On Aug 1, 9:08 pm, mtfes...@netMAPSONscape.net wrote:

> Not a bad trip. As usual, I really miss good, simple Japanese food. Dunno
> why they don't even try to make here in the States. It's not like the
> ingredients are hard to come by. Oh well.
>
I find that I also miss the food, particularly the stuff you can get
in restaurants that you just can't get in the US. A "Japanese"
restaurant in the US typically is a sushi place, especially outside of
the major cities. We have a place or two here in Nashville that
profess to serve other things, but that usually is "tonkatsu" and miso
soup. I also realized just how safety-conscious we are in the US. For
example, we went to this place on Mt. Rokko that was essentially an
open ropes course where people (mainly kids) did 40 or so climbing/
swinging/balancing obstacles. No safety lines, and I felt out of place
when I gave the kids a spot. Then my son fell astradle a balancing
pole and I didn't care after that. But despite that, it was refreshing
in a way to not have to constantly worry so much about always being
safe, or doing something that might wind up in a lawsuit. The final
note I have is that the roads we traveled (mostly around Himeji; we
also drove to Kobe and Matsue) were, for the most part, empty. When we
went to Kobe (and when we went to Itami on our way home) there was
considerable traffic in the other direction, but we cruised at highway
speeds (or greater) the entire time. Not sure if it was just my
perception or if there were, in fact, fewer cars on the roads; maybe
we just got lucky. I like the countless quirky things in Japan that
are worth driving to (more or less), even if they are pricey and
silly.

John W.