July 8th (Day 12)
The trip back
Most of the morning was spent packing for the trip back. We all brought nested suitcases and separated them later as we collected souvenirs. Shamara wanted to get a few last things from the 100 yen store up the hill. I was interested in a lot of things there but not enough to pay 100 yen. While standing at the checkout I saw a rack of bottles labelled 'smile booster'. I asked A what these were and what the three different colors they came in represented. He couldn't tell from the label. Thinking it would be nice to have a smile booster handy in my apartment I dropped at 100 yen coin on the counter with the bottle. The merchant picked up the bottle, read the label and smiled and shook his head. Then he laughed and reached across the counter to slap me on the butt. Shamara was extremely amused with the situation and while walking back they speculated I had bought some sort of herbal viagra.
We left for the airport at 12:00 and arrived at about 1:30 after a terrifying drive. Mieko's driving made me very nervous and she kept complaining about how tired she was. At one point I looked over and saw she was driving down the road with her eyes closed. I rooted through my bag and found some gum to pass around. This seemed to perk her up and we arrived in one piece.
The US doesn't let anyone carry lighters into the country. You can't even throw them into your checked baggage. Akira had purchased a nifty butane lighter for fireworks and we had to abandon it at the airports. I feel so much safer knowing that terrorist paraphernalia wasn't on the plane with us.
After checking in and getting our tickets we wandered around with M one last time perusing the shops at the airport before heading through security. Akira and M together can walk in slow motion. It's interesting to watch.
After finally rushing to the gate we immediately boarded the plane filled with coughing and sneezing people. The flight went through the night but we arrived on the same calendar day 16 hours before we left.
All in all it was an excellent trip and I'm extremely grateful to Mieko for putting up with us and paying for all our hotel stays and the food we ate. I hope to get a chance to repay her the next time she visits - probably after Shamara has been making lots of grandchildren for her.
