Hakone

The kids didn't have school so we decided to spend the day in Hakone. The closer we got to the mountains the more beautiful the scenery became. We took the scenic road through the mountains and couldn't help but be amazed by the beautiful fall trees. The leaves were finally starting to change colors. We stopped at the top of the scenic road to get a better look at Mt. Fuji. We could only see the top of Mt. Fuji as the bottom part was covered by the clouds. On a clear day this would be a great spot to see Mt. Fuji. We continued on down the scenic road down the mountain towards Lake Ashinoko which rests at the heart of Hakone. We choose not to take the pirate ship across the lake but instead headed up the Komagatake Ropeway to one of Hakone's multiple peaks to get a better view of Mt. Fuji and to visit Mototsumiya Shrine which standds at the summit of Komagatake. We got some great views of the lake and we did get to see Mt. Fuji but the cloud cover made it hard to see the whole mountain. Still, it was beautiful no matter which direction we looked. The kids had a great time at the summit playing tag and running up and down the trails. I roamed around taking pictures of the shrine while soaking up the little sun that we did have that day. It was a bit cold but with the sun it was manageable to be up at the top of the mountain. After heading back down the ropeway the kids enjoyed riding the panda and drinking hot cocoa out of the vending machine. It wasn't the best tasting hot chocolate but it was warm and that is what we all needed. Hakone wasn't our favorite Japanese destination but it was nice just to be together today.