Uniquely Theo

July 31, was a travel day. I was leaving Acadia National Park and I was somewhat dreading the drive. I was headed down to Cape Cod and if I wanted to arrive the same day I probably would need to travel I-95, a road I have dreaded driving forever-and-a-day. So after a somewhat halting drive down route 3 with many one lane construction stopping points and way too many pokey Sunday drivers, the projected arrival time kept getting later and later. Since I would rather get there in the light of day and definitely before midnight, I changed course and opted to travel I-95 much to the gruesomeness of this choice. Definition of I-95 by Miriam-Webster: major highway on East Coast epitomized by construction, bottlenecks, congestion, heavy commercial traffic, urban crawl. True to the depiction by the esteemed Webster, traffic remained solid (recall this is a Sunday) through the whole corridor from Bangor ME until I veered off towards Cape Cod. Getting around Boston seemed like something that I feared would give me night mares. Of course, once off I-95 the traffic on the other main highways, mostly limited access, remained heavy and crawling along like a centipede. My anxiety barometer dipped to zero once I pulled in to the driveway of the friends I was visiting for a few days. I got a warm greeting from Lynn and Connie, but a totally ballistic greeting from their dogs Ava and Sophie, but especially Ava. Ava decided I was her person and her company and she would escort me every step of the way during this visit.

Lynn and I set out on a tour each day of a portion of Upper Cape Cod making the rounds of Woods Hole, North and West Falmouth, Cataumet, and Bourne during the visit. So on August 1, a hike through the Cornelia Carey Sanctuary to The Knob in Quissett Harbor was first-rate: ’twas an easy but not too easy 1.25 mile hike peppered with a few tripping roots and stumbling rocks. The “hill” juts out into the water with marvelous views of Buzzards Bay. What a disappointment to not see overhead any buzzards (this bays namesake). But I got over this great disappointment and thoroughly enjoyed views of the harbor and then a meander on through Chapoquoit Beach and downtown Falmouth. It was a touristy day well spent and then an evening of good food, good chatter and watching the Olympics.

August 2 was another warm steamy day on the Cape. I keep hearing that this heat and humidity is unusual on the Cape and there are usually cooler off shore breezes. Can I trust this depiction since most weather services and people reporting the weather are quite often wrong. The temperature was 9 degrees above average and humidity 80%. It actually felt like I was back in a Florida summer and was panting away to catch a breath, fleeting that it was! It felt like there was so much “water” filling my lungs as we set out to walk a couple of miles on the Cape Cod Canal Trail. To my delight when we pulled into the parking lot, before me was a vertical lift railroad bridge, the second longest lift bridge in the United States. I imagine my readers have been hoping I would be over my bridge obsession. NOT! since having been introduced to this type of bridge when in Duluth in July and having come across several since (Duluth MN, Ranier WI, Hannock MI, Cape Cod MA,). There are according to Wikipedia about 85 of these bridges in the USA and something I have not ever had awareness about. I have walked across the Steel Bridge, a double-deck vertical-lift bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, but had no clue of the type or history of this structure.

We headed up the Canal Path towards the Bourne Bridge and in spite of sweating profusely (clearly I am not acclimated to hot humid weather), the walk was enjoyable with vistas of the canal and maritime traffic. Walking into the cooling effect of the wind on our return was welcomed but more importantly, I was fully engaged in seeing the lift bridge train bed lowering. It lives and feels at home in the up position (it is in the down position for active roads) until the occasional train approaches and then lowers to ground level. I just find it fascinating to witness the lifting up and down of a roadway or railroad track.

You would think I would be totally satisfied with the days activities and my energy spent observing the bridge lowering adventure (obsessions take a lot of energy), but we went onto prowling the Dimmick Waterfront Scenic Vista, a delightful spot to view a wetland. I figured it was necessary to get my feet wet in a wetland so prowled through the reeds to get a better view of Cataumet area harbor. Lynne copped out having no need for wet muddy feet.

I was delighted to find that this part of the Cape has not only rocky coastline and marshes but also sandy beaches and picturesque harbors. I had been to Provincetown years ago and this area is much more peaceful and quiet. So an afternoon adventure involved all of us (includes puppy friends) touring around by the Megasnett Beach and Nye’s Neck harbor with a contrasting mix of GRAY weathered cottages and weathered cedar shake sided mansions, many of which were all decked out in fringes of purple hydrangeas.

August 3rd was another humid day (91% humidity) but not to be daunted and yearning for another drenching sweat adventure, Lynn and I were off on a hike on the Shining Sea Bike Path through the Great Sippewissett Marsh. I just love the sound of some of the Cape Cod names. My appetite was not thoroughly whetted (groan) by now but our tour of West Falmouth was less sweaty because we stayed in the car for a drive by of the Town Dock.

These of course are the highlights but lovely times were spent visiting friends, walking their neighborhood, enjoying meals together, and watching the Olympics AND loving their dogs

On August 4th, I bade farewell to friends and traveled to Philly to visit my son Nick for a few days. Fortunately I left early enough to not get caught in the notorious bottleneck that befalls many a driver using the Bourne Bridge (NOT a vertical lift bridge). As anticipated the I-95 adventure was not for the feint of heart. I was needing to be on high alert for the aggressive and erratic drivers, the sudden lane changes, the tailgaters, the road work, the choked traffic at the George Washington Bridge (this is a sub-plot in itself with the merging traffic, tolls, and the lane jockeys out to win the race to somewhere.) I again was flabbergasted by the New Jersey Turnpike and its 5 lanes. Seems last time I was on it, it was 2 lanes. Somehow I ended up exiting (don’t know how that happened) and heading into Newark airport. Ugh! I finally found a way to get back on but ended up going through the E-Zee Pass lane (I have no E-Zee pass) so had to pay the whole length of the turnpike fare even though I paid the first portion when I accidentally exited and then contact the authority when I get a bill for my travel blunder. Lesson learned. Get a receipt! Fortunately I have been to Philadelphia often enough that I wasn’t too flummoxed by getting to my son’s home in the Art Museum District (Hi Rocky). I spent several days there and this was mostly a time for rest and recuperation from the first month of cross country travel. Mostly enjoyed family time with Nick and Miriam (Luke was in Australia) , Nick’s garden exploits (I forgot to get a picture of his massive zucchinis) , puzzle working, city walks on decrepit sidewalks, and going to see the movie Inside Out 2 and being the only ones in the theatre. All of the above in addition to Carmel, the star of the show who loved sleeping with me every night. Can’t say I did much in the line of picture taking.