These train rides are becoming a regular week-end thing. Melba and I headed out to Yokota once again to visit with Ronda, Rene, and the kids. I believe I have the hang of it now, travel by rail in Japan I mean. The reason is that this time around no kind stranger approached me on the platform or the rail car to ask me if I needed help. On earlier excursions apparently my body language or facial expressions were a dead give-a-way that I didn't have a clue how to navigate the Japanese rail system. A milestone has been reached. Quiet confidence rests on my shoulders.Unfortunately, we only met with Rene for a short while. That afternoon he had to catch a flight to Dallas. He was to attend a week-long conference on Sheppard Air Force Base outside Wichita Falls, Texas. He wasn't looking forward to the hours-long bus ride to Tokyo-Narita Aiport and the 12-hour flight half-way-round the world. Their boy, Renie, was also away at a tennis tournament in Sasebo, almost 600 miles away at the far end of Japan, a great enough distance from Yokota to warrant speedy transportation on the Shinkansen, the famed bullet train..
It was too bad about Rene's absence. I would very much liked to have had a cold beer with the man that Saturday evening. Fortunately, Ronda prepared some Tex-Mex fare and so we shared a good dinner that evening, if not his company.
