Sayonara

After breakfast Tuesday I took a last power walk around the beautiful castle park, saying goodbye to the swans, turtles, coy, and lone cormorant who reside in the castle moat. We biked over to visit the community library, and I washed one last time in the public bath in the hotel. We met my new friend Tatsui at a well-known sushi restaurant near the hotel and enjoyed the whole experience, including some (maybe a little too much) sake. By end of day we were packed and ready to go home. Early the next morning S, N, and M drove us to the small Matsuyama airport where our arduous return journey began. More than 24 hours later, after an expected 3-hr layover in the Nagoya airport, crossing back over the international date line during the 12-hr flight, and then an unexpected and unwelcome 4-hr layover in Detroit due to weather back East, I was finally back home with my guys (Ben, Wally the dog, and Wolf the cat), perhaps the most tired I have ever been. Nevertheless, in spite of my initial trepidation, I'm very glad I went. Even though we stayed mostly in off-the-beaten-path Shikoku, I believe we got a lot of the Japanese experience, and it was all good - well, OK, I'm still not a fan of eating octopus, but nevermind, I enjoyed so much else, much more than I expected, including the kindness and hospitality of the Japanese people we met. To see more selected photos from the trip, see: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/107215685196650364546/albums/6032348467511677393 (You may need to copy and paste into your browser.)