While stopped to photograph the National Park sign, I met a fellow cyclist. His name is Kaji san and he's an ex-Navy Aviator. He was on his way to the same campground and invited me to join him and his coworker friends for some seafood curry. It turned out to be much more than just that. It was an all out Hokkaido experience! Including Kaji san there were 12 people. There was Shiho san, a young woman who studdied and worked in Florida for four years. Shiho's English is excellent! There was Manabu Doumae san, Hidetsugu Murakami san, Rieko Kawate san. And then there was another Rieko with her little boy and girl, Eriko Wakabayashi san, Kanako Fujita san, and finally Koji Uehara san - leader of the pack. Uehara san was warm, welcoming and has such a likeable face.