For the Veterans day holiday I took the family out to Shosenkyo in Yamanashi for camping and to see some fall colors. Melina really liked the new experience of camping and sleeping in a tent. She also liked picking up all the fallen leaves from around the tent and bringing them inside the tent. Near the campsite there was a place for apple picking, and even though in Japan it costs more to pick your own apples than it does to just buy them, we all picked some fresh apples. Also near the campsite we found a fancy restaurant that had cats everywhere around it… which of course we decided to go to for dinner. The food and atmosphere were great, and since it was the middle of the week we were the only ones there. On the way to the gorge, we stopped by some temples and took a short hike from the dam to a large waterfall. Afterwards, we took the Shosenkyo ropeway and from the top enjoyed the view and did another short hike to Rakanji Peak. For lunch we enjoyed the Yamanashi specialty of Houtou, although Melina prefered to chew on the table instead. Finally, we took a long walk down the gorge itself and enjoyed all beautiful fall colors, waterfalls, and rock formations.

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