Yay! We’ve finally started on our road-trip! …even if it was a little belated. Original ‘plans’ were to head to the far north of Hokkaido today (Wakkanai), and then consider heading to the islands (Rebun/Rishiri) tomorrow. First set-back, we didn’t actually leave Sapporo until noon. While still quite possible to drive all the way in an afternoon, we didn’t really have a need to push ourselves on the first day, so we didn’t and stopped for the night at the michi-no-eki in Tomamae.
The second ‘set-back’ was a visit to Asahikawa to see a friend and her newly born daughter, Rinka! Rinka was only born last Saturday, and is absolutely tiny/gorgeous. Certainly worth deviating from our intended path for.
We had a lazy dinner in Shibetsu, I couldn’t be bothered to search for dinner, so grabbed a quick meal from a supermarket… Must make a habit of not doing it too often, as it wasn’t super enjoyable… or healthy. The sun began to set as we finished dinner, and the drive across the mountains towards the east coast was amazing. The vivid and rich hues were just a pleasure to view and enjoy. I didn’t bother trying to take photos of it, as I knew I couldn’t recreate it. Sometimes its nice to just enjoy it for what it is, even though the urge is there to capture it to share.
Only a few weeks ago a friend lived here in Tomamae, but he’s since moved on to the greener pastures of life after JET (and therefore no longer lives here). It would have been nice to be shown the local scenes, by a … local.
It’s the first night sleeping in the van, and will take a few nights to get a routine in place, but so far there are no serious problems. Getting the bike in/out is quick/simple. Folding out the bed/futons are also quick/simple. It’s just finding a spot for all our baggage that will take refining. It’s a little hot, but not intolerable.
1日目：札幌—苫前 ２８４km
いえーい！ 今日ついに札幌を出発。本当は、朝一番に出発したかったけど、何だかんだで色々準備に時間がかかってしまって出発は、昼の１２時、、、
行き先も前日にとりあえず北を目指そう！ってことで今日の目標は、稚内。ルートを考えているうちに、ちょうど４日前に女の子を出産した明香のいる旭川を経由することに。 高速無料様様。岩見沢までは、１０００円その先は、タダ！ 本州では、田舎道を堪能したいので、高速はなるべく使わない予定だけど、ありがたいねー！
さくっと高速に乗り（もちろんロス君の運転で）念願のママ４日目の明香とこの世に出てまだ４日目のりんかちゃんＡＫＡあいさちゃんＡＫＡたまちゃんとご対面！！（まだ名前が確定してないらしい） 二人とも元気そうでなにより☆ 赤ちゃんは、ちょうどご機嫌時間でおとなしく、だっこもさせてくれたし、見えてはないけど、かわいいおめめでじーっと見つめてくれました♡かわゆーい！！ ロスと二人でおどろいたのが、髪のふさふさ具合と、金髪メッシュ！ 成長してどれくらい残るかは、謎だけど真っ黒髪に一部分金メッシュが入ってるの！さすがおしゃれ番長明香の子だわ（笑 ふしぎだねー
即席お土産で、気温も３２度あったので、あすかの好物ガリガリ君を買って行くも糖分は当分（ぷっ）ひかえなきゃダメとのことで残念！ みなさん妊婦さんのお見舞いには、甘いものは控えましょ〜
あすか、当然の訪問元気な姿みせてくれてありがとうねー☆新米ママがんばれっ！
そんなことで旭川を出発し、ひたすら北上開始。 途中、とってもすてきな北海道らしい風景に出会えたのでロス君の写真タイム。 あちこちで写真タイムをとってるうちに暗くなってしまったので稚内までたどり着ける訳もなく、今晩は、苫前の道の駅で車泊で〜す。 明日も楽しい1日でありますよーに☆ おやすみなさーい！
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