Honshu and Okinawa

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I am back. I spent 10 days in Japan, 5 days for work on the main island of Honshu and 5 days of solo adventure in Okinawa. Travel is so invigorating dispite the uncomfortableness. Jetlag, anxiety, crowds, and other discomforts aside, it is mind-expanding and rewarding. Work went well. I flew a new airline (Skymark) from Tokyo to Naha. I am always wary of strange discount airlines and all the traps they set. However, I had a great expereince with "Sky". I was actually shocked. Super easy checkin at the airport, no extra fees even with extra luggage. The primary mission in Okinawa was to visit the Peace Park and the suicide cliffs of Okinawa. From what I understand, at the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. Besides other types of suicide, they jumped off the cliffs at the Southern end of the main island. If you have seen the original color footage taken at the time, I am sure you ...
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Weeki Wachee Springs

Well, we are back from Florida. We had a good time. We stayed in my brother's antique airstream trailer. You don't have to worry about EMP inside here. (note the secure URL site for the military definition)

My Brother lives on a small farm in Brooksville FL and my Sister lives in Jacksonville. Bonnie's Cousins live in Fort Myers. We visited all of them. It was fun and different. I have to say at some points I went a little mental in the traffic jams.

Brooksville is the home to the world famous Weeki Wachee Mermaids. There are several nature springs in the area. These are multi-million gallon types-of-springs making crystal clear water and a major tourist attraction. We did not go to the tourist attractions. It is nice to have friends and family that are not easily distracted by tourist attractions. However, we did do some paddling about in the areas of the springs. There are canals that have been dug that connect to the natural spring canals. You can tell which are dug since the dug canals have murky water known as "tannin." There are some nice spots to canoe. I got some good practice in the back seat with some good current and very windy stream conditions.


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Honshu and Okinawa

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Image
I am back. I spent 10 days in Japan, 5 days for work on the main island of Honshu and 5 days of solo adventure in Okinawa. Travel is so invigorating dispite the uncomfortableness. Jetlag, anxiety, crowds, and other discomforts aside, it is mind-expanding and rewarding. Work went well. I flew a new airline (Skymark) from Tokyo to Naha. I am always wary of strange discount airlines and all the traps they set. However, I had a great expereince with "Sky". I was actually shocked. Super easy checkin at the airport, no extra fees even with extra luggage. The primary mission in Okinawa was to visit the Peace Park and the suicide cliffs of Okinawa. From what I understand, at the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. Besides other types of suicide, they jumped off the cliffs at the Southern end of the main island. If you have seen the original color footage taken at the time, I am sure you ...
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