蜂ヶ峯総合公園 Hachigamine Park

I went on a bike ride and then a hike to explore my new home! There’s a park on top of a hill, with a rose garden and lots of other fun surprises! This picture is my attempt to be artistic, although I think it would’ve worked better with an Instagram filter^^;

I didn’t know how long it would take, but I went by myself after work to look around. It’s been a bit rainy (rain + humidity) lately, but today the weather was great (hot but pretty) so I had to go out with my camera before the weather changes again! I love this spot, by the way. You’re probably going to see a billion different versions of it if you keep reading this blog. I should make a tag for it!!

I biked at first, but the hill gets a little steep and it’s too hard to bike (I also saw a sign that said not to, so…great!). So I walked up. Don’t let the shade deceive you, it is HOT.

Ahhh crazy hill! Most people just go up in their cars but I’ve had to rely on people for rides for a lot of things lately and I get off work earlier than my coworkers so I don’t want to ask >< It’s okay, hiking is fun if it’s not excessive!! I biked at first, but the hill gets a little steep and it’s too hard to bike (I also saw a sign that said not to, so…great!). So I walked up. Don’t let the shade deceive you, it is HOT.

Yeah. I walked up here.

When you get to the top, you can see all the attractions they have there, like the ferris wheel or the rose garden! There’s also a campground, sports/baseball areas, a playground, a golf course, a few smaller park-like areas, a plaza with an info center, a very long slide, and animals (bunnies, chickens, a couple horses, and…I saw a monkey o.o). When I was over by the rose garden, I could hear music coming from over by the golf course, and I thought, NO WAY, it’s not just the ski places but it’s the golf places too!!…I can approve of that for golf courses, though, because gold is pretty boring by itself^^;

Anyway, I love it here–it’s so quiet and peaceful! And there are lots of vending machines, so you can buy cold water and tea so the heat doesn’t kill you^^;;

I think that most of the flowers are on their way out, but I still managed to get some nice pictures of them^^ There were latticed overhanging things, as well as a bell–it looked like they hold weddings there sometimes^^

My college friend Angela used to bring little plastic dinosaurs with her and attack and torment me with them haha. I went thousands of miles away and started a new life, and as soon as I climb this mountain in my town of less than 7,000 people, lo and behold…

Rar. Well, it’s okay I guess, because they don’t attack me without Angela making them do it^^

One of those “mini-parks”:

Something notable about Japanese parks and playground is the use of gravel/small rocks/sand, but I’ll comment more on that later. I guess a sunset is an appropriate way to end: