On the weekends, if the weather is half-way decent, my wife and I cannot sit idly at home. We need to go out and about. As we have driven through most of Aomori Prefecture, lately deciding where to go has become our biggest dilemma. My wife didn't want to drive through the mountains so we counted out Lake Towada and decided to go to Fukaura again. Perhaps we will discover something new. We left our house around 10am. As we didn't have anything to eat, it was a little late for breakfast and a little too early for lunch. We stopped at a roadside station that was along the way and bought some takoyaki.
週末で天気が良ければ僕と僕の妻はじーといられない。引きこもりは苦手と私たち。でも結構青森県を走り回ったので、最近の問題はどこに行けば良いと悩む。先週もそうでした。天気が悪くなかったため、ドライヴに出かけた。妻が山道を走りたくないから、十和田湖を却下。決めた行き先はやっぱり日本海にある深浦。何回も行きましたが、また行ってみたら新しい発見と出会うかも知りません。出発時間が朝１０時で、なにも食べずにでかけた。朝食にするのは遅いし、昼食はまだ早いかなと思った。それで途中にあった道の駅に寄ってたこ焼きをかった。
My wife also came across this bottle of tea which is made from an Aomori brand name rice called Seiten no Hekireki.
妻が道の駅で発見した飲み物がこのこめ茶。青森産の晴天の霹靂から出来た茶です。不思議な味しまたな。
We were trying to decide where to have lunch. We stopped by a ramen shop first but I wasn't in the mood for a yakiniboshi style ramen. We thought of having lunch at WeSPa Tsubakiyama which we knew would be a buffet on Sunday. We had been there before and my wife was that impressed with the food. We have also been to Aoike many times so we decided to head to the Akita border while looking for some place to eat. Before we hit the border to Akita Prefecture, we spotted a building with many cars parked out front. There was no doubt in our mind that this was a restaurant. The place we came upon was called [Fukujusou].
昼ご飯をとこにするのが次の課題。最初に寄ってみたのあラーメン１０１。メインが焼き煮干ラーメンで、自分は焼き煮干の気分ではなかった。次考えたのはWeSPa椿山。日曜日は食べ放題のブッフェ知ってので、以前食べたとき、凄い美味しいというわけでもなかったからそこも却下。青池も何回も行ったため、違う方向を目指した。青森と秋田の県境に決定。同時に食べ処も探してみた。秋田県に入る前に大きな建物を見て、車もいっぱい止めてた。そこは絶対に飲食店と分かり、行ってみた。店名は「福寿草」。
As Route 101 winds its way along the coast of the Sea of Japan, this is the view from the front of the back of the restaurant.
国道１０１号線は日本海沿いにあるんで、これはレストランからの眺めです。
Most of the items on the menu were some type of seafood. My wife decided on the salmon roe bowl set which is served with miso soup, takuan (yellow pickled radish), and mozuku (seaweed seasoned in vinegar).
メニューはほぼ海鮮料理。妻が注文したのはいくら丼セット。セットは味噌汁、もずく、とたくあん付。
I ordered the scallop bowl set.
僕が注文したのは帆立丼セット。
A couple more shots of the coast of the Sea of Japan.
やっぱり日本海も綺麗だね。
Once we pass that sign, we will be in Akita Prefecture.
あのサインを超えたら秋田県入り。
Once we entered the Lake Juniko where the Aoike (Blue Lagoon) is, it means we have entered the World Heritage Site of the Shirakami Sanchi (Shirakami mountain range).
青池は十二湖にあるので、そこまで来たら世界遺産の白神山地入りだ。
A short way into Akita Prefecture and we came across the roadside station, Aruja.
秋田県に入ったら、最初に見つけたのは秋田の道の駅「あるじゃ」。
Akita Prefecture is famous for it's hatahata (sandfish) if you couldn't guess what kind of fish this was supposed to be.
秋田県の名物の一つはやっぱりハタハタですね。
At the roadside station was a small area called Otono Mizu which translates to the "Lord's Water", lord being a title for a high ranking samurai.
道の駅にお殿水という場所があった。
It says that a Lord of Tsugaru while traveling from Oma along the Hachimori Road had his carriage stop here for a rest. The story has it that when he drank the water, he said, "Kanro! Kanro!" which translates to "honeydew". In essence, he said the water was a sweet as honeydew.
And the Lord looks an awful lot like ME!
そしてお殿様は良く俺に似てる！
It was dessert time as well as we enjoyed some strawberry soft serve.
やっぱり道の駅に寄ると、アイスを食べないと。ここでいちごソフトを食べた。
Akita Prefecture is also known for it's beautiful women called Akita Bijin.
秋田県と言えばやっぱり秋田美人ですね。
Just to prove that we were at a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site.
UNESCO世界遺産白神山地に居た証拠。
Beef tongue jerky / 牛タンジャーキー
Heading back to Aomori, we decided to stop and spend a little time around Senjojiki. The following pictures are only a small area of Senjojiki.
青森戻る前に千畳敷にちょっと止まった探索した。下記の写真は千畳敷海岸の一部。
Me and my wife at Senjojiki / 千畳敷で遊んでる僕と僕の妻
Yes, that's my wife pictured on the left.
はい、左側に居るのは僕の妻です。
My favorite picture of the day.
本日一番気に入りの写真。
We made one more stop before heading back home to Aomori. Along Route 101 is a place called the Ikoi parking area. There is a small gift shop/restaurant that you can't miss as in front of the store are a number of scarecrows.
青森に戻る前もう一箇所に止まった。国道１０１号線にいこいの駐車場があって、そこに小さな店がある。店の前にいろんなかかしが立ち並んでるのが特徴です。
The little shop is called the Ryoshi Cafe [Amigoya].
店名は漁師カフェ「網小屋」。
We had another ice cream break here. I am not eating a plain vanilla cone. This ice cream is made with with the salt from the ocean. Ocean salt ice cream. Just hanging out with one of the locals!
またアイスの時間です。これはただのバニラではありませんよ。ここの店のおすすめのアイスは日本海磯塩入り潮騒ソフトクリームです。現地の人と仲良く休憩してます。
Lots of shells on the ground.
貝殻がいっぱい。
We snacked on some fisherman's fish and chips too.
漁師のフィッシュ＆チップスも食べた。
These were quite tasty.
結構美味しいでございます。
There were more fish than chips. Definitely a fisherman's fish and chips.
ポテトより魚が多い。さすが漁師ですね。
She invited me to stay and hang out but we had to go home!
彼女に誘われたが、やっぱりうちに帰らないっと。
Somewhere in Ajigasawa.
鰺ヶ沢のどっか。
The rest of the trip back home was uneventful and so ended another adventure.
そのごなにもなかったので、今日の冒険が終了しました。
