Another bicycle ride

I love it when I can just hop on the bicycle and ride to places unknown or somewhat known.  The aspect of just being able to see another part near where I live can be intriguing.  So, what I usually do, is pick a direction and just bicycle.  There is no real rhyme or reason for what roads I choose, except sometimes if there is a good bicycling path or a comfortable space on the road, I'll take that road.  Sometimes the path doesn't feel very safe for bicycling, I will turn on a road and change directions.  Here is the path I ended up taking.  Do notice that occasionally I end up doing a circle which I am just looking around.  :)  

This is the map, time and distance.

It was an enjoyable ride.  The sun was out and the roads weren't too busy.  I ended up on a long bicycle and walking/running path that I had not seen before, or at least remember seeing (km 5 - 13).  It wasn't too busy, but I did notice that it was following the Seibu track for much of the ride on the path.  Here are some of the views. along the way.  

It looks like a mini-road but it's for bicycles and walkers/runners.

Remember stay to the left. :)

It wasn't until I got to the beginning of this bicycle/walking path that I knew its name.  

The Tamako jitensha dō Ave.  

The reason I knew I was heading to the beginning, is that the km markers were going down as I was bicycling.  Here is the beginning of this Ave. 

It is fun to just bicycle along, but at some point I have to look at a map and figure out how to get back home.  I am very grateful for the map on my IPhone.  It's helped me find out where to go many a time.  Today was no different.  

There was one place where I stopped and took a picture.  Doesn't this look like a fun activity?  It's kind of like croquet but  the mallets are shaped like sledgehammers.  They hit the ball on the side, unlike croquet.  The balls look to be the same size as croquet, but I have no idea if they are heavy or light.  Anyway, they were all busy playing away.  

See the flags?

They were aiming for the flags which had a type of space they had to get the ball into.  There were men walking around with clip boards that seemed to be monitoring the game.  It was all interesting to watch.  

It was a good ride for a Sunday.  During part of the ride, in my mind, I was singing a variety of hymns, especially when I was going down that bicycle path.  Parts of it were quite beautiful and so lush!  It was good to see another part of God's creation.  

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

So, it's Sunday, September 15th.  Today has been a rainy day, although the last couple of hours or so the rain has stopped and I've even seen a few rays of sunshine. 

Taken from my patio door, looking up between the houses.

This is the arch in the garden.  Looks beautifully sunshiny.  

During the dry spot, I hopped on my bicycle and picked up some supplies as well as took a bit of a trek down the river to see what it was like.  The waters were certainly higher, browner and the water was flowing faster.

As you can see the plants, it looks like the water may have been higher at some point. 

This is a playground area in front of an apartment building not far from my place.  

This morning when I woke up, this is what I was hearing and seeing.  Sure was coming down pretty fast.  

Tomorrow is supposed to be Back to School Day at CAJ.  School has been cancelled for the pending tropical cyclone 18.  I've heard there is more rain and wind coming tomorrow which may make things rather messy, but I have not experienced power outages here, even the cyclone we went through last year.  

On another note, I have a tune stuck in my head, it's a song written by one of my former students, Kayte.  I have really enjoyed listening to it and I find myself "singing" it in my head as I bicycle around.  Here's the link to the video and you have an opportunity to download the song.  Fifty percent of the amount you pay for the download  two shelter projects, one in New York City and one in Washington, DC.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  Thanks!  

Kayte Grace Music Video "All's Not Spoken"

Please feel free to leave any comments you may have.  

Through the Woods...

Today is the first day of many of the sports competitions CAJ is involved with this fall season.  I volunteered to help with the cross country.  Basically I would hand out sticks with their place number to the runners as they cross the finish line or sometimes I have entered their bib number and other info into an IPad.  Usually the meets are at Tama Hills but today we were at a park.  It wasn't as steep of a route for the cross country articipants.  

We ended up getting a bit confused on our route to the park.  I was riding with Bette and we both were using our maps on our phones and the map she received from the cross country coach.  We ended up going in one big circle, which was kind of humorous.  It was an interesting route that had great bicycle paths and some pretty lush scenery.  It was a nice bicycle ride.  

Dome from the Seibu Lions baseball team

The dam between the two lakes. 

Looks pretty lush

This was a bridge we used but parked our bicycles because the path became very steep.

We did walk our bicycles up and down this path.  

Always find some sort of shrines or temples along the way.

Don't know what they were growing here, but it was all covered with a net.

Even though we took the long way to the meet, it was still nice to see parts I had not seen before.  

First Day of School

Today, August 28th was the first full day of school for the 2013-2014 school year.  It was not really my first day as Middle School Principal.  It all went well, I think. There were a few glitches, but that's something we'll figure out and do better next year.  I'm VERY grateful for the experienced teachers in the Middle School!  We shall go onward and forward!  

Here I'm sitting in my office.  

Bulletin board.  Not much on it yet but I'll work on it.  

Come in and have a seat!

Hana and our walks. :)

This fellow was on my screen.  It's a cicada, which is the animal making that sound on the video in the last post.  

So, it's been a while since my last blog entry.  I'm pretty much into the routine again, although the learning curve is fairly high, I am establishing a routine. 
One routine that I have picked up from last school year is going over to the VanderHaak's to take Hana on a walk.  The first time I saw her after I got back to Japan, she was pretty excited.  I'm not sure if it's excitement to see me, or excitement for the walk that I probably represent.  

Here are a few pictures I took on some of the walks we've taken.  

Some days its really busy down by the river.

One day I saw this man taking a nap on a bench.

Hana loves to go into the water to cool down.  I'll walk in with her sometimes.  

Lots of other folks go into the water too.  

I noticed that the path along the river was quite overgrown in parts.

There were lots of garden plots being worked on.

Some parts of our walk are clear and easy walking.  

Look at how the garden grows!  

Walking Hana is great exercise and she's a great dog to take on a walk.  She's a great companion, even if she likes to stop and sniff.  :)  

Sounds at CAJ

I have been back in Japan for almost a week.  I have been able to pretty much adjust to the correct day and night times.  It took a bit to get used to the heat, which was the hottest in Japan, all summer this past weekend.
I have also been working in my new office, decorating (although not a whole lot to decorate with), re-arranging furniture, writing curriculum, preparing for new teacher orientation and teacher in-service, as well as the beginning of school.
Earlier this week I read a devotional from the Today, dated August 12, 2013 about all of creation praising the Lord!  Today I walked out of CAJ's building to go home when I stopped and listened for a bit.  I took a video so you can see and hear as well.  Sorry if the video goes a little quick, but at least listen.

All that has breath, Praise the Lord!

Vancouver, BC

August 1st, I spent the day in Vancouver, British Columbia.  It was a beautiful day!  My friend, Joyce came to pick me up here in Langley and we toodled off to the West Coast Express Ridge Meadows train station.  Bonus was, we had free parking because the debit/credit part of the ticket machines weren't working!  

West Coast Express

The West Coast Express is a pretty smooth ride into Vancouver to the Waterfront station.  I had never ridden that train and really did enjoy seeing that part of the Fraser Valley.  
Once we hopped off of the train, we stopped for some breakfast and then headed to Canada Place to go see the Fly Over Canada movies.  

Fly Over Canada

The Fly Over Canada movies were very nicely done, showcasing Canada and it's diversity in people and landscape.  It was quite short, only about 30 minutes which includes the two movies and moving from one theater to the other.  After watching the movies,  there was this an exhibit on the War of 1812 that was quite neat to watch.  

West side of Canada Place

We walked around Canada Place looking at the scenery.  Vancouver is in a beautiful setting.  

Part of Stanley Park and North Vancouver

Vancouver

Canada Place is also a port for cruise ships.  There was only one cruise ship docked while we were there.  It was the Silver Shadow.  They were busy cleaning up the ship.  We saw workers mopping floors and cleaning windows.  

Silver Shadow Cruise Ship

Canada Place from the north side.

We also walked on over to the Vancouver Convention Center.  It was built partially due to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  The cauldron that was used in the opening and closing ceremonies is located in the Jack Poole Plaza.  

Rain drop at the Convention Center

Olympic cauldron in Jack Poole Plaza

For Your Information

We also took the Seabus to Lonsdale Quay and had some fish and chips for lunch.  We headed back to the other side and went to Gastown to wander around and check out the shops.

Gassy Jack” Deighton

We walked back to Watertown station and caught the West Coast Express back to Ridge Meadows. 

Lots of trains and containers!

It was a fun, calm day just walking around a small part of Vancouver.  I felt blessed and refreshed by the end of the day.