Uwajima to Nakamura

The rain had finally let up after going for most of the night, and we were anxious to get going. Clothes washed and dried, well rested, we were ready to head out. The hostel owner was up to see us off, even though it was well before 7:00

He loved our bikes and the trailers, and made us pose with them for pictures.

While riding down the mountain, we got to see the vista we missed while struggling UP the mountain yesterday

Next time, I'm sleeping in the bus stop at the bottom

Uwajima castle, viewed from the hostel

After another quick konbini breakfast we were off to get ourselves to Nakamura. The ride was gorgeous. Rather than try and explain, I'll post some pictures, but even they don't do it justice.

A pilgrim rest stop. Pilgrims on the road can stop at buildings like this and spend the night.

Some more great bridges

A restaurant featuring a very local dish, River Shrimp. Back in the Midwest, we call them crawfish and don't mistake them for shrimp.

 After a beautiful ride, we rolled in to Nakamura and headed for the train station, only to find, once again, no information counter. Wait, we ARE in Japan, aren't we? Turns out, the information center is actually its own building a few blocks down (whew!), so we headed there, booked a nice room WITH INTERNET with help from the woman at the counter, grabbed some Sukiya (Japanese fast food) and came back to the room to plan our day tomorrow and for me to catch up on all the blog posting.

Tomorrow, we head for the coast again, this time to stay on the Cape of Ashizuki!

And a few more odd/cute pics for you

Wait, we really ARE in Japan, right?

Our toilet bowl was sanitarized for our protection