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We're spending the winter just south of Whistler, BC. We were doing a snowboard getaway until they closed the hill. Plans were to get back on two wheels in the spring, but now all that is kind of thrown up in the air. Seems like more information comes out every day that indicates this...

Right now we're hunkered down for the winter, so no traveling anyway. But this coming season, our plans are to ride more remote locations, more camping, so it's actually in line with the self-isolation procedures. Would suck being sick in a tent though. Something to consider I guess...

Thanks! Appreciate the concern! :D

We are really looking forward to a nice, hot onsen bath! This ryokan we've found is a budget inn. Most of the ones I found online were very fancy and expensive, which we can't afford. But this one is right in our price-range, which means we have to be prepared for basic and no-frills...

So back on the bikes in the pouring rain to go look for a place to sleep tonight We've been staying at hotels and guest houses the entire time in Japan. Some of the places have tatami rooms, so we get the flavour of sleeping in Japanese-style accommodations. But none of them have been true...

At least the rain has stopped as we climb back on our bikes. We've only got another hour's ride north to the city of Fukuoka, but as luck would have it, shortly after we leave Kashima, the sky opens up cold rain on our helmets. At least we've kept our rainsuits on as we brave through the...

In Japan and in other asian cultures, this orange-reddish color, vermilion, is the colour of life The colour wards of evil spirits, bad luck and danger. It reminds me of the vermilion-laquered furniture of my family home in Malaysia. We walk around Yutoku Inari Shrine with petals in our...

Inside the Yutoku Inari Shrine Walking around taking lots of pictures We don't often time our travels very well. Snow and ice chased us out of Alaska and we spent a year and a half following the rainy season through Latin America. But our timing through Japan is impeccable. Cherry blossom...

While some may need shelter from the falling rain... others revel in the shower of petals

We love Japan! Tourists come from all over Japan (and the world) to see the shrine

The most striking feature about the Yutoku Inari Shrine is the lattice-work of crimson beams supporting the main building Quackers The Inari deities are associated with foxes, whose statues guard the shrine

Cherry blossom season is regretfully short. It takes one week for the flowers to bloom and then another week for them to fall from the branches A light wind is already taking some of the petals off the trees and scattering them on the ground. The short sakura season is such a spiritual time for...

Inscription in the stone Kashima-Jingu Shrine Before we hit the shrine, we walk around the manicured gardens

Boo! lol. Now I know how it feels... :D

We find the shrine and the parking lot is covered with a welcome mat of pink petals. Arigato-gozaimasu! Spider caught my eye

Getting ready to suit up again, we spy a Miko walking down the street A miko is a shrine maiden, which means there must be an Inari shrine nearby Riding around Kashima beneath a wonderfully pale pink cherry blossom sky Despite the cold and wet weather, Neda is absolutely loving the cherry...

Japan has been our favorite country so far in our travels. There are a lot of other places we'd like to go to: Central Asia, Australia, finish off the southern tip of South America. Maybe after all this virus stuff has passed, China might be an interesting place to visit. When we were in SE...

In just over an hour, we arrive in the town of Kashima. And cherry blossoms are everywhere!!! :) Of course we have to stop and take lots of pictures

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/405.html The fog has turned to rain as we pack our stuff onto the bikes to leave Oabama-cho. We could stay another day, but the clock is ticking on our motorcycle rentals and we're only half-way through our travels across Japan. Neda surveys the light...

"The point of the journey is not to arrive. Anything can happen." from "Prime Mover" written by Neil Peart Neil Peart came into my life at many different times. In the fall of 1984, my dad got two promotional tickets to a Rush concert. He asked who I wanted to go with. There was a kid who I...