Kara visits Indianapolis

Today I visited Indianapolis.  That's a long word, huh?  My friend and I are at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where the annual Indy 500 is held every May.  The speedway was built over a hundred years ago.  The rectangular track is two and half miles long.  For the Indy 500 the cars make 200 laps to go distance of 500 miles.  The record for one lap around is just under 38 seconds.  I was so exited that I ran a lap around the track, it only took me two hours!  Now I am going to crash.

Kara in Morgantown

On Sunday, my friend  and I went on another marathon adventure.  This time in Morgantown, West Virginia.  Morgantown is hilly and has tons of trees.  You can see part of the basketball coliseum for West Virginia University behind me.  It was so much fun.  Now I am at the Minneapolis, St. Paul Airport getting ready to go back home.  I had a lot of fun and I am sad to leave, but I am also exited to go home.  I hope to go on my next journey soon. Till next time! Ciao!

Kara in Ohio

I am on my first adventure, and I am so excited.  I am in Dayton, Ohio, the birthplace of aviation.  Today I went to the Air Force marathon.  My friend took me along to the National Air Force Museum.  It was so awesome to see all the amazing planes, while doing my favorite thing...running!
I loved the marathon, but now I am really tired.  I need a massage.  Till next time; good night!

Kara

Hi, My name  is Kara.  I am named after the cross country star Kara Goucher. I love to travel, run and read.  My favorite food is bacon!  I also LOVE M&M 's  I am pretty sure I am the worlds biggest M&M eater.  I am super excited for my first Journey OHIO, the buckeye state!  All the other passing dolls say my first trip will be amazing, and I believe them.  Maybe I will even fit in some running!

Visiting Nijo Castle

Today we arrived in Kyoto.  The first thing we did was go to Nijo castle.  Nijo castle is a place that the Shogun stayed in.  Shogun are like guards,  the literal translation being military commander.  The castle had a hand built stone stone wall all around it.  The wall was built using no cement or mortar but using rocks shaped so that they were snug together.
The entrance gate to Ninomaru palace (the main part of the castle)  was decorated with gigantic birds and patterns made out of REAL GOLD.  Inside Ninomaru palace there were floors lined with tatami that squeaked when someone stepped on it so the shogun could easily detect intruders.   I thought that the Nijo castle was really cool, and someone must have really thought out the structure to make it beautiful and  functional and it so amazing that everything was made by HAND!  It was so amazing to explore the castle and if you ever get the chance to visit it it would be something that I would really recommend.

Hiroshima Peace Park

Today We visited Hiroshima peace park.  When we got there we visited the Sadako statue.  Sadako is a true story about a girl that got sick from radiation from the atomic bomb that the Americans dropped on Hiroshima when she was a baby.  Sadako had an illness called leukemia, which is a form of cancer.  Sadako's good friend told Sadako a story about someone  that got there wish after they folded one thousand cranes.  So sadako folded crane after crane bestowing her wish to get better on each and every crane  until she had folded ONE THOUSAND cranes!  But Sadako did not overcome her battle against leukima and soon died.  

Her classmates decided to honor Sadako by building  statue of her holding a giant crane.  People still make cranes to hang at Sadako's statue.  And I decided to make cranes to hang too!

making cranes to take to Sadako

  

After hanging our cranes, we headed to Hiroshima peace memorial museum.  Inside were displays of clothing, toys and buildings that were destroyed by the bomb.  The museum was really interesting but also very sad.  Today we had a great outing I really learned a lot and it was an amazing experience but I would not recommend the museum for very young children.

Settling in at Hiroshima

Today was our first day in Hiroshima.  After taking the ferry to Miyajima Island, which is where we are going to stay, we stopped at a Okonomiyaki restaurant.  They made the Okonomiyaki right in front of us on a griddle.  At this restaurant they made the Okonomiyaki Hiroshima style which is pancakes with vegetables and other things inside.  It was delicious!
After the yummy snack we walked in the sun looking for our ryokan.  A ryokan is a traditional hotel where you sleep on the ground and the floor is covered with grass mats called tatami mats.
The island is a little town.  There is a large torii in the water near the temple, there is a large pagoda, a long shopping street full of stores and restaurants.  The most surprising thing about the island are the deer.  They roam around the island freely, everywhere.
Finally, we found the ryokan and settled in. We tried on our yukata, which are summer kimonos, before going on a hike. The scenery on the hike was  beautiful.  There were big rocks, green moss and trees all around. It was very peaceful.
It was a very busy day today.  The hike was a really nice refresher.

On my way to the ryokan where I will be staying  I found some friends!

View on the hike.

Torii

The deer likes me!

Okonomiyaki Yumm!