Takino Suzuran Hillside National Park

As we've slowly gotten to know a little more about our home city for the summer, we've found Sapporo to be a bit of a surprise. Prior to arriving here, we talked to a number of people who had spent considerable time in Japan and did quite a bit of reading about the area. The general message we received was that while Sapporo is the largest city in Hokkaido (the region encompassing the entire northern island of Japan), we should expect Hokkaido, in general, to be very rural.

Based on this, I were expecting a good sized city, but somehow wasn't prepared for a population of nearly two million people and screaming, flashing billboards on every corner along for blocks. Although I've never been, certain blocks in Sapporo feel a lot like a smaller version of what I'd picture Time Square to be. Don't get me wrong, it's been fun to walk around and experience, just not at all what I had expected after having the word "rural" used so many times in reference to the area!

In any case, I mention all of that as a bit of a roundabout introduction to yesterday's adventure. Fiona and I were ready to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a bit, and the weather was gorgeous so we decided to check out Takino Suzuran Hillside National Park. I had read about it as a option for a fun day trip from Sapporo. It is a nearly 1000 acre mostly wooded park with hiking, waterfalls, and numerous play areas for kids. We took the train about 15 minutes out of the city and then transferred to a bus that took us the remaining 30 minutes to the park. We weren't on the bus more than five minutes before it became obvious how quickly Hokkaido does in fact become rural after leaving the center of Sapporo!  As seems to be the trend for us every time we go out, we identified two more "to-do" items for our summer activities list just while on the bus to the park - Sapporo Art Park and Takino Reien. It's so fun to have such a wide variety of options to chose from each morning.

When we finally arrived at Takino Park, we first climbed to the top of the observation tower in the visitor's center to get a feel for the area. The views - photographed through a window, so the picture isn't great - were amazing. I can't wait to explore those mountains in the distance!

Next up was a morning of fun in one of the coolest play areas I've ever visited. There were slides so long and intense we had to wear helmets(!!), miles of underground tunnels, bouncy things I don't have words to explain so I'll just use their posted name: Fluffy Orange Eggs, elaborate rope climbing structures/tree houses, and huge bouncy balls on a big hill. I played like a 6 year old for hours!

After all that playing, it was time for a lunch and bathroom break. And what post would be complete without mention of a new bathroom revelation?? In many of the bathrooms we've gone in, there have been devices like this on the wall:

I didn't managed to get the sign above in the picture, but it shows a hand waving in front of the black sensor box and a toilet flushing (along with a bunch of kanji). Every time we've encountered one of these, I've waved my hand, heard the toilet flush, and then turned around to find that the toilet hadn't actually flushed. In my jetlagged exhaustion, I just assumed an inefficient flush, used the "manual" flush lever, and moved on. But today Fiona and I finally figured these out! They are actually just noise boxes that mimic the sound of a flushing toilet so that you can have some, err...privacy?...if you need to mask any sounds coming from your stall. Seriously, when it comes to toilets, they seem to have thought of everything!

After refueling with lunch, we set off on a hike to several waterfalls. Fiona was less than thrilled about this part and we probably should have done it first, before she saw the fun play area, but I wanted to take advantage of our early arrival to avoid crowds, and it worked! We were nearly the only ones playing up until lunch. In any case, as any experienced hiker with young children knows, all it takes is a little bribery. And so we set off with the promise of ice cream on completion and a snack for the hike in. I told Fiona she could chose anything that wasn't a sugary snack, and she settled on these which I naively assumed to be pretzel sticks.

As she got to the end of the box, Fiona said, "Yum! Mommy, these are really good. Want to try one?" Guess what? They were really good...really good cookie sticks! Oh well, at least I tried, right?

The walk to the waterfalls was beautiful and definitely worth it. There was hardly anyone there and it was nice to take it all in without having to fight crowds. School is in session here until the end of June and I have heard that that is when places like Takino Park will start to get mobbed with local tourists. I'm doing my best to strategize and take advantage of June to visit places like this that wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable if they were busy.

Mommy is still figuring out the selfie stick, can you tell? The waterfalls sort of made it into the picture!

On the walk back out from the waterfalls, Fiona needed another bathroom break. Here are a few more fun facts about Japan and bathrooms: 1) They are EVERYWHERE. No kidding, on a half mile stretch of the path, we passed three "rest areas," each complete with a men's room, a ladies' room, and a separate family restroom. 2) These were set well into the park - we're not talking the restrooms attached to the visitor's center here, we're talking two miles in to our walk - so I was expecting all the stink and bugs that I've come to know and love during the hiking we've done around the US. But boy was I in for a surprise! Even these bathrooms were sparkling clean, odor free, seat warmed, and relatively bug free. I don't know how they do it!

After a nice walk, we made it back to the promised ice cream and Fiona could not have been happier.

Needless to say, after such a big day (one that started with a 5am wake up for everyone), the bus ride back to the train looked a little something like this:

Definitely the sign of a great day!