Well today already has to be better, the sun is shining and it’s not blowing like mad! Breakfast in the hotel is yummy. They offer miso soup, soba soup, and pho soup here! You get the broth, and your noodles of choice, then add in the toppings. Mmm- but so far I’m the only one choosing soup for breakfast.
We caught the bus for Happo One. It was an easy ride up and then we found a green cat track that zig zagged our way down the mountain. It was awesome, but Ryder definitely got tired. She wanted to quit at one point. It’s definitely tiring on little legs. But she powered through and made it all the way to the chalet at the bottom. We set her up in a cushy chair and some online reading. While Ty, Lincoln and I made our way back up to the top.
The skiing was good, just a bit slow on the cat tracks. Ty and Lincoln found some off trail powder and a neat section of moguls. We made our way back to Ryder after about an hour and a half. The plan was to take her back up to the top, get some lunch, and then have her do another ride back down.
Well the easy to get to chalet didn’t have any food left. Everything was sold out. So we gave Ryder two options, we could ski a green run all the way back to the bottom or go down one short red run (that’s a blue run in USA), and go to a nearby chalet. She was hungry so she chose the red run. It was definitely steep, and hard for her, but she conquered it like a champ!
While Ryder and I were making her way down the red run, the boys zipped down, and rode the chairlift back up again, to get to the very top, and check out this building that was there for the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics! Ty knows, I love all things Olympics so he made sure to get me a photo.
We found this quiet little pizza joint. The kids prefer a margarita pizza and pull the basil and tomato’s off it. Since pepperoni in Japan is definitely different from the US. Ty and I had some sort of teriyaki beef pizza. Ty loved it, I thought it was pretty good. Just nice to have a break and take the weight off the ski boots.
We got Ryder all the way down the mountain on the green cat track again. Dare I say, she was actually having fun. Dancing a bit, riding up the slopes on the side of the trail. It’s like it’s finally clicking for her! By the time we got down it was with enough time for the kids and I to catch the shuttle bus to the hotel. Ty was going to stay out till the lifts close at 4:30.
The kids and I relaxed in the hotel room, played some cards, and waited for Ty. When he arrived back at 5pm, we were all ready for our nightly Onsen (aka hot baths).
Ty said the skiing wasn’t great after we left. It gets slushy during the day, and by late afternoon cools down and gets icy. Made me extra glad the kids and I left when we did. After a wonderful Onsen, we went to the lounge, snacked, played Five Crowns, and ate our weight in edamame. Pretty great way to end the day.
