Ode to pops......

 Wow! Laying eyes on the Peace Memorial Statue in Nagasaki was thought-provoking.

This tells of a prison that used to be on these grounds before........

.....the atomic bomb was dropped. Now all that is left is partial foundations.

A very brief look towards downtown. Ritsue had another busy day planned for us.

Ground zero. The bombing was on August 9th, 1945, 3 days after the Hiroshima bombing.

Sigh.....

Remains of the Urakami Cathedral.......

The next picture explains this picture.

Woman and child statue....

.....beautiful flowers divide the stairways around the park. (yes, made the climb, uh climbs)

A morning to reflect, then back on the road.....good-bye Nagasaki.

......heading past the Ariake Sea towards........

......the naval base in Sasaebo.

It was hard to get a good look from the streets outside of the base, which is shared by the United States Seventh Fleet and Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.

There wasn't much chance of getting in for a tour, but it was a special moment for me just as well.

Trying to think what it must of been like back in the 1950's. (Maybe one of the old barracks?)

Took the steps up to......

...the Tenkaiho Observatory.

....it's too bad it was such a hazy day. Also too bad that the trees and bushes were so high and overgrown on the other side that I couldn't see down to the Naval base.

That's okay, it was quite an honor to be at the place my dad was stationed at as the Canadian Naval Liaison Officer in 1954. So proud.

Not enough daylight left to make it back to Hiroshima, so we spent an evening in Fukuoka. Headed out for a bite......

.....and a beer!

We did (well the girls did) bbq (yakiniku, you know) our own food, so good.....

....and such a fun environment. (as you can tell by our drinking glasses!)

....if ever in Fukuoka......

..... morning view of downtown.

Heading home, there's Shimonoseki City, going back across........

...the Kanmon Kaikyo bridge.

We made a stop at to see the famous Ruriko-ji pagoda in Yamaguchi City, but alas, major renovations  were in progress.

Wow, in Japan they have drivers like those in Vancouver???? (No, it's not me!)