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My self-heating bento box

Chris’ perfect little buffet

The sights are amazing, and the sounds are non-existent — the people of Japan are notoriously quiet. I think I could sleep like a baby on a busy subway. I won’t try to cover it all but here’s a lil walk through a few moments.

Christine and I decided to capture a photographic themes on this trip. James — “playful” and Christine — “order”. Detroit had a couple playful moments…

This dancing fountain

This Parallel Reality ticket reader is way cool. It’s hard to explain, but we both could see our info on this board AND NO ONE ELSE. We shared a fun moment with another traveler.

First Tokyo subway ride

The view outside our Sumida City Tokyo apartment

And inside

First morning outing started out with the best french toast ever at Suke6 Diner — they were so good we went back a couple days later.

A nod to my fav japanese youtuber

Slurping competition

The Sakuragawa Shore Fireworks festival — the fireworks were fired off about 3 train-stops away but we could still feel the boom on the big ones.

Even Japanese people were taking pics of how crowded the (incredibly managed) exit was.

To capture the essence of how crowded this train was…

Ok that’s it for Days 1 and 2 in photos. I’m realizing the wifi is slow and I have more photos than I can manage to curate for these posts… but I’ll try to keep up a few quick posts and come back later with more curated ones post trip.

But first let me leave you with a better photo than my nostrils…

The Line

They literally put out a burger flag at 1pm, when the doors actually open. Get there by 12:30 though to be sure you get one.

“Are they worth the wait? The price?!”

Our line-mate couldn’t have raved more about them. But now it’s our turn to test. We headed to a local park to investigate.

The cross‑section tells the story…but so does this face…

“I don’t feel dirty” and “This is good” — These are high marks!

We lingered under the trees and agreed we’d do the line again for this.

On to the Lake

Rob and Jeremiah were the only ones getting wet this time.

For the most part, we steered clear of the numerous 8-legged friends.

Back at the Righter lodge

Ranger (left) and Mela (right) eventually were…”best of friends” according to Rob.

Chris tidying up for meal time

No getaway is complete without a lil puzzle challenge!

These quick escapes to nature amongst friends are so life-giving. Thank you Righters! Let’s do it again.

This time we took the 4hr drive to Franklin, TN, snagged a cheapo hotel, and got on our fine outdoor winery clothes for a night out. Arrington Vineyards had live jazz, food trucks, and flights! Wine was..ok, ambiance, music, and company ;) was great!

And a birthday brunch on the square for my girl! 😘

Charity: water - The Experience Lab

The main reason we actually chose Franklin this time was to visit an interactive exhibit recently opened by Charity Water at The Factory in Franklin, TN. It’s a creative way to raise awareness and donations, by letting people experience the transformation that clean water means for a remote people group.

The experience starts by introducing the main characters of today’s story, who are a mother and her daughter. The video shadow-boxes make it feel like they’re standing right in front of you. I’m really curious how the tech works for these.

Then you move to a theatre room for a powerful short film about the role water plays in our lives, and, notably, how much most of us don’t think about it at all.

Next, one of the more immersive experiences is a water walk. In an 80° small room, you follow Grace on a treadmill as she makes the trek to a watering hole.

The door on this room was especially fun.

If you tapped the number of the corresponding item, you’d get a quick story on how that applies to charity:water history. You could also use the touchscreen to explore a map of every water project they’ve installed.

There were about 6-7 experiences in all, including a VR headset movie at the end that puts you in the middle of the story as their village gets clean water. This was truly the best VR film I’ve seen.

Lately, I’ve been exploring the idea of taking on more interactive design projects for work, so this visit was equal parts fun, a great cause, and exploratory research. If you are in or near Franklin, definitely recommend it!

Hitting the Outdoors

Our big hike first full day in was up Saddle Mountain. When Alltrails says, “HARD” they aren’t lying, but we were up for a healthy dose of nature and exercise. It was a doozy, and totally worth it!

The sweeping views were pretty outstanding!

And a bit daunting at times! 😆

Proof we made it to the top. We actually see bit of the ocean from up here too! Sorry Kayleen u missed this! 🥲

After Saddle, we took off the not-to-be-missed Cannon Beach.

Venturing round town

Rest of the time was just as fun at a bit lower elevation. Here’s a sampling.

On our way out we got front row seats to see Dmitri Matheny x at the 1905 Jazz club.

Thanks for an awesome stay Satos!! See you…you know where 😉😆