Hokkaido...Unexpected Encounters with...

I was busy this summer because of my job.

So, I managed to take a late summer vacation last week, and visited Furano, Hokkaido. 

The island of Hokkaido is located at the north end of Japan, near Russia. 

Japan is a small country but has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 126 million people.  So, we generally cannot see sceneries without any houses or buildings, but in Hokkaido, we can. You can enjoy the magnificence of nature there.

During our stay, it was chilly and my breath was turned into white smoke in the cold air.
Seeing the landscape go by from our car window, found some yellow flowers blooming...
Took a look at flowers getting off the car...

OMG! 

It was a sunflower field!!!

Couldn't believe that I ran into a sunflower field in such a chilly weather!!!

Aside from a sunflower field, we got  unexpected chances to see beautiful scenes...

Blue Pond

The blue color of the pond has not been fully explained. But they say it is attributed to the presence of aluminum hydroxide in the water that reflects the shorter wavelength blue light the same way the earth’s atmosphere does. 

Visited many flower farms and private gardens. I'll share other photos of them, later. 

Ran into a wild fox!!!

 In my next post I'll share photos of Hokkaido, again:)

Thank you for stopping by!

Napa Valley...Yountvill & Winery Tour...

We had a free time on a business trip to Napa Valley, CA, U.S.A, so decided to join a winery tour.

Visited Robert Mondavi Winery which is one of the most famous wineries in Napa Valley.

Very beautiful grounds and helpful staff.

 Our tour guide, did a great job of explaining the various wine growing regions of California, taking us in the vineyard.

After the winery tour, we visited a small town, Yountvill, which is located a　30-minute drive away by car from Robert Mondavi.

Looove these planted zone!!!

 
The golden grass, I don't know its name, but they were beautifully waved by the wind!

Found an interesting plants zone, too:)

Look at a sign below!

ROCK MUSHROOM GARDEN?

What's that???

These mushrooms were all made of stones!!! What an interesting plant!!!

And I also found an unique tree. 

Can you see the green object along the wall of the restaurant?

It must be a conifer!

Enjoyed strolling around this town, want to visit Napa, again:-)

Napa Valley...The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa...

I went on a business trip to Napa Valley, CA, U.S.A. We had a certain event at this lovely hotel.

The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa is over 80 years old, which has a beautiful garden.

When we arrived there, Japanese anemones, my favorite flowers, were in full bloom and welcomed us:)

Looking at the picture below, you might notice something related to Napa.

YES, I think these chairs are made from wine casks!

We experienced a big earthquake during our stay here.

The 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit at about 3:20 am, which made me feel a shiver of fear...

Some part of the ceiling in the hotel lobby was broken and...

chimney on the roof was, too...

It was scary but fortunately, we were all safe and the event next morning was held as scheduled.

After the event, we could have a free time, and we went out of this hotel.

Traffic lights were went out due to the earthquake,which made our drive tricky:)

I'll post where we visited, soon!