In Toyama

 By the time that we got on the trolly, it was dark, but the inside of the car was well lit. It is one long car but there is a hinge in the middle so that it can get around some of the sharp curves.

 This is the box where you pay for the trip. It is 200 yen no matter how far you go. Actually you cannot go very far because it is a loop.

 I was surprised to find that they still had Christmas decorations, or at least they seemed to be Christmas lights.

 We returned to my brother-in-laws house and then just before 11 p.m., my sister-in-law drove us to the bus stop. It was knee deep in snow but we only had to wait about 15 minutes. The lights in the distance are the toll booth at an exit from the highway.

 The inside of the bus was only dimly lit, so that people who were already asleep could stay that way. The seats were very much like what you find in tourist class on a long flight on a plane. I was able to put my seat back and, after lifting up the footrest, put my feet under the seat in front. I actually got a pretty good night's sleep.

About an hour before arriving back in Sendai, they stopped the bus at a rest area and woke us up. I got out and stretched my legs. I also bought a can of hot coffee. I stayed awake for the rest of the trip. We arrived at Sendai Station earlier than scheduled. To get home, we took the subway and then a taxi from Yaotome station, since we had bags to carry.

I was not home for the first time in five weeks and ready to start my 'retired' life.

In Toyama

 Considering the amount of snow, we were amazed to find an operating fountain. It was actually quite pretty.

 Looking back behind us, we could see the strange tower on the city office building.

 We walked back toward the station and the only businesses that we could find were bars and restaurants. This was apparently the drinking section of town.

 We went to the trolley stop in front of the station, planning to ride around the loop a couple of times. The schedule was posted at the stop, but nothing came. Finally this car came but after letting out some of the riders, it just sat there.

 Finally this car came on the track nearest us and then with some complex maneuvering, it got on the other track and started back toward the car that had been sitting there.

 When the cars were side by side, the riders on the first car got out and then got on the new car. The new car pulled back on the nearest track and both cars drove off out of sight. We later heard that the first car had been in an accident with an automobile, and they had had to wait while a new driver was located and then for the new replacement car to arrive from the barns.

Finally our car arrived. You can see that it says Loop Line on it.

On the way to Toyama

 I got off at the station and looked around for the entrance to the other train line that I was supposed to take, but I could not find it anyway in the small station. So, I went to the ticket window and called out, asking if there was anyone there. After a short while, a man came out of a backroom. I asked where the entrance was and he said that there was none. After a bit more explanation, we discovered that I had got off at the wrong stop. He checked the schedule and found that there were no other trains that would allow me to make my connection, so he called the local cab company and after a short consultation with the dispatcher, order me a cab. While we were waiting, I asked him to pronounce the names of the two stations. Although they were completely different and in theory consisted of a different number of syllables, I could not tell the difference.

The cab arrived and after a radio discussion between the driver and the dispatcher he took me to a third station. My train would stop there after it stopped at the station where I originally planned to catch it. Again, I had the driver pronounce the names of the stations that I had mixed up and again I could not hear any difference, especially when there was a surrounding context. Anyway, I got to the third station more than twenty early and it only cost 1,200 yen, so there was no problem and I got to see a bit more of the countryside.

The station did not have an attendant. You just walked in and waited. There was a machine for buying a ticket but there was nothing to check if you had a ticket when you got off.

 I went out on the platform and looked around. Directly in front of me was this picturesque house.

 A little to the left was this group of trees.

 This is looking up the track in the direction I was planning to go.

 This is in the direction that I should have come from. Notice that it had started snowing hard so the scenery in the distance disappeared entirely.

One thing you may not have notice. There is only one track. The trains run in both directions on the same track and they are only about five minutes apart. Scary but I decided that, since I had never heard of an accident on this line and it would have been big news, there would be no problem.

 I went outside and looked in the opposite direction and saw more farmhouses, and more snow.

 My train consisted of only two cars, but it was clean and fairly new. Here most of the riders were getting off at a station next to a ski resort.

I took this picture out the window on the opposite side of the train. The white streak in the sky is a reflection on the window, not a UFO.