Photos from Camping

Last weekend, we had our first adventure outside of the city of Tokyo. With some great friends, also new teachers at St. Mary's, we rented a van and the seven of us drove to the Izu Peninsula to camp on the coast. We left without a particular destination in mind, but knew we'd simply find a place we thought was pretty and set up our tents there.

We ended up finding a campground in a gorgeous inlet with massive cliffs jutting right out of the ocean...but cheated a bit and camped for free. From what we understood, we'd be charged between $20 and $80 a person to camp on their property. So, we walked about 30 meters down the hill, found a flat-ish spot by the beach and set up our tents.

Nobody bothered us, and since camping season was officially over (the Japanese are very particular about when things start and end), we had the beach to ourselves. We set up a bonfire, grilled chicken and fresh oysters, and sang songs with Triston on guitar, Brad on drums, and everyone else on vocals of some sort. We played frisbee, swam in the ocean, and relaxed on the sand. It was exactly what we needed- a true weekend away from the city, in a perfect spot by the sea.

If you're on Facebook, Rachael has an album of photos posted. We'll try to get some others up soon.