So....I've been bad about posting pics to my blog so I'm going back at it. A quick weekend trip to the desert always turns into a photo op. I decided to catch the sunrise for the first time here since I'm now in the bad habit of waking up at 4:30am to workout even without an alarm.
I checked the sunrise time and headed out to Highway 74 from Palm Desert and winds it's way to Idyllwild. It's called the Palms to Pines for just that reason. I ended up going further than I intended and started freaking out a bit since I get scared being on unfamiliar, windy roads, didn't have my glasses on and the switchbacks were narrow. Luckily, there was a big turn off where I took these photos and not much traffic at that time of the day.
Sunrise over the Cochella Valley
Getting my car detailed has brought out the brightest blue out of my car
I love seeing these flowers against the blue skyline
This is how I prefer to take selfies
On the way down, some of the mountain still hadn't had the sun come up yet.
Sunset over the golf course before heading to the pool.
After Osaka Castle, we were quite hungry and after getting off the train, we ate at a small restaurant in the underground shopping mall. Most restaurants have plastic food displays of what they offer and it's pretty accurate in what you get.
Jacqueline wanted the egg and rice and I think she thought the egg would be cooked but when it arrived, it was a raw egg on the side, just like the display.
She looked at us when it arrived and I shrugged my shoulders and said she knew exactly what she was getting. She made the most of it and said it wasn't that bad.
Tony had the soba noodles and Brittany & I had the tempura with udon noodles. You can't beat a meal when it's filling and less than $5 a person.
We went wandering around town just to look around and I loved the mural at one of the stations. It was rather large so it was easier to film it rather than take multiple photos.
We wanted to catch a baseball game in Osaka but they weren't playing the week we were there so I went searching for the next best thing - merchandise. I am a huge Lilo & Stitch fan and know the Stitch is very popular in Japan. So popular that he's up there with Micky, Minnie and Donald Duck in terms of branding.We went to a department store that carried Hanshin Tiger merchandise. They had a whole section devoted to just their merchandise.
After we came back from our morning walk, we checked in on the girls. They had just woken up and we let them get ready while we planned what to do. We decided to check out Osaka Castle which was only a few stations away by train. This was a model of the castle and the moat surrounding it at the station when we arrived.
I wasn't quite sure which direction to go as I didn't have a map but we just followed where people were gathered including school children on field trips. It was a beautiful sunny day but it being mid June, it was hot and humid - close to 90 degrees so just walking was causing us to sweat like crazy.
I don't know what these statutes were for but I liked the backside better than the front.
As we approached the castle, we came across the moat.
Cliff notes version of the post below: the castle has been rebuilt many times and isn't as old as you would think
I knew the castle had been rebuilt/restored many times but it still didn't detract from the beauty of it. We took our time and marveled at how they were able to move and cut the large stones to have them fit so perfectly without anything holding it together.
Don't let the girls' size fool you, the stones were massive!
Even though it looks like the castle was right around the corner it didn't seem like it. We walked up huge stones and then reach another walkway and then walk up some more stone and then another walkway - this was called Marked Stone Square.
We looked back at the moat from our location and it was amazing, beautiful and very peaceful!
I had Tony stand next to the base for a better comparison. He's almost 6 feet and still looks tiny.
We were finally getting closer...
And closer...
And still another set of stairs to climb after we paid our admission (the girls were free!)
The main tower held the museum and most of it was in Japanese but it had air conditioning! There were 8 floors each covering a different part of the history of the castle. The 8th floor had the observation deck with panoramic views of the city.
If you want to see a panoramic video from the top click below. (I apologize for the wind noise- it wasn't that bad but I haven't figured out how to dub music over unpleasant sounds). They had wire surrounding the viewing area making it difficult to get good clear shots.
After we were done we walked around the courtyard but since it was so hot we decided to go back....
;;;but not before I caught a glimpse of this garden a took a few snapshots.
