After spending the morning in the Peace Park, we took a train to the port for Miyojima. The only way to get there by public transit is to take a ferry. This is nice because you get a good view of the island before you arrive.
Reagan started getting really antsy so Matt and Chelsae let her play in the water for a little bit. They seized the moment and got a family photo out of it.
On our way to Miyojima
One of the quarks of the island is domesticated deer who lounge around everywhere! They aren't afraid of people and try to eat any food/paper/trash they can get. In fact, we weren't on Miyojima for more than 10 minutes when a deer tried to eat paper out of the Haines' stroller!
Katie excited about the cute deer. This was before the Haines stroller incident.
The main reason we came to the island was the water temple. When the tide is high, the temple is surrounded by water and held up by stilts. While we were there the tide was low so we were able to walk around right next to the gigantic temple gate.
Full view of temple gate
An added bonus was the dancing performance at the temple. I was able to get in and snap a couple photos.
Reagan started getting really antsy so Matt and Chelsae let her play in the water for a little bit. They seized the moment and got a family photo out of it.
The Haines family
Everyone at the temple.
After grabbing some quick lunch we realized we were going to cut it really close to catching our Shinkansen back to Tokyo. One of the downsides of public transportation is that you are at the mercy of the schedule. We had to take the ferry and a train back to Hiroshima station. By the time we got to the station we had about 2 minutes before the Shinkansen was to leave. Justin was lucky because he was taking a different train that left about 10 minutes after ours. Katie and Chelsae kept saying "We aren't gonna make it." Where Matt and I stayed optimistic and stated that we would make it.
As soon as the doors opened at Hiroshima station I sprinted out and up some stairs, across the station, and through the ticket gates which closed on me. After showing the guard my ticket he let me go. I ran up the first set of stairs that pointed to "Shinkansen." Unfortunately, it was the wrong platform so I had to run down the stairs, across the terminal and back up the stairs. I went into the first door I saw. WHEW, I made it.
The euphoria of my success was short lived. I immediately turned around to see how far back Katie was, but she was nowhere in sight. I held my head out of the door debating whether I should get off or stay on the train. At that point I saw Matt board the train with Reagan in the stroller. I figured, "If Matt made it on with the stroller, surely the girls got on before him." So I stayed on the train and the doors shut for the 4 hour ride back to Tokyo.
As I walked in the direction of the car I saw Matt get on, I prayed that the girls were with him. We met in the middle of one of the cars...no girls in sight. Almost simultaneously we asked each other "Where are the girls? I thought they were with you!" CRAP! An image of Katie standing on the platform and shaking her fist at the departing train instantly flashed in my head. Well....we didn't have cell phones or any other means of contact for 4 hours. All we could do was hope that the girls were able to go down and exchange their ticket for the next available Shinkansen. Below is a photo I took on the empty seat that Katie should have been on.
Lucky for us, the girls were able to hop on the next Shinkansen which arrived in Tokyo only 15 minutes after our train. Somehow, the girls got lost on their way to the Shinkansen (which is easy to do). Luckily, Justin saw Matt get on and talked to a man that said "A guy with a beard was hanging his head out of the door, but stayed on the train." So they knew Matt and I had made it.
What's interesting is that the guys that stayed positive and said "Yes, we will make the train!" made the train. Those who said they wouldn't make the train, didn't make it. Hmmmmm........food for thought.
All things considered, it worked out great. The girls were able to relax and have some girl time. We met Justin in Tokyo and made our way back to Tsukuba after some dinner. I'm glad we took a lot of pictures because the whole trip was an absolute blur. If you want, you can see more pictures by clicking here.
-Seth
As soon as the doors opened at Hiroshima station I sprinted out and up some stairs, across the station, and through the ticket gates which closed on me. After showing the guard my ticket he let me go. I ran up the first set of stairs that pointed to "Shinkansen." Unfortunately, it was the wrong platform so I had to run down the stairs, across the terminal and back up the stairs. I went into the first door I saw. WHEW, I made it.
The euphoria of my success was short lived. I immediately turned around to see how far back Katie was, but she was nowhere in sight. I held my head out of the door debating whether I should get off or stay on the train. At that point I saw Matt board the train with Reagan in the stroller. I figured, "If Matt made it on with the stroller, surely the girls got on before him." So I stayed on the train and the doors shut for the 4 hour ride back to Tokyo.
As I walked in the direction of the car I saw Matt get on, I prayed that the girls were with him. We met in the middle of one of the cars...no girls in sight. Almost simultaneously we asked each other "Where are the girls? I thought they were with you!" CRAP! An image of Katie standing on the platform and shaking her fist at the departing train instantly flashed in my head. Well....we didn't have cell phones or any other means of contact for 4 hours. All we could do was hope that the girls were able to go down and exchange their ticket for the next available Shinkansen. Below is a photo I took on the empty seat that Katie should have been on.
Reserved for Katie
Lucky for us, the girls were able to hop on the next Shinkansen which arrived in Tokyo only 15 minutes after our train. Somehow, the girls got lost on their way to the Shinkansen (which is easy to do). Luckily, Justin saw Matt get on and talked to a man that said "A guy with a beard was hanging his head out of the door, but stayed on the train." So they knew Matt and I had made it.
What's interesting is that the guys that stayed positive and said "Yes, we will make the train!" made the train. Those who said they wouldn't make the train, didn't make it. Hmmmmm........food for thought.
All things considered, it worked out great. The girls were able to relax and have some girl time. We met Justin in Tokyo and made our way back to Tsukuba after some dinner. I'm glad we took a lot of pictures because the whole trip was an absolute blur. If you want, you can see more pictures by clicking here.
-Seth
