The best laid plans….

November 4, 2023

We are staying in the city of Shikokuchuo. This city is famous for being Japan’s largest producer of paper and paper products. In fact because it is too hilly here to produce rice, the focus has been on paper production dating back to 1750, when washi was first produced in this area. An abundance of paper mulberry bush and water helped to launch the paper industry. The book that we bought at the Buddhist temple for the temple stamps and calligraphy is made of the traditional washi paper.

We seem to be on a trend of staying longer than intended for a medical reason. One downside of our “container” room is that the step up to the bathroom is a 12 inch step up. To be fair, a lot of hotels have the same problem as most bathrooms share this modular design. This one however had an added problem, a sharp edged lip. We usually remind each other to be careful, but it just takes once. Mary Ellen was stepping out of the bathroom and caught her foot in a bad way. Suffice to say…we have stayed here for 2 nights to hopefully get ME back into riding shape. Standing on it is quite painful, but she has pretty good movement so we are hoping the ice and heat treatments will help. It was a rough night.

Today has been another complete rest day. Barry disappears periodically to bring back food, but we are certainly getting good value from the room. We just got back from a mini ride to the nearest Convenience Store to get salads to complement our complimentary dinner entree provided by the hotel. The good news is that she can ride with a few modifications. Can’t wait to get on the road.
One compromise we have come up with for our ride tomorrow is that we will not follow the route we had chosen. The Ride With Gps route stays off the main, busy road and begins with a 12 km climb that included 14% grades and a summit of over 800 metres. Instead we will start the ride on national road #192 that summits at 300 meters and has a much more gradual climb.After the climb we will rejoin the RWG route that utilizes more backroads and forest roads.

Staying at a hotel made up of containers has been a new experience for us. The only downside is that space is very small. One night would have been fine.

They also provide two free frozen entrees. The spaghetti with tomato sauce and eggplant was actually pretty tasty.

Watch your step! An accident waiting to happen.

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Jeanna & Kerry SmithSo sorry to hear about your accident, Mary Ellen. Hope it gets better soon!
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6 months ago