Birthday Two: at the Sea of Japan

On Mike's actual Birthday, we woke up and had "garbage omlettes" (made from taco leftovers: green onion, tomato, salsa, cheese: Oishii!). No cake, but I think Mike prefers eggs anyway.
Then we took off on Route 29, heading North until the road ends, at the Sea of Japan!! We went to the city of Tottori, which is a tourist attraction for the huge sand dunes. It's only a 2 hour drive from our house. 1 hour into it, houses were covered with 3 feet of snow! But once we left Hyogo-ken, the snow slowly disappeared and the valley grew wide as we approached the shore...




While taking a picture of Mike, the waves crashed in on him, filling his Adiddas with FREEZING cold surf and sand. I played it safe when rinsing off a shell. The ocean was beautiful, and we had this beach to ourselves while the tourists all checked out the dunes.




I had to see the dunes though! (see one below) For some reason, there are camels and horses to ride, but I think it's much more fun to walk. Mike went and had a Pepsi while I hiked up the mountain of sand. A perfect workout; it warmed me up enough to take off my hat & coat. The view was gorgeous! I had fun watching the wind slowly erase my footprints. The wind was also kind enough not to blow sand in my face ;)



All for now! Happy Valentines day!!
love, Colleen