a metal car from a souvenir shop for about 1,000 yen or 10 bucks. They also paid for everything else: tram ticket to the top of the mountain, lunch, souvenirs, water, and gifts. They were the best hots/tour guides we could have asked for.

I am incredibly thankful for my new Japanese "Grandparents". They have showed us kindness from the bottom of their hearts. They are wonderful people with a great sense of humor and graciousness. I am lucky to have met them and teach them.

After we climbed the mountain, we piled back into my car. We coasted down the mountain in neutral with no air conditioning for fear of running out of gas. Luckily there was a Mobil gas station at the bottom of the mountain, about 5 Km away. I purchased fuel, and then we turned on the AC and drove home. When we got home, we all took a nap to recover.

Just another day in Weenie's World!