Launching Over Japan

Senmaya Education Office
Yamagata Trip - Part 2

We wake up at 7:30am, and head for the onsen. There is nothing better in the morning then soaking in an onsen with a group of naked men. Sorry, I don’t have any pictures of this to share with you. After that, we buy our souvenirs and get on the bus. It’s time for more fun. where will we head next? We’re going to the Takara Winery:

Wine for me, wine for you.

Keggerific.

Distilltastic.

Of course we got a step by step lecture about the making of the wine, all in Japanese. I picked up like 50% of the talk, but it was still very interesting. Also, I picked up a bottle of ice wine at their store, nicely placed at the end of the tour. Hmm, I wonder why that is…^_- The winery was too much fun. But there was yet a more powerful experience on the horizon. We were heading up Mount Zao. The most awesome mountain in Yamagata:

A helicopter taking stuff up to the peak.

We were up quite high. OMG!

There is a ski resort on the mountain and we stopped there for lunch. Bento lunches are so awesome. They are also quite healthy too. But the biggest shock was what was at the top of the moutain. The crater left by a volcano that went boom 300 years ago. It’s called okama, and the only way I want you to see this picture is big. so please click on this link:

Greetings from The Senmaya Education Office!

And that was the trip. It took two hours to get back home and I slept quite well that evening. It was my first trip to another precture, and I’d say a damn fine one. Thanks for sharing in this wonderful trip with me.

Back to reality. Oilers kick Avalanche 6-3. Oh yeah!