Miyazaki Trip Day One

I leapt out of bed at 6am, and even though I failed at the attempt to just get up and get straight in the car, I did manage to get us all ready and in the car by 7:15. One stop by Daddy's shop and we were on the road. The Golden Week crowds were non-existent. The first part of the trip was a breeze - the express way to Oita. The next section started out with a beautiful two-lane brand-new road, and I thought I was set - then the lovely road very abruptly ended and suddently I was winding up a steep mountain village. Think Mt Messenger only with a narrower road, and three times as long. Following the mountain was a gorge, very beautiful, with tall tress overhanging the road and the sunlight dappling through. We stopped at a convenience store outside Taketa, where I bought the girls a coloring book each, and we ate our bacon and egg pie and chocolate milk/milk coffee. I found the next road without a problem and soon we were again winding over a narrow forested mountain road. Here is the bus stop out there in the middle of the mountains: