Day 1 of My Trip to Iwate

When I was a child, I thought I wanted to see the Chagu Chagu Umakko festival.
The June page of the calendar I got from Yakult featured the Chagu Chagu Umakko,
with Mount Iwate and horses dressed in traditional costumes,
set against a rural landscape.
It captured my heart. For many years, the calendar in my parents' house was the one we received from Yakult, and as I gazed at it, I would think, 'Someday, when I grow up, I want to see the real thing.'
Now that I am actually an adult and have both money and free time,
I was finally able to see the Chagu Chagu Umakko in person.

Now, for this trip,
I decided to go with friends who are members of a podcast called '5-Point Friends.' It all started with a casual remark I made: 'I want to go see the Chagu Chagu Umakko.'

Naturally, most people would ask, 'What's that?', but the reaction from these two was different.
'That sounds great! I want to go!!'

Since meeting these two at a 5-Point Friends gathering, we've had quite a lot of interaction, like going to see the Haniwa exhibition at the National Museum,
hanging out in Takasaki, and eating gyoza in Utsunomiya.
Furthermore, they are train enthusiasts and live in Tokyo,
and since we all love traveling, we hit it off immediately. I never imagined that the interaction between three middle-aged women who met on the internet (X) would turn into something like this, seriously.
We are Team Oba-3 (Three Middle-Aged Women).

Now, about this Iwate trip,
it started in Morioka.
I have so much I want to say,
but first, our accommodation was the Kita Hotel.
I booked this. I did it while we were waiting in line for gyoza with the three of us in Utsunomiya.
After that, we couldn't meet for a while due to busy seasons, but we kept in touch on X.
Finally, in the middle of May, while the two of them were eating curry at a fancy curry shop in Tokyo,
they booked the Shinkansen tickets on Ekinet (apparently).
I was the only one joining from Omiya, and I was wondering how to get seats together, but as expected of two seasoned travelers, they are different.

Ah... I see. You don't usually book the middle seat unless it's really crowded, do you...
As someone from Gunma who doesn't ride trains very often, I truly respected them.

Since it was early in the morning, I had them buy a Chicken Bento at Tokyo Station. After all, at 6:00 AM at Takasaki Station, only convenience stores are open,
and I really wanted to eat an ekiben (station bento).
I arrived at Omiya Station.
We safely reunited on the Hayabusa train.

The three of us arrived at Morioka Station, dropped our luggage at the hotel, and headed off to the Chagu Chagu Umakko.

They regulate traffic to let the horses pass through the main street in front of Morioka Station, and I was surprised at how smooth it was.
I was impressed by the thoroughness: they swept up the horse droppings with a broom, put them into a cleaning vehicle, and then a water sprinkler truck washed the road.

The cool sound of bells
Glittering costumes
I was so thrilled by the cute little kids and the horses
It was wonderful... I was moved

After that, the three middle-aged ladies did some serious sightseeing in Morioka city and checked into the hotel
In the evening, we met up with our five local friends
Dinner

That's the end of the first day

Having walked over 20,000 steps, we collapsed into bed

There's also a second day with a side note, haha