a trip to cape cod

 we decided to have one last trip before the end of summer: we would camp on cape cod at a campground i've always wanted to try. however, my nephew has been staying on a beautiful pond through his work with the national park service, and he invited us to visit with him for the weekend. it wasn't too difficult to change our plans.

 however, it wasn't easy getting our bikes into the car. on the morning of the trip, i couldn't find our bicycle rack. perhaps we gave it away since we have a hatchback now, and not a trunk. morgana was insistent that we would be able to fit the bikes in the back of the car, and she was right. i was surprised, but also relieved. we were really looking forward to riding on the cape cod rail trail.

 thursday night we had a delicious dinner of organic hot dogs, cape cod potato chips (they took up the entire aisle in the stop and shop store in orleans!) and homemade cabbage/apple slaw that i had brought from home.

 we played three rounds of may i, and greg was extremely happy because he finally won a round (he was the last one to put his cards down, but the first one to finally go out).

 the beautiful pond my nephew is staying on. 

 i was calling this trip our "last beach hurrah" for the summer, but when i finally sat down in the sand chair, i realized that it was also our first beach hurrah. we really hadn't had any beach days all summer. we did take a dip in carmel, in california, but we hadn't sat on the beach there, or done any reading, knitting or napping. or eating! a true beach day consists of all of these things.

on this day i had my knitting, my reading (a book about the navajo and canyon de chelly) and my sandwich and tea and cookies.

paddleboards are the latest fad. chanda really enjoys them, but i still have to get more comfortable with them. while at the ocean, we saw a man go out and surf the waves. he did very well, and caught more rides than many of the surfers. i was surprised.

it felt so wonderful to be swimming. i could wake in the morning and go for a swim before breakfast!

 one of the reasons i wanted to visit the cape was to see chanda's photos on moby dick's wall. it was only just last summer that i finally gave the restaurant's owner the two photos she took of herself when in london at the royal ballet school's richmond campus in 2014.

 fried oysters, a baked potato and cole slaw.

the food is so good! moby dick's is one of our favorite restaurants. excuse me. it's the favorite restaurant.

i have more photos on my camera which i have yet to upload to the photo files on my computer.

a cape cod vacation post

early saturday morning over a week ago we packed up the freestyle, my dad's car which we're driving now. this car means a lot to me. that sounds funny to write! my dad was always generous with it and lent it to us for cape cod vacations. i also borrowed it from him when i went with the girls to saco bay, maine on a special trip through our unitarian universalist church at the time (fourth u). from there i drove us to marisa and tsering's house an hour south of burlington, vermont. i never used to like SUV cars until my dad got this one. i miss him so much that i love driving his car around. i get too attached to cars and give them human feelings. it's ridiculous . . but it's very real.

we hadn't looked through the bin between the two front seats before packing up the car. when i looked while driving on the road that saturday morning i found my mom and dad's old cds. here's connie francis . . 

and this is barry manilow . . 

 we took some back streets . . just because i like to take back streets!

 beautiful rhode island . . 

 passing through newport . . 

 making sure to stay on the path to the cape!

 finally! cape cod here we are!

 what did we do when we arrived? we jumped in the lake!

 our beautiful ballerina . . 

 our paradise for the week . . 

 two happy sisters but we do miss our lovely korrinabella so much! (she was hard at work in manhattan - but i missed her so much that i felt homesick. i wanted to text her and tell her about everything we were doing, but i didn't want to make her miss us - anyway . . korrina, if you're reading this now, we all missed you tremendously and i'm happy to try and coordinate a cape vacation with you anytime you say . . and i know aunt kathy and uncle warren feel the same.) (we also had this fun time with korrina in 2012 . . 2012!)

 my lake plant photos . . 

peaceful and serene . . 

 the next stop was our favorite restaurant in the world.

moby dick's!

in the height of summer there is always a line  . . . greg is reading don quixote . .

a beautiful sunset behind the restaurant by the salt pond . . 

 reading our books . . writing in our journals . . checking phone apps . . 

and eating delicious bay scallops!

back at the lake again the next morning . . !

 it was my turn to start reading the new harry potter play . .

morgana and i kept stealing the book from each other . . 

the perfect nap . . 

the perfect view . . 

checking instagram probably!

kathy and warren, jason and adam had one half of the cottage, and we had the other.

our deck of cards from the met museum, my pencil case and the getting started knitting socks book, which often follows me on vacations.

watermelon, organic hot dogs, cauliflower with brown butter, and avocado.

 checking out the strange planes flying overhead . . 

 and the next morning we went to the truro village green for their vegetable market . .

and had some coffee treats and lemon bar treats . . 

 on the way back to the cottage, we stopped at herridge's bookstore in wellfleet . . . 

 and then back down to the pond . .

 one of our favorite pastimes was making lunch up at the cottage and carrying it down to the lake on a plate.

 getting to see a double feature with their cousin at the drive-in theatre (finding dory and the secret life of dogs).

 the next day we visited the wellfleet library.

 greg found an old book to buy for $2. marjorie rawlings lived in cross creek, florida, not far from edgewater and new smyrna beach where he grew up.

 working on knitting projects (a birthday gift for deychen) down by the pond . .

 summer reading . .

kathy and warren brought their canoe . .

 later in the afternoon we went on a hike in truro . .

 ballston beach in truro . . in 1991 a north atlantic hurricane cut a one hundred foot opening in the narrow barrier dune and the sea water reached highway 6, briefly turning cape cod into an island. in the past century, several overwashes such as this have occurred, and each time the dunes have rebuilt themselves. these days, sand fencing and footpaths help to stabilize the dunes. thoreau walked these beaches in the mid 1800's, but there has been so much erosion, the beaches he walked would be several hundred feet out at sea. cape cod's outer beach erodes at 2.6 feet per year.

 this was once a commerical cranberry bog operated by the pamet company from 1892 to 1949. much of the work was done by immigrants who preferred working outside to working indoors in factories. they were paid by the box. after it was picked over for harvesting, local residents were invited in to pick the remaining berries. many of the immigrants were portuguese and would call evening dances in the cape verde crioulo language. we participated in one of these contra-dances on the pier later in the week.

 after our long, hot hike in truro we were ready for a swim! we visited our old haunts at indian neck . .

 several houses were very different looking but the beach remained the same.

it was very windy and the water was a bit chilly, but that didn't stop us. we had a wonderful swim and saw aunt kathy, uncle warren and jason from our swimming vantage point. they had also come down to visit their old stomping grounds.

 it's always a little bittersweet visiting indian neck because we miss our old fun times here so much . . but we're grateful for the new times.

 everything just keeps growing and changing . . it's one big spiral.

 

also, today, august 9th, was my dad's birthday. i felt sad thinking of my mom in connecticut, and how difficult it is for her to travel now. i know i'll visit her when i return home . . i guess i'm just really thankful for the time together we currently have, though i miss doing all the wonderful things with her stronger self.

 in the evening we grilled organic hot dogs in the yard . .

 and enjoyed a beautiful sunset . .

 ummm . .

 however . .

we didn't last long out here because once the sunlight dwindled, the mosquitoes came out. we ended up eating inside . .


the next morning the cragnottis and the thimes (and a severance) hit the truro library's book sale!

 waiting to check out . .

greg is paying for his loot . .

 and waiting for us to finish the spree . .

library and book sale finds . .

 next on the agenda for that day was a ranger led tour of the atwood higgins house in eastham . .

our guide was mr. lovring who was born in 1924, the same year as nana. he was robust and a wealth of information. we really enjoyed his talk. he knew everything there was to know about cape cod!

 original hinges . .

 the width of the original floorboards from the trees that were hundreds of years old but were cut down for houses and firewood.

 the higgins house was lived in by several generations of the same family, and added on to accommodate sisters, brothers, and in-laws living side by side.

 it began pouring as the tour ended. everyone ran to their cars . . except us.

 this fence post is actually whalebone . .

 though it looks like regular wood.

bound brook island which is no longer an island due to changes in the streams and creeks. (we didn't leave until we made sure mr. lovring walked up the hill safely to his car . . )

 back at the cottage, everything was sopping wet. we had been hoping our towels would dry in the sun . . no such luck today.

 the rain was pouring through the kitchen windows and we worked hard to close them better.

 we read for the reminder of the afternoon . .

well, one of us watched a movie . .

two of us knitted and listened to jane austen's emma, though i finally fell asleep . .

 and i think greg did too.

morgana continued on her own . .

a family visit to moby dick's . . 

jason and i shared a plate of raw oysters . .

and we all shared a giant deep fried onion . .

afterwards, it was square dancing time . . or contra dancing . .

i took these photos and greg filmed the videos that are on the other post.

 

 

after dancing, it was ice cream time . .

 ----

 

thursday morning, at 8 am, we went on a ranger led bird walk along the beech forest trail in the province lands:

it was cloudy at first, but then the sun came out and it went up to 96 degrees.

i don't remember the name of all the plants we saw (though this looks like a small tulip tree), but i did write down all the birds we heard: catbird, kingfisher, grackle, red winged blackbird, eastern towhee, chickadee, robin, tree swallow . .

i'm not sure what this is . . maybe i can fill in one day if i remember to ask adam.

pointing out a chickadee in the brush . .

 the black capped chickadee . .

there's the chickadee again on the lower left half of the photo . . 

blackwater pond . . 

we saw this frog and some whirley beetles, turtles, squirrels and chipmunks . .

it was a wonderful walk, though a little hot.

writing everything down later, by the pond at the cottage.

 

 

it felt so good to go for a swim and cool off!

 

taking the canoe out . .

i wonder if she has this picture on her camera still?

 

 

 dinner with the view . . we usually ate right off the kitchen in the back of the cabin as it was easier bringing the food out, but the veranda had a breeze and a view!

we had a green salad with ceasar dressing, flounder, fried peppers and onions and sweet potatoes.

just an afternoon relaxing in the cottage and reading good books . . 

jason headed out today, on his way to acadia where he'll meet up with adam who left a few days ago. we went with kathy and warren to head of the meadow beach to see the seals (atlantic grey seals) camped out on the north sandbar.

 

 

 

 

it was a very long walk! (but so beautiful . . )

 

 

a national park volunteer was at the end with a make shift barrier to keep people from getting too close (sad, but true, many people can't keep a distance and leave the seals in peace). she said they think there are 800 to 1000 seals living there this summer. they come in twice a day at low tide.

it was very windy and the seagulls flew about, calling and diving . . 

 

 

 these close up photos are from my sister's camera  . .

seagulls and seals . . !

and the long walk back . . 

greg returned to the cottage (he doesn't enjoy being in the sun for too long), but we went boogie boarding!

(my favorite boogie boarding companions)

 

we saw common terns, two types of seagulls and a flock of cormorants who were flying north. i think it was a common tern who nose-dived twice in front of us and came up with a fish. kathy said she saw a gannet do the same last year, but she didn't think this was the same bird.

 

 

it was another beautiful day at the beach.

having a sweet treat with aunt kathy and uncle warren at the savory and sweet escape in truro.

i had key lime pie, chanda had a chocolate fudge cupcake, and morgana had clam chowder.

back at the cottage, kathy and warren loaded up the car. tomorrow is out last day and we'll all check out of the cottage by noon.

back at moby's for dinner . .

completing the ranger journal . . 

fish fillet for greg and shrimp for morgana . . 

chanda and i had lobster bisque and fried oysters . . 

and then this! vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and chocolate cake . . chocolate molten lava?

one last stop at herridge's . . the lovely edition of pilgrim's progress i had seen a few days ago was gone. i wish i had bought it!

sataurday morning . . one last swim . . 

everything else was packed up . . 

it was actually a little chilly that morning . .

(sigh) it's that wistful, lost feeling of saying good bye to lazy summer days and good times.

trying to get the filming just right . .

like this . .

a stop at the savory for morning coffee and sweets and sandwiches for the ride home. 

 

 

we also stopped at the visitor's center to have a ranger sign off on the national seashore journals, and to get their ranger badges.

 

 

salt pond . .

i think this is a type of beach heather . .

we did one last sketch in the nature journals . .

there were slender pickleweed plants along the edge of the path . . 

 

 

 and then it was time to get on the road home . . here we're passing the christmas tree shop before going over the bridge.

we're usually hungry by the time we reach mystic, and are ready to stop and stretch our legs. it was so hot that we enjoyed a lemonade (for chanda) and a frozen banana (morgana and i).

greg was hungry too, so we had salads at one of the restaurants.

and here's the storm cloud i already posted about . . it was nice to be home, but we sure do miss the cape.