It was close to being 4-1, they just kept not quite taking advantage of opportunities (how many times can you hit it off the post, anyway, before something just has to go in?)
Well, it's time to work out a tentative schedule, start making reservations and all that. So, let's see:
- Thu 23 Aug - Depart Denver (8:30A). - Fri 24 Aug - Arrive Narita (2:55P) - spend the night somewhere in Tokyo, cursing the jet lag. - Sat 25 Aug - Free day in Tokyo. Hang out. Shake fist impotently at jet lag. Night in Tokyo. - Sun 26 Aug - Make way to Fuji-Yoshida, explore the five lakes, spend night in Fuji-Yoshida. - Mon 27 Aug - Endless death march -- I mean, climb up Fuji-san, starting bright and early from Fuji-Yoshida. Spend night in hut somewhere around 8th or 9th station or whatever. - Tue 28 Aug - Watch sunrise on Fuji-san. Descend. Make way to Yokohama, first night in Yokohama; beginning of WorldCon for all intents and purposes.
>>> Insert WorldCon here <<<
- Mon 03 Sep - Last night of WorldCon. Party like it's 2007.
From here, it starts getting a bit fuzzy, but possibly:
- Tue 04 Sep - Exchange JR Pass. Take shinkansen north, spend night in Sendai. - Wed 05 Sep - Ride boat around Matsushima islands. Shinkansen to Akita. Spend night in Akita. - Thu 06 Sep - Go to Tazawako, wander around aimlessly. Spend night in Akita. - Fri 07 Sep - Ride train along northwest coast of Touhoku to Aomori, continue on to Hakodate, spend night. - Sat 08 Sep - Wander around Hakodate. Wander on to and around Sapporo, spend night. - Sun 09 Sep - Wander around someplace near Sapporo, possibly Asahikawa. Spend night in Sapporo. - Mon 10 Sep - Last day on JR Pass, long transit back to Tokyo from Hokkaidou, spend night in Tokyo. - Tue 11 Sep - Depart Narita (5:00P), arrive over two hours earlier in Denver (2:44P).
Love to squeeze in Dakikaeri Gorge and Lake Towadako, don't think I'll manage it. Or really a full tour of Hokkaidou, but that would take a week and a car rental, most likely, and I don't really want to rent a car this trip. That whole stretch is pretty flexible, though, so hard to say how it will work out.
Update: the wildcard is Fuji-yoshida. I didn't have any trouble finding information on the huts and such up on Fuji-san (although I still need to figure out if a couple days lead time is enough to make reservations during that part of the season), but it looks like I'll be showing up during the 富士吉田の火祭り (the Fuji-Yoshida Fire Festival), which is really cool, but I'm worried about finding rooms then. Considering I haven't found much information on accommodations there yet and all.
More research will be required -- need to see if I'll be bumping into any more seasonal stuff anywhere, too.