water for sunsets

We finally got a car AND the insurance to drive it, so we have been trying to leave the base every day, if only for a little bit, so we can get to know our way around Misawa. It's been getting dark at 4:30 in the afternoon, so we don't have a lot of daylight once school is over, but we've have fun exploring!

Today, we had three missions. First, find the hundred yen store (which turned out to be awesome!), the McDonald's (which is WAY better than any McDonald's in the states), and the beach.

I was so proud of myself that I successfully navigated us to the store, to the McDonald's, AND to the beach...until we actually got to the beach. After the tsunami, the Japanese began building breaker walls because of the crazy undertows and the damage to the beaches. We could smell the salt air and the fish at the port, but there was no ocean in sight.

We decided to try and drive up the coast to see if we could find beach access. Twenty-eight km later, we still had no luck. We found a few areas that used to be access points, but are now closed to the public. We decided to be intrepid and continue on, and we finally found a wharf. From there, we could see the ocean! My wish to touch the Pacific Ocean from its Asian boundaries will have to wait, but at least I've seen it now!

On the way back to Misawa, we were lucky enough to be able to watch the sun set. We found a few spots that were so breathtaking, we had to pull over and shoot some photos!!

While we didn't get to walk along the beach, our day of exploration ended up being a great time!