October 1, 2025
Day 29 — Yokote to Kitakami
Marilee here.
We knew we had a rainy day ahead. There were already a few drops falling when we woke up, so we hustled to get the tent down and our gear packed up before it got too wet. Luckily there were some unoccupied cabins at the campground, so we took over the porch of one cabin, turning it into our breakfast nook/gear packing station. We joked that when the campground manager arrived for the morning and found us lounging around on a porch we hadn’t paid for, he’d have conniptions. Too bad, we left before he turned up, so we’ll never know what his reaction might have been.
Our first stop of the day was the Yokote Castle, just a km or two up the road from our campground. And when I say up the road, I mean the road really went UP. One of us was pushing their bike for the last hundred meters or so, I’m sure you can’t guess who :)
The castle wasn’t open yet, so we sat on the porch of a little cafe across the parking lot from it (more unauthorized porch-occupancy!), out of the rain, and waited. At two minutes to nine a car pulled into the parking lot and a woman jumped out and ran up the stairs to the castle. We gave her a few minutes to get the doors unlocked and then followed her up. For $1 each we got the castle all to ourselves, the first (maybe the only?) visitors on a rainy fall weekday.
The building was actually a modern reproduction, the original castle having been burnt down in a previous conflict. But it had some interesting artifacts inside, as well as, surprisingly, an exhibit of pictures of firefighters by primary school kids. Based on the evidence in the pictures, many young children think that firefighters are a kind of red bug, with big smiles. Or maybe those were the fire engines, it was hard to tell. In any case, it was charming.
Tourism accomplished, we got back on the bikes and pedaled off into the rain. But before long it was raining hard enough that we decided we really needed another break, so we stopped at a convenience store (a “conbini”) and got drinks and snacks. I had a roasted sweet potato— delicious! Then it was back to the road.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Much of the day was on the highway, going uphill, in the rain. So, not our most favorite ride of the trip, in other words. In the afternoon we went through some spectacular scenery, deep river valleys with steep thickly wooded sides. The road was a string of tunnels and bridges looping through this challenging terrain. And luckily for us, there were major construction projects going on. It was lucky because it meant that flaggers were stopping traffic, so we generally got to bike through the tunnels without cars and trucks passing us.
It started raining again as we got into the town of Kitakami, our destination for the day, which meant that we rolled up to our hotel looking and feeling a bit like drowned rats. This may have worked in our favor: the desk clerk let us check in early — perhaps fearing that otherwise we’d just stand around puddling up the nice lobby.
Showers and dry clothes worked their usual miracles, and we headed out to have a look at the town and get some dinner. Our hotel, we discovered, was on the wrong side of the tracks — literally. The train station seemed to cut the town in two, and our hotel was on the opposite side from all the shops and restaurants. We rambled around trying to find a way to get across the train tracks, until finally a helpful tourist info clerk let us in on the secret — an underground tunnel. Phew! For a while it was looking like we’d be buying dinner from a vending machine. But as it turned out we found a great, friendly little yakisoba place.
And the forecast for the next morning? Sunshine!
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 71 km (44 miles)
Total: 1,471 km (913 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 3 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |