Northern Honshu Road Trip Day 1

Last weekend I packed up the kids and hit the road.  This is my kind of trip, wherever the road leads.  There is a fighter jet base in Misawa and that was my planned home base to explore from.
Early on a Friday morning we headed out with only 1 planned stop en route to Misawa.  Yamadera is a famous cliffside temple that has beautiful views over the valley below.  About halfway to Misawa, it seemed like a good resting place.

The hike to the top was very beautiful, but involved about 1500 steps.

In the peak of fall it would have been breathtaking

Main entrance gate at the top of the mountain

Enjoying the view

Valley below

Not sure what all these said, but were very interesting to everyone else.

Yamadera shrine

Shrine at the base of the mountain

posing

The boys were not anxious to get back in the van, so we played in this stream for a long time.

Very clear and refreshing, it was hard to say no

We finally arrived at Misawa at about 8, only to not have a room at the inn.  We had a campout in the van all night, and were ready to go bright and early the next day.