November 10th Nikko Part 1

Gassing up the van before our trip to Nikko, a national park area in the mountains of Japan. Here is the service station attendant washing our windows! Here is the attendant getting us back onto the street.

A poster showing the beauty of this area.

Buying our passes to see the shrines.

A statue of a shogun warrior at the entrance of the park.

The leaves were magnificent!

Elder and Sister Watabe and Elder Grames and Dad checking the map to see where to start.

Chrysanthemum displays. Note the paper plates under some to hold them up so we could see the petals.

A huge fan of mums.

A bonsai tree with mums (I am not going to attempt the spelling any more!).

A pagoda built around a steel poll so it will be earthquake proof.

It was too cold for ice cream but I still took this picture.

The moss was so thick and beautiful on the rocks and trees.

These are what the chestnuts we bought came in before they were removed and roasted.

Elder Watabe and the long rows of cedars.

Here is a good way to keep groups together - give them brightly colored jackets!

Headed up to the shrine - the first of MANY sets of stairs we climbed.

These fearsome creatures would scare away any evil from the shrine.

There was a great Chinese influence to some of these shrines. They are very ornate and intricate and colorful.

Lanterns everywhere - donated to the site by various groups.