waterfalls and giant spiders, then taiko gigs

I went with Ohta-san's wife, sister, and her 6-year old daughter Momo (so cute, not shy at all, and loves English) to the deepest lake in Japan, 十和田湖 Lake Towada, on the border with Akita prefecture to the southwest. We parked the car further down so we could walk along the river flowing from the lake, and hiked about 4km to 雲井滝 Kumoi (Cloud-well) Falls. The river was very beautiful, changing from rapids raging around moss-covered rocks to a more slow, peaceful flow. Every so often we passed a 'famous spot' and, it being Saturday, there were the ubiquitous tour buses that would stop on the side of the road, blocking both people's views and the road itself. Inevitably a a mob of seniors, complete with their usual floral patterns and bucket hats, would disembark, line up around the spot, have their group photo taken, and get back on the bus which would promptly speed off to the next famous spot. Ah, the joys of group tourism.

We reached Kumoi Falls, which looks a bit like Yoho National Park's Takakaw Falls, but is smaller and surrounded by green, rather than rocky, cliffs. It was mercifully free of the mobs.
Yoho's Takakaw ｜Kumoi Falls

We had lunch at the soba-ya place at the lakeside, I had 十和田湖掛蕎麦 Lake Towada special kakesoba (buckwheat noodles in a simple broth with mountain vegetables and きりたんぽ kiritampo - rice ... sausages? Found almost exclusively in 秋田県 Akita-ken, they're like a hot dog, but made all of rice. The ones in the soup were hollow in the middle and cut into 2 inch lengths). We went outside, and there was a kiritampo stand there too, so we bought them on sticks in a soy-based sauce to munch on later. I also bought six in a box as a souvenir so I can make Akita hotpot when I go home!

We got back and I played with all the kids (6 of them combined) ... brought back memories of teaching elementary. Then it was drum time... we loaded all the drums into vehicles, then off we went to a Bank of Aomori customer appreciation festival. They played 5 pieces, and I got to play in the last one as a guest ^o^/ Go me!

After each performance the group has a party, they have dinner together and socialize. And drink of course. The menu was again, horse, which is the specialty of Towada City, but this time it was raw horse liver sashimi and horse meat hotpot. And the picture here --> what happens when you tell a drunk guy to act like a vampire.