Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Day 5, on Cape Cod (which is an island instead of a penninsula)

We left who knows where, after spending a challenging night in a Holiday Inn Express, somewhere in south east Mass. and headed towards Cape Cod... the trees look almost identical to the ones I have been observing since leaving middle GA: green and whizzing by as we speed along the interstate.

I think the Driver was determined to get to Cape Cod, since I had been talking about it for weeks, as something I really wanted to do/see, and he adopted my interest as a goal that he needed to reach or Bust.
So, after some deliberation, and map study (which I specifically said I would not be a party to- did not want to look at or discuss anything to do with travel/geography/cartography... since he was determined to navigate by a map that was printed in 1995 that had 'there be dragons here' printed out along the charred edges of the uncharted oceans.) we set off to travel even more southeast than we were when we finally, praise-be, ended up getting off the road at the HIEx... where due to ironic, unfunny, eventually laughable experiences we were only charged for one room, sleeping like a cord of wood.

The Driver needs to drive, so we took the routes he wanted to take. And blessedly found ourselves in Woods Hole, that I did not even know was in the vicinity of Cape Cod until I looked at the map. You might recall reading in the news that Woods Hole is noted for Oceanographic Research. Lots of brick buildings that look like college campus, office, dorm space apparently dedicated to study of ocean and inhabitants.
We went out on a boat for a remarkably educational cruise, just tooling around, getting our brains filled with all manner of trivial facts related to ocean water, lobsters, crabs, fishes, geography, local area.

A beautiful day, and an enjoyable experience.  Pleasant temps, nice breeze, clear skies, smooth waters... just a perfect day. I have been saying for three days that I am soooo thankful I came here in August instead of January. My last experience with miserable cold was New York state and edge of Canada in late Feb. and early March, and I remember being miserably cold, when if I had stayed at home, could have probably been not only wearing shirt sleeves, but possibly even taken my thermal underwear off. So as I enjoy the marvelous weather, I think about what it must be like here in the middle of a miserable winter: drab, wet, cold, with black, nasty, dirty snow piled up along the edges of the roads and impassable sidewalks, ice everywhere. Thankful for the sun, the blue sky, the cool breezes, every breath I take.

The entire agenda as we travel has been somewhat impromptu: no specific plans/goals for where we might sleep or how far to get in a days' travel.  As in: "Oh, Why Don't We Just Play It By Ear?" Which, this time, turned out to be not such a great idea. I'd picked up a little booklet of hotels, destinations when we stopped at a rest area, that provides discount prices and coupons for some chains and local beds. F and F started calling late in the afternoon trying to find a place to put our heads. We obviously waited a bit too late, and ended up with a high-priced Bed and Breakfast as our only choice. The house was built in 1901, is beautifully furnished, and very comfortable, plenty of amenities. But I can usually make myself comfortable on a couch if the cats don't jump up on me numerous times in the middle of the night. And the bill for two rooms in the B and B will be pretty painful when it is time to pay off mastercard.

But here we are: in the quaint (and highly commercial) village of Falmouh. F II has been pronouncing it 'foul-mouth', but I think that people around here tend to drop at least one syllable in the middle of each word, so I doubt that 'Fowlmouth' is completely accurate. Partially based upon the assumption that we will not be back this way again, I'm thinking we might as well make the best of it, enjoy our time whist we are here. It should be interesting. I still have my ear plugs, and am tired, I expect a good night's sleep. Tomorrow we will head towards Rhode Island.
I walked downtown, about 1/4 mile on a two lane road, from the B and B, to the library, and asked to use the internet. They said I could pay $1 for an hour of time. Don't know when I will have another opportunity to sit and type..

P.S. I did not get that good night's sleep, after sleeping in the sway-backed, hammock-shaped cot last night. Ended up in a large bed with someone who left his phone on to chime all night, and kept appropriating the covers. If there had been a couch available, I would have been on it.

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