At about this point the wall between the path and the water disappeared and we started getting a little breeze. It was hot and muggy so even a whiff of fresh air was welcome. We arrived in a town and one of the first things we noticed was a building with lots of activity. As we got closer, we found that it was a car dealership and a garage. There seemed to be a steady stream of people going in and having work done on their cars. I suspect that people were not buying new cars because of a lack of money, so they had to have more maintenance than in the past. The building was kind of neat as you can see from the picture.
Behind the auto dealer it was only a short distance to the mountains and the built up area petered out quickly.
We reached out hotel by about 3 p.m. During the day we had stopped at a Michi no Eki, a road station to translate literally. They are like the rest stops on a highway - rest rooms, souvenir shop, snacks, and a place to sit. We had had coffee and some ginger cookies, but as soon as we got to the hotel we went to the restaurant and had more coffee. The woman who ran the place gave us each a donut as settai.Since it was a hotel, we each had our own room, and I was looking forward to a good night's sleep. Also I planned to wash some clothes in the shower. So after the coffee, we went to our rooms and unpacked. Then we met in the restaurant again and watch sumo on TV. I had an excellent meal - chicken and vegetables on a hot metal plate and a separate salad. It was good to have a western style meal. While eating Ian and I, discussed plans for the rest of our pilgrimage. We needed to get to Kochi city and buy train tickets back to Sendai. Also we were not sure what temples we would be able to reach in Kochi, so we investigated the various possibilities. I noted in my diary that I was "running on empty", so I went to bed early and slept well
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