I had to squeeze in a day for snow, and day 21 was finally that day. My sister had never seen seen snow up till that day, and this was only my second trip where I’d seen snow, my first being a trip to Europe when I was much younger. So yes, taking time to travel and play in the snow was absolutely necessary, even if it meant missing other attractions  (Disney sea sigh).

We had decided to take the local train instead of the shinkansen to save money, but that meant a 3 hour journey north, so we had to set out earlier than normal. We also didn’t really have a specific spot we wanted to go to, and so I basically googled the nearest ski areas (even though we weren’t planning to ski). The one I found was called the oana ski area and it seemed like a relatively unknown area.

The train ride there was actually enjoyable (though too long) as we got a wonderful view of the passing towns and country sides. When we arrived there we decided to walk around until we found a suitable area to play with the snow.

The area seemed to be more of a residential area. There were rows of houses lined along a pretty river.

And then we saw it; a massive field with a ton of snow. It was beside a large house and we were a bit worried about intruding into someone’s back yard, but there were no barricades and it just seemed like an empty plot of land. The people in the house actually looked out of the window at us a few times but didn’t seem to mind (or care enough to tell us to stop).

And then came the fun part- doing all the stuff we’ve only ever seen on TV! Throwing snowballs at each other, making snow angels, throwing snow up in the air like those instagramers, you know, the usual stuff.

Snow angels are great and all but let’s be real- snow is for making snowmen. We couldn’t leave without making one. Somehow it had never registered in our heads that making a snowman is hard work. We didn’t even have a shovel but we were committed to making the best snowman ever.

Okay it’s not the best snowman ever but at least it’s cute. We walked around the area for a bit to find early dinner and explore. Unfortunately, the only place selling food was beside the station itself, so we settled for whatever we could find. We then started heading back since it was a rather quiet area and we had a 3 hour journey ahead of us. But at least we got a nice break from all the walking we had been doing.