Overall, travel went well. We 4 got to SeaTac at 10:30am (thank you, Corey, for being a great shuttle driver), got checked in without hassle at ANA, through security, and out to the gate by 11:30. Plenty of time to hang around for our 1:30 flight, but would rather do that then be running late or stuck in traffic - yuck!
The flight across the Pacific to Japan was typically long - approx 9 hrs - but uneventful, and we arrived around 3:30 pm Japan time. Immigration, luggage, and customs at Narita airport went smoothly too. During our 3 hour lay-over, we visited Starbucks (yea!), got some obento supper (yum), and tried to figure out the international SIM card on Gordon's phone (got stumped). We caught a 6:55pm flight from Narita up to Sendai, arriving there an hour later. Lorna Gilbert met us, and we drove over to Ishinomaki in about an hour. That's huge improvement in the timing of that route, because it used to take 2 hours or more!
Another huge improvement is that Gilberts are living in Ishinomaki now instead of at Takayama (which is a marvelous location for scenery, but a 60 - 90 minute drive to Ishinomaki). The story of their house is incredible, but has to wait for another time. Gordon and Mike are staying at the Long's house (they are team partners with Gilberts) about 5 min from here.
So repeating myself, it's great to be back in Ishinomaki, and we're really looking forward to these days here.
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