遠い親戚の北山さんが川中島から桃を売りに来ました。裏の駐車場に臨時的な屋台を開きました。私の地元のワシントン州も桃の産地ですが、川中島の桃が負けない！今はちょうどピークです。Juicyで美味しいです。
Our distant relative Kitayama-san came by today with several crates of peaches from the Kawanakajima growing district. He set up a mini-shop in our back parking lot. My home state of Washington is also a major peach producer, but the peaches from Kawanakajima sure can't be beat for taste -- they're so nice and juicy! And right now they're in their peak!
亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website

若若女将の美咲ちゃんの最近の好きな遊びが亀清のロビーに太鼓をたたく事。意外に上手です。将来は地元の冠着太鼓に入るかな？

Our daughter Misaki's favorite things to play with now are the taiko drums in our lobby. She's got surprisingly good rhythm. Maybe someday whe will join our town's Kamuriki Taiko group.

亀清旅館のHPはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website

シカゴから来たDavisさん達を駅に迎えに行ったら、面白い形の荷物を持っていました。中身はサクソホーンとトランペットでした。頼んでみたら、亀清のロビーで演奏してくれました。お客様の皆が大喜び。（うちの子供達も；長男のAndyがピアノを弾いて、一緒にジャムした。）
When I picked up the Davis' at the station, I noticed they had some odd-shaped bags. Inside were a saxophone and a trumpet. I asked if they'd be interested in performing in our lobby, and they happily agreed to do so. And what a performance it was. All of our other guests gathered, and we got to enjoy some real Chicago Jazz. Our kids really liked it, especially our oldest son, Andy. He got to jam with them on the piano.

我が娘の美咲ちゃんを連れて、亀清の裏の中央公園のブランコで遊びました。そうすると、こんなに可愛い笑顔してくれました。

I took our daughter Misaki to the park behind Kamesei. We played on the swings, and judging by her big smile, she really enjoed it!

今朝に亀清のロビーを見れば驚きました：ベビーカーは何と４つが駐車してありました。（まあ、１つは我が美咲ちゃんの）。やはり夏休みと言う事で子供連れのお客様が多い訳です。亀清の雰囲気はさらに「アットホーム」に。

I was a little surprised this morning when I looked at our lobby and saw 4 baby strollers parked. (Well, one of them is our Misaki's.) You can definitely tell it's summer vacation -- a lot of our guests are here with their children. Kamesei's 'at-home' feel is becoming even more so!

亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website

先週に泊まった森田様からこの川越の駄菓子を頂きました。我が娘が大喜び。森田さんが亀清旅館の伝統的な良さを気に入っていただいた様でこの伝統的な駄菓子を送っていただきました。有難うございました！
（注：他のお客さんから最近に言われましたが、「青い目の若旦那はいいけど、亀清の本当のスターは若若女将の美咲ちゃんだ！」と。その訳でもないですが、美咲ちゃんの写真をまた提供いたしますので宜しくお願い致します。）

We got a gift in the mail from a guest, Morita-san, who stayed at our inn last week. She sent us traditional 'dagashi' sweets and toys from Kawagoe. Our daughter Misaki enjoyed playing with the toys. Apparently Morita-san enjoyed Kamesei Ryokan's traditional feel enough to send us these traditional 'dagashi'.
(Note: One of our recent guests commented that it's nice Kamesei has this American innkeeper, but the real star is their daughter, Misaki. So, here is another picture of her!)

亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website

我が若若女将と、お客様の斎脇さん達の長男が亀清旅館の中庭を楽しく見ていました。可愛い姿で庭の鯉や亀達を見ていました

Our daughter and the Saiwaki's son stopped to gaze at our Naka-Niwa garden together. They were so cute, watching the pond's koi and turtles swim around.

亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan's website

夏で外の気温が大分高くなりました。そのせいか、亀清旅館のお風呂の温度もこのごろ、暑く感じています。窓を開けて空気を通していて、なるべく対応しております。でも、人それぞれなので悲しい事はこの間のお客さんが「暑くて結局は入れなかった」と言う残念なコメントが入りました。今日も外の温度が３０℃より上がっているので気になっていましたからお風呂の温度を計りました。結果は：
小さい内風呂：４１℃
大きい内風呂：４０℃
露天風呂：３９℃
他の温泉地の４５～４６℃と比較すればまだ入りやすい温度ではないかと思います。入る瞬間は暑く感じるかもしれませんが、入ってしまえば大丈夫と思います。特に、露天風呂ですね。皆様、どうぞ、お入りになってください！
With it being summer, the outside temperature is climbing. Maybe that's to blame for our onsen baths feeling a little hot. We try to cool the baths down a bit by keeping the windows open and letting air circulate. But we received an unfortunate comment back from one guest who said she never was able to get in because it felt so hot. Today's temperature is in the 30's (C), so with concern, I checked the baths' temperatures, with the following results:
Small Indoor Bath: 41C
Large Indoor Bath: 40C
Outdoor Bath: 39C
Those temperatures are a lot more reasonable to handle than the 45~46 C of some other onsens. Our baths may feel hot to the touch, but after you get in and soak, the temperature should feel soothing. I hope everyone can come and enjoy our baths!

亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website

このごろは温度が段々と高くなってきています。我が若若女将が亀清の玄関でプールを入りだしました！
As my Grandpa used to say, it's hotter than a witch's ***! Perfect weather for a dip in the pool. Our Misaki got to do so at our front entrance.

女将社長の「あっ！」と言う声で飛んで行ったら、中庭の池から逃げた亀が亀清の廊下を歩いていた。お風呂へ行こうとしていたかな？

Our Okami-san screamed, and I went to go see what happened. It turned out one of our turtles from the naka-niwa garden koi pond had escaped and was walking down Kamesei's corridor. Maybe making a break for the mineral bath?

亀清旅館のＨＰはこちらClick here for Kamesei Ryokan website