Traveling out of the country is always an adventure, and this trip to Japan has certainly been one. After our flight to Tokyo was delayed for 3-hours, our huge clan including Jeff Russell, Kailub Russell, Trevor Russell, Tanner Coombs, Chandler Welborm, Krista Shaw and myself boarded the plane for the 12-hour flight. The plane ride was rather uneventful, and without a doubt we were all ready to get off the plane. What we didn’t realize was that a 4-hour bus ride awaited us as soon as we landed!
In Tokyo we met JNCC president Masami Hoshino and Kailub’s mechanic David “Hollywood” Cripe as well as Randy Hawkins and his wife Kathy. Since our flight was so late, we would be driving into the early morning hours instead of the night, and were also forced to stay at a smaller hotel as the resort we had reservations at would be closed by the time we got there.
At 2am we made it to our hotel, and everyone hit the sack. We were up early for breakfast, then headed to the Cheese Nuts Park race facility to check out the track. After that, we headed for a sushi lunch, then a tour of a Japanese castle and a saki factory. We’re now all settled in at our hotel and full from a 5-course dinner and about to hit the sack. Tomorrow we get to practice for a couple of hours on a shortened version of the race track. Stay tuned for more updates and riding photos tomorrow as we’ll meet up with Josh Strang and his crew at the track.
