Long Drive

　　The ten days' spring vacation was given to me and I decided to drive my car for a distance of 2500 ~ 3000km to Hokkaido. A wonderful function equipped with my car to  automatically keep the car-to-car distance constant will help me drive for a long time.
　　Why Hokkaido? My youngest daughter will start to work as a doctor-in-training in Hokkaido and I wanted to see her hospital and residence. Naturally I'm able to take her possessions to her apartment. She was allowed to choose her workplace from across the country, and she picked Hokkaido. I undoubtedly assume that she was attracted by the snow in Hokkaido. She has been to the Canadian ski resort of Whistler three times and now is mad about skiing. Anyway, now, I really want her to become a trusted doctor. My daughter has just flown to Hokkaido today and my wife accompanied her to help her with chores. I'll pick my wife up in Hokkaido the day after tomorrow and return to my hometown in several days.
　　There are several ways to Hokkaido from here. I made a ferry reservation from Maizuru City in Kyoto to Otaru City in Hokkaido. The ferry will leave Maizuru at midnight. Starting from my home tomorrow morning, I'll surely reach Maizuru City in time, but I want to see around Maizuru City. So I leave tonight and move to Osaka by an overnight ferry, which will save half a day and I can enjoy sightseeing in Maizuru City.
　　The following picture was shot last December, when changing tires to winter ones. I had the winter tires of my car checked here before starting for the snow country, though winter tires are now usually changed to summer ones in my hometown. Just like I have written other trip memos before, I'm writing this article after coming back, recalling the trip.