Sunday morning, after a night of battling with lanterns (I promise to write about it as soon as I get pictures and videos up), Kris and I were faced with our usual problem: what to explore. We talked about many great spots in Tokyo, a spontaneous road trip, or flying to China. Unfortunately the latter would require becoming mysteriously ill for a whole week, thus rendering both of us “unfit for work” temporarily. As generally honest people, we crossed China off the options list.
After debating over a fantastic homemade breakfast (admit it Kris) we landed on going for a random road trip in search of snow.
Ever since my snow discovery two weeks ago, I can’t get winter sports out of my head. I look at snowboarding gear at least twice a day now. Needless to say, I was down for perpetuating my snow addiction.
We drove 2.5 hours north, dancing to Carly Rae and getting overly excited as the snowcapped mountains came into view. We headed up into the same pass that defeated me only two weeks earlier. This time, the roads had been plowed and there was no recent snowfall, making it possible for my all-season tires.
Up and over we went. Kris was rather non-plussed as he’d been in winter wonderland Hakuba just 8 months ago. I, on the other hand, couldn’t contain my excitement. We passed two open ski slopes!
After passing into Gunma, we stopped at a lake slowly freezing over to enjoy some of the early winter scenery. I was pelted with not one, but three tiny snowballs. Being a Florida girl, the concept of picking up snow with my bare hands is beyond me. Fight or flight kicked in and I resorted to flight.
The pass took us by Nikko’s famous Chuzenji lake just as the sun was setting and the lights of the town were appearing. There was a fine layer of snow over the ground, adding to the mystical quality of this historical spot.
Achievement unlocked: In search of snow.
The Girl In Translation 
Snow scenes look early for ski mountains to be open. Must be some serious snowmaking equipment on those slopes.