Saturday, September 18, 2010

Directions to Komakko Land - Towada Horse Park

Geo Coordinates will get you to the general area N 40*36.893    E 141* 07.877 Also known as Komakko Land



To see photos and video clip of a recent trip, click here. 


SHORTCUT - via Simon of Out the Gate - cuts at least 10 min  off the trip for us. 
  • Take Route 10 into Towada (go out POL gate, stay on it until you reach Towada; or go through town, I'm not sure of that way as I live by the toll road). 
  • This parallels the rail road tracks, turn RIGHT at the Y. 
  • Go through 4 lights (this takes a while).
  • Turn right at the first street after the 4th light. 
  • Go 1.4 km (7 streets) and turn left (you'll see a brown sign like the one above).
  • Go  past a house with lots of apple trees to a funky intersection. 
  • Continue straight up the hill until you see the sign for the Towada Horse Museum on your left. 
Here are the directions we were first given; either set will work.   
  •  Take Route 10 into Towada (go out POL gate, stay on it until you reach Towada; or go through town, I'm not sure of that way as I live by the toll road). 
  • Stay along the river & rail road tracks, stay left at the Y,  past Homac, until the light. 
  • Take a LEFT over the canal. 
  • Pass the shrine, follow the blue traffic signs to Route 102....turn RIGHT
  • This will take you out of Towada....around 4 km you'll see a rest area (pull out with vending machines) on your left.
  • You'll turn RIGHT just after this turn out where you see a tall, skinny blue sign with cartoon horses on it.
It will look similar to this one (these are the dancing pony signs you'll follow)

And this is over the highway as you turn RIGHT
  • Drive about 2 km, through fields....around 2 km you'll see a dancing pony sign and  turn LEFT  toward the hills (there is a sign like the one  above - that looks like it may be directing you left.....but you want to stay straight until you've gone the 2 km  or you end up at a golf course). 
  • Drive 2.8 km - you'll go through a 4 way stop sign. Go up a hill. The Park is on your LEFT.

Hours:
  • 0830 - 1800 (April 1 - Oct 31)
  • 0830 - 1700 (Nov 1 - Mar 31)
  • Closed: Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a national holiday) and New Year
  • Note slides will be closed if it has rained. 
Visit the Komakko Land website!

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

WE DID IT - An Adventure

We weren't able to go to Towada Horse Park yesterday. We had nothing planned today and the kids wanted to give it a shot. I wanted to get a bit more concrete details on the directions to share with those who've never found this treasure. We sat off. 


FIRST we found Risoukyo Flower Farm and Outdoor Museum. There weren't many flowers blooming...but we can see this is a place to revisit in the right season. We enjoyed the grounds....we marked it in the gps so we can find it again. 







We left the flower gardens and headed for "Shotokukan" - Towada Horse Park. This place is fun! 

Horse Barns...


There was a horse determined to reach Stacia...kept butting it's head against the bars....this was taken right after he turned around and began pushing his rump against the bars. 

playgrounds

Fun slides - Trojan Horse

Main ROLLER slide....this is the bottom half....

The top half winds through the trees, up the hill. 


Instead of horse rides, we took a pony cart ride. What a deal - it would have cost Y2,400; but they gave us a Y1,000 per family rate.  We'll do the horses when Jared can join us. 


Then it RAINED....lovely....and I was so proud of how the children take each of these things as a part of the adventure. It would have been miserable if they were the complaining type....but we sat down for a snack, then made a run for it. 






This spot is only 30 - 40 minutes (depending on traffic) from our home. We'll visit again. We've still not visited the horse museum, eaten ramen at the shop or rode the horses.

We stopped at Hard Off Recycle shop and bought 29 pieces of pottery. LOL 



We ended the adventure with homemade chicken noodle soup...and an episode or two of The Lucy Show (thanks, Mom).

Arielle went down the slide with the video camera to give you a taste of the fun.


Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

29 pieces of Japanese Pottery



Yes, I planned on collecting polish pottery - but that seems a bit silly as I live in Japan. Here are 29 pieces of pottery (28 plus the Wallace and Grommet set we couldn't abandon) from the recycle shop. They match the same color pattern as the plates the kids got me for Mother's Day. 


Today, I need to report that Zander and Stacia have figured out the countdown. They're a bit more cognizant than I thought. They were talking about "Only 29 days until dad gets back"....so they won't be surprised if he actually arrives on the 29th day. LOL 


Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...