A Day of Relaxation, Fun, and a Mishap (Part 2)

After the hike yesterday came the bus ride back to town and lunch.  It was at this point I had my mishap.  I discovered, while hiking, that my phone was not in my pocket.  It was not on the ground, so I figured it fell out of my pocket when I sat on the bus coming to the waterfall.  Before coming on this trip, I read posts and articles about Japan and the culture and things to know before you travel, etc.  Having read about people who had lost things and had them returned hours or even days later (valuable things, too!), I was not particularly worried, other than not exactly knowing how I was going to communicate that my phone was missing and where I suspected it to be and communicate this to the correct person.  After taking the bus back to town, we went to the information desk at the train station (located right next to the bus station).  There we were able to find some help.  We learned that the bus would be back at the station about 30 minutes later.  We decided to fill that time with lunch.  When we got back to the information desk, we asked about my phone.  We had given the woman at the desk the name of our hotel, in case the phone was not found or turned in immediately, and so, when she got my phone, she called the hotel and someone from the hotel staff went down to the station and retrieved my phone for me!  I was thrilled, and impressed with the thought and level of service.  People here truly go out of their way to help.

Later that afternoon, some of us met up in town at a bowling alley!  Tess, Sandy, Gretchen, Sunghee, Patti and her husband Warren, and I met up around 4:30.  I decided not to bowl, after the long hike that morning, but I had my camera and had great fun taking pictures.  Here are some of the best ones:

Sunghee blew everyone out of the water!

Sandy is set and ready to go

It's Super Patti!

Tess looks so focused

I love this shot of Warren picking up his ball
("The claw chooses who will stay and who will go!")

Gretchen got a spare!

We had a great time and followed this with a group dinner, where we were joined by the rest of the Sonos gang.  Overall, it was a very enjoyable day and it was really nice to relax a bit before concerts and rehearsals get into full swing.