Road to Okuma

First, I want to send my sympathies to the residents of South Georgia! I hear it is extremely cold and I hope you all make it through! Also, I'm really glad we are not there!! So Saturday morning we pack up the car and set out for Okuma, Japan. The first stop was the botanical gardens and Aquarium. We took a stroll through the gardens which was laced with blooming flowers, breathtaking views of the East China Sea, and trees that had what looked like roots attached to the trunk about 2 feet above the ground. Our final destination was the aquarium. The dolphin show was the family favorite. It actually kept Brady's attention for the most part and all he would say was "Wow!". It was interesting to see the underwater exhibits with sharks and all kinds of tropical fish. There were even hot pink fish...who knew?? Once we arrived in Okuma we began to look for our resort. We pulled up to a hotel that had tropical flowers and greenery everywhere, an arbor leading to the door filled with more flowers, gift shops, a spa, tennis courts--yeah, it was the wrong place! Ours was further down the street. Our resort was a military campground with tan concrete buildings! It actually turned out to be great, but it was funny the difference of what I had pictured in my head and what it really was. Our room faced the sea with mountains in the background. I keep saying this place is beautiful, but I'm not sure how else to describe it. It is truly a tropical paradise and what's better is the people here all act as if they are on vacation. There is never a rush, we have never heard a police siren, and kindness just oozes out of everyone here. We had dinner at the very convenient restaurant next to our suite, watched t.v., then went to bed excited about what Sunday would bring!