We woke up at 6:30 and were on the road at 7. Peanut, Bean and Heath went back to sleep in the van and we drove an hour and a half before stopping for gas and breakfast.
We stopped at a giant truck stop that had a really good bakery so we got breads, donuts and other pastries. The stop also had a Starbucks and we had a great meal. Then we got back on the road.
We drove hard until after noon when we started to see Mt. Fuji through the trees here and there.
One of the coolest parts of the drive up the mountain was a stretch of road with the rumble strips on it. The strips were set in just a way that the car played a song about Mt Fuji as we drove up. It was a really cool surprise. We were excited to drive up as far as we could but we stopped near the bottom for some photos.
There are 10 stations going up the side of the mountain and you can drive to the 5th one. 
We parked there with all the other tourists and started wondering around all the shops and stuff. It was pretty busy. After checking it out we started our hike.
It was totally unplanned for but we were looking around and decided to head up the trail a bit. Then we decided to head a bit farther and before we knew it we were hiking the volcano.
It was quite obvious that it was a volcano because the rock was all black and crunchy.
(we were hiking inside of clouds)
We saw a bit of snow and the hikers thinned out as we went. We stopped a few times and talked about having no snacks or water and each time decided to go a bit farther to the next curve we saw or structure.
Eventually we made it to station 6 before turning around.
It was a good spot to stop as the trail looked really steep after it and we were all pretty hungry and thirsty.
We headed down pretty quick and had some water and snacks at the car.
Then we drove down the mountain and picked up some food and drinks at a grocery store then went to our cabin in the woods.
The cabin was across the street from a big lake that had a great view of the mountain.
It was a cheap little place with just a room and 5 mats to sleep on and a deck with a picnic table on it. It was perfect for us.
We headed down to the lake and got our toes wet. We opened some wine and watched the boats and mountain.
A swan came to visit and we gave him some chips.
Kentaro tried to tease him and the swan honked at him and bit at his toe. It was really funny.
It started to get dark so we headed to the cabin and ate some dinner and hung out on the deck.
We played a game of Monopoly on the iPad then Peanut and Bean went to bed and we had some more wine and beer. We played Pictionary on the iPad and talked and drank until bedtime.
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