Hokkaido Road Trip Pt 4: Lake Toya and the drive home

So, we made it to Lake Toya in time to get dinner and enjoy the sunset. Dinner was a bit rough as Kai threw all of his spaghetti on the floor and we were just being loud and wild after a long day of driving. But the sunset made up fo it and it was lovely.

For breakfast the next morning we feasted on delicious melon and cereal. Then we headed out to check out the ruins left behind by the eruption of Mt Usu. It was a fairly recent eruption, which happened in 2000. So we walked by buildings that had been covered in the mudslide and memorials. Then we hiked up to the newest craters. It was quite sobering to realize how recent this had happened and how it had effected the town.

We then checked out the volcano museum, where we saw videos of Mt Usu erupting. It also had a simulator room, which was actually quite scary. Then we went and checked out the nature side of the museum which had lots of fun plants and animals to check out. We went to a nearby playground for a picnic lunch and ran into a fellow english speaker (he was British). He told us about his glamping place and we decided to rent a kayak from him and go for a boat ride. We took turns. Jake took Louis and Kai while I swam in the lake with the other boys. Then Pace and I went kayaking. Both groups made it all the way out to the island....which was not easy it was a far distance. But it felt great and I got a lot of quality time with Pace.

On our way home we stopped at a small hidden restaurant and it was AMAZING! Best fried chicken I have ever had. The peppers were yummy, and so were all the noodles. We just loved everything she made (it was another restaurant run by one person). Seriously the most yummy Izakaya restaurant ever. The next day was a big travel day without too many stops. We started out playing at the playground and then drove over to catch the ferry back to Honshu. The ferry ride was fun and the skies were much clearer than on our way over. We drove all the way to Akita that night and even saw where the Akita dog originated from.

The next day we drove down the wet coast of Honshu and saw some beautiful coastline. We stopped at Misaki Park and did a little coast walk. Then we checked out Juroku Rokan Iwa, where they had carved Buddha sculptures into the rocks along the coast, which was unique. Finally we drove the scenic coastal road between Gatsugi and Murakami, which I unfortunately didn't get any good pictures of. It had the most beautiful coves with beaches nestled in between really cool rock formations. It would have been so fun to snorkel there, but alas we didn't have our snorkel gear. The beaches were wonderful nonetheless.

Then we booked it home for the last hours of our trip and it was sweet to be home after a long wonderful vacation.