With my mom's visit coming to an end we decided to make a trip west to find Mt. Fuji. We figured the Peace Park just outside of Gotemba would be the perfect place. It was a little cloudy in Yokosuka, but it didn't seem too terribly bad. So, we jumped in the car and made our way toward the majestic mountain!
We quickly realized that the clouds were getting puffier and thicker the closer we got to the mountain. Oh no! Maybe we wouldn't get a great view of the whole mountain. Hopefully, we'd get a little view of some part. If not, the Peace Park is a nice little place to explore for a couple hours.
We were almost to the Peace Park and getting ready to head into a tunnel, crossing our fingers and hoping the could would clear out on the other side of each tunnel we went through. No such luck.
Oh well, we were on the road approaching the Peace Park, so we would just spend our time exploring the park....oh wait....what's that?? Barriers were blocking the entrance to the park! What do we do? What do we do???? We didn't have a plan B. We put all our chips into this park, which I did look at their website before we left to be sure they were open, and it said nothing about a closing day or time period. :(
We pulled off the road and Kris studied the map for a few minutes. He said, maybe we can head over to this lake and see a bit of Fuji. So, off we go...after a little stop at 7-11 for some lunch goodies.
Just as we came to the T intersection at the lake and made a right turn to drive around the lake, Kris said, "Look at that!" and was looking in his rearview. He pulled over and we all jumped out. The sky cleared enough to show us part of the mountain!!!!
A tiny part, but a part, nonetheless!
We hopped back in the car and continued around the lake. Finally coming to a rest in a parking lot directly across the lake from Mt. Fuji.
What a view!! What a view!!
Mt. Fuji as seen from the far side of Lake Yamanaka (Yamanaka-ko)
This is quite possibly, our new favorite viewing spot for Mt. Fuji!
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| A swan boat |
We also watched a little family of swans swim by us eating all the grass floating in the water.
At the base of Mt. Fuji we could see, and hear, several explosions at the artillery range.
So, this little area we found is actually a part of Nagaike Shinsui Park. There were two pretty large lots with free parking. There is a nice walking track that seems to go almost all the way around the lake. There is also a little gazebo to sit and have lunch or read a book. Across the street from the gazebo are toilets - SCORE!
It was pretty neat to see the clouds on the other side of the lake. I like to think they were patiently waiting for us to enjoy our day before moving in to cover the beautiful Mt. Fuji....or, maybe there's some scientific reason they hovered over there. :)
We pulled out our chairs, lunches, and teas, then sat and enjoyed the marvelous view!
As we were staring at this wonder, a gentleman from Yokohama walked up to Kris and chatted about the weather and where we were all from.
And, then he offered to take a picture of us...yay! Thanks a million!!!
Here's a picture of the gazebo. I could have taken a million pictures!!
My Love!
We were so happy to have moved from beneath the heavy cloud cover and give my mom an amazing view of this hard-to-see beauty!
I'll end with Kris' awesome words....
It doesn't seem like much, but this picture so accurately captures what it means to have family visit. A snap shot of what can happen when we push on and don't accept failure...ever present clouds and a destination closed by towering traffic cones. This...this is what pushing on for plan "Pat" looks like...seek on!
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