Sunday Trip

Saturday night, we do the ironing, prepare our backpacks with diapers, scriptures, church manuals, and any other things we need to take. We prepare food and put it in the fridge for Sunday's lunch. On Sunday, we get up at 5:45 and get ready for church. We get Kelsey up at around 6:20 or 6:30 and eat breakfast as we make the final preparations. While she's eating, I take her porta-crib down and put it on a fold-up dolly. Once we've eaten and gotten Kelsey ready, we put on our backpacks and run down to the harbor to catch the 7AM ferry to Yuge. I put the porta-crib and dolly in the cargo hold of the ferry while Stef pushes Kelsey's stroller up a ramp and into the boat. Depending on Stef's mood, we either sit in the front of the boat or in the back. Lately, we've sat in the back due to the smoother ride.

For about 40 minutes, we travel northwest through the inland sea, crossing the wakes of gigantic shipping vessels. Kelsey's usually pretty well-behaved on the first boat. She's in a pretty good mood in the morning and enjoys running around from seat to seat and playing with people. We stop at Takaikami, a small island with a population of 50 or so, and another fishing island that has some expensive condos that famous people like to use. The sea is wide, and on a clear winter day, you can see its mountainous borders far in the distance. When we approach Yuge, we ride through a channel with tree-covered hills on both sides. At first, little Japanese houses are sprinkled throughout the trees, but the closer we get to Yuge, things change from quaint to industrious. Old rusted shipping yards, reminiscent of something off Star Wars' planet Tatooine, pop up all around. Arriving at Yuge, we pass under a bridge and head for the dock. Off in the distance, massive ship-building cranes line the shore.

Stef and Kelsey wait with our stuff on a bench under a brown metal arbor while I head up to the port office to buy tickets for our next boat. At 7:55, it shows up and I struggle to hand over our tickets to the boat worker while Stef pushes Kelsey up the ramp and into the boat. I have to lift the dolly and turn it sideways to fit the crib through the door. We usually sit somewhere up front. This boat turns around, goes around one island, and heads back southward, stopping a few times along the way. A few of the stops have big shipyards with gigantic boats in different states of the building process. The hour-long ride takes us along the coast of many different islands in the inland sea. On our right, we see beautiful forested mountains and hills. On our left, nothing but the sea and ships on the horizon.

Kelsey's patience (or perhaps our own) starts to grow thin with about 20 minutes left to go on the second boat. She tells Stef that she has to go to the bathroom. Stef has already taken her to the bathroom twice. It turns out that Kelsey has already filled her diaper this time. Stef changes Kelsey's diaper while we both try to shield Kelsey from sight and smell. Kelsey's got one diaper left after getting a fresh one, and I begin to wonder aloud whether that will be enough for the whole day. Stef assures me that things will be all right (she was right). It's not that I don't trust her motherly instincts. In fact, she's almost always right. It's just that I'm very cautious and always wanting to be prepared. Sometimes I let my good intentions get in the way of being a good husband.

We get to Imabari at 9:00 or so and pull all our stuff off the boat. I hand the boat attendant the receipt portion of our tickets and squeeze out the door with all the stuff. Stef puts Kelsey in the stroller and we head off to church. Typically, we walk straight to the chapel, which takes about 15 minutes. This time, we stop at Imabari Castle to take some pictures. We make it to church at 9:45, and the members are surprised to see us. We usually make it to the chapel by 9:15 or so, so they figured that we had missed our boat or otherwise couldn't come to church.

Kelsey usually naps through the last two hours of church. This time, however, she doesn't go to sleep. She screams and screams until Stef gives in and gets her up. Stef lets her play with the other kids while we attend out classes. We dread the trip home with a napless child.

Church ends, we get home taught by John Scott, and then the Scotts take us back to the port in their car. I buy tickets for the ferry home. Kelsey runs around the waiting lobby while we wait for 2:35 to come around so we can board the boat. Kelsey grows restless, so Stef takes her outside on a walk. The boat lowers its ramp and lets us in for the second half of our trip. It's all the same, but for a few differences. Kelsey is extremely tired and restless, but we've got the whole front section of the boat to ourselves. I see this as a blessing. Kelsey can run around and scream, and it won't bother anybody. To our left, we see the islands. To the right, the sea, with ships on the horizon. The weather has been very favorable, so the ride is smooth. We feel very fortunate.

Stef is surprised when we arrive at Yuge, because the ride somehow seemed shorter this time. We load our stuff off the boat, I hand over my ticket stubs and squeeze out the door. The Uoshima ferry is waiting across the same dock. I roll the crib up to the boat and toss it in the cargo hold. We'd like to lay in the back of the boat, but a group of elderly people are sprawled across the floor, napping. We go up front to find a place to sit. One of my coworkers from the town hall gives Kelsey a mikan (mandarin orange), and hands me another one. Kelsey gets excited and shouts "Ma-tan! Ma-tan!" She loves mikans. Stef peels it for her, but she only takes one bite of each slice and hands the remains to Stef. She's been doing that a lot lately. I finish off the uneaten halves of her mikan slices.

Kelsey is a bit restless, but rather than being cranky, she's wacky. We finally make it to Uoshima at 4:40 or so and head back to the house with all our stuff. Church back home seemed inconvenient sometimes--especially when I had to scrape ice off the windshield during the winter. But compared to this, that was cake. Somehow we find the strength to do this every week. It costs us about $100 a week. But we don't just do it to get it over with. We gladly go. No matter how grueling the trip is, deep down we know that we need this. Somehow, though it is physically draining, it is mentally, emotionally, and spiritually uplifting. I almost didn't go on Sunday, as I got almost no sleep Saturday night. Kelsey certainly would have napped had I stayed at home with her while Stef went to church. But I'm glad I went.