July, USA, 5 States, 5 Skates

７月に、アメリカで、５箇所州、５回スケートをしました

下に日本語で概略を示しました。

We skated around this small lake in Colorado three times.  Under that expansive blue sky and those amazing clouds you can see the Rocky Mountain Range.  You can't see Pike's Peak from where we skated, but there's a fabulous view of that natural masterpiece from Martin's parents home, as you can see by the pix at the very bottom of this post.    

But this story is about skating, in particular, skating during our trip to the U.S. in July.  When I was packing our bags here in Tokyo, and reviewing the itinerary and the latest airline baggage limitations, as well as considering the size and cost of rental cars we would need, I almost reconsidered.  Did I really want to shlep this heavy bag of skates and gear through five different states, to at least 8 different sleeping places, on 7 airline flights and two ferry rides plus hundreds of miles in various cars.  No, I didn't really want to do that... but neither did I want to be somewhere beautiful and interesting and think, "Gee, if only I'd brought my skates..."                               SMUGMUG July US Skating Pix

As a side note, since we've returned to Tokyo, Monica and Jonah haven't missed a week joining City Run.  Jonah's skill level has increased and he's enjoying it more, and it seems that Monica is making friends within the group and even practicing a little Japanese.  So I'm especially glad I lugged that skate bag around afterall.   

MI  So, first stop was my childhood hometown, Paris, Michigan, and a nice long (more than a week) visit with my parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.  My oldest son, Jay, left Iowa and flew to Michigan for a week to hang out with his little brother and sister and help out in Grandpa's store.  Spending time with Jay was a rare treat for us all.  (Maybe next time we'll also get to see Steve.) Martin had to work much of that time in Detroit, but he made it up for the weekend and for our family skate from Northend Park to River Walk, Big Rapids.  These parks run next to the Muskegon River and the surface is fine, the views are pleasant and the weather that day wasn't too hot.  Part-way through, we were joined by cousin Tyler on his skateboard.    Also SMUGMUG Tyler

IL  My Dad let me borrow his Yukon, a nice GM SUV, which I thoroughly enjoyed driving, and I took it on the ferry across Lake Michigan to visit our friends in Chicago, Illinois.  That visit was too short, but I did get a chance to skate twice, once with Jeremy when he rode his bike to football practice, and then later when he borrowed his Dad's skates and we went around the neighborhood for an hour before dinner.  Jeremy doesn't skate often, but as he's young, and a natural athlete, he did just fine, and it was fun. Also SMUGMUG Chicago visit

TN  Franklin, Tennessee, our old hometown, was another too short stop on our itinerary.  Besides visiting friends, seeing our doctors, and riding our motorcycles, we fit in a good family skate starting at River Park and along the creek connecting into Crockett Park.  It was a real hot Tennessee day, so the kids turned back after awhile, but Martin and I thoroughly enjoyed the sense of spaciousness that we don't usually get in Tokyo, surrounded as it is with tall buildings.  This trail is quite busy, used by skaters, bikers, walkers and runners, and its a little rough here and there, but it winds its way along the creek through a forest and opens into a lovely open field. 

Also in TN, is Sonic.  This is a drive-up hamburger restaurant.  The burgers are really yummy and they have this delicious Southern style sweet tea, good curly fries, shakes... yes, I do love American fast food.  The cool thing about Sonic is that the waitresses wear skates.  The day we were there, some were wearing rollerblades and some the old fashioned rollerskates.  All were wearing smiles.  Very cool.

CO  While back in Tokyo, I contacted my skater sister-in-law, Robin, who planned to meet us in Colorado, and told her to bring her skates.  She did, and after we dealt with altitude sickness for a couple days, we five skated around Lake Prospect in Memorial Park.  The trail is very rough and gravel strewn in places, sometimes we took to the road instead of the sidewalk, but it was still a lovely time because of the beautiful view of the mountains and the lake, and because it was the first time I got to skate with Robin who is quite an athlete.  We planned another skate, but then, stupid me, I fell out of the bus after white water rafting and got hurt, (didn't break any bones, but skating was out of the question for a few days) so that was our only skate in Colorado.

MN  Did you know that Minneapolis, Minnesota is the birthplace of Rollerblade, where the in-line skate was invented just 28 years ago.  Since our good friend Brett lives in MN, we decided to make a short (only a day and a half) stop to visit.  Not much time, but we went to Mall of the America's, which is HUGE, and we skated around Lake Calhoun three times for about 10 miles (16 km).  The day was very hot but there were lots of other skaters, bicyclers, and pedestrians out.  The path is wide enough and quite smooth except for several breaks.  The problem I had was that in Tokyo I'm used to moving to the right when a bike comes up behind but there I was expected to move to the left.  Or maybe I've got that backwards now.  I hear there's a FNS through downtown.  It runs 9 to 10:30.  (Our Saturday Night Skate here in Tokyo runs 6pm to about 8:30, then the banquet.) I want to spend more time in MN next chance we get, but not in winter, which I've heard lasts for about 9 months.  No thanks.

Here's a short summary in Japanese of what I wrote above.  Then the picture of Pike's Peak from Mary Kay and Mike's house.

六年前に日本に来てから、毎年夏にアメリカに旅行に行きます。色々大切なことをやります。特に家族に会いたいので、友達に会ったり、バイクに乗ったり、買い物をしたりします。いつもスケートを持って行ったので、（去年以外は。腕を折ったから。）今年荷造りをする時、スケートを持って行くかどうか考えました。皆のスケートの荷物はとても重いし、アメリカの中でたくさん色々な場所に行くし、もっと高くなります。でも、アメリカで、色々いいスケートをする機会があるから、ついにスケートを持って行こうと決めました。決定はよかったです。

MI　ミシガン州で、私の生まれ故郷の町に家族と友達に会いました。４人家族は川の隣にスケートしました。いとこもスケートボードで参加しました。

IL　私は父の車で渡しでチカゴのイリノイ州に友達たちに会いに行きました。そこに二回め友達の息子とスケートしました。彼はあまりスケートをしないけど、天賦な運動選手だので、よかったです。

TN　フランクリンのテネシー州は前の故郷です。いつもそこに行って楽しけど、今年に短い時間しかかかれません。そこに友達に会ったり、医者に会ったり、バイクを乗ったり、スケートをしたりしました。とても暑かったが、東京から太陽の熱が狎れるので、４人はよくスケートをしました。

CO　主人の両親はコロラドに住んでいるので、彼の兄と弟と弟の奥さんも集まりました。その場所はとてもきれいだけど、最初に高山病を処理しなければなりません。後で、４人家族とロビンも三回に回してスケートをしました。計画はも一回滑りたかったが、私はウイとワーターラフティング後で、バスから転んだ、危害があったと、コロラドで一回しか滑りませんでした。

MN　ミネアポリスのミネソタ州でローラーブレドは生まれました。知りましたか。その場所はいいスケートの所です。友達は住んでいるので、短い間に泊まりました。そこに湖の回りに滑って、たくさんスケータを見ました。

毎日よく日本語を勉強します。ゆっくりだけどだんだんよくなります。最初のパラグラフを先生は直す手伝ったが、のこりを自分でできました。間違いをすみません。

　マーティンの両親の家から景色です。

 

Comments

[Matt Scholl]

I'm amazed every year by how much you pack into your trips to the US. There are some beautiful pictures in your albums.

[Harvey]

Wow, I used to skate so much when I was in the states. Now that I'm in Osaka though, they just sit in my closet! I think there is a nice place to skate near the Yodogawa river, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet... I better try it again!

I just randomly found your blog though the Japan Ring, it will be fun reading about your multicultural lives!