June 6, 2018

What a busy day today! 

The campsite was very natural.  We got in too late last night to actually see it so we got a good look this AM---definitely wooded and secluded.  A little rodent came to visit in the morning and we thought at first it was a bushy tailed chipmunk but we now think it was a small squirrel!  It got fairly close and was chattering at us so perhaps we invaded its space!  Our two neighboring sites housed Yurts!!  It is a very large state park; many many years ago a local by the name of Nickerson loved to hunt so cordoned off acres and acres so he could hunt whenever he wanted.  When he passed away, his wife donated this area to the state and this park was created and the other part was donated to the Catholic Church upon her death and was subsequently sold off for large houses and condos!!  This park had bike trails and hiking trails and several lakes and lots of YURTS!  The bathhouses were nice with hot water and very clean!  

We took the bikes out for a drive to check out the grounds and trails.  We found a historical cemetery marker so hopped off the bikes for a short walk.  There were just a few stones surrounded by a white fence. This area is so old! This cemetery's residents were from the early 1800s but so many are so much older.

As we were heading around the trail and back to our site, Cheryl's NEW bike popped a chain!  Seriously?  Andrew had zipped ahead as we were heading down a hill and getting ready to head up one, but came back and so we walked the bikes back to our truck. The bike saga continues as the chain literally broke when it popped off the gears! 

We finished packing up so we could stop by the shower house on the way out.  Hot showers are lovely when camping!  Not all camp sites have showers and not all have hot water!  So we take advantage when we can.

On the road again, to see some lighthouses.  We will see tons on this trip and can't possibly see them all but we are in Cape Cod so we will see what we can.  The first house is the Nauset house that is actually famous for being featured on the  Cape Cod potato chips bags!!  We couldn't go in as it is only open certain days but it is an active house. It was built in 1836 and has had to be moved FOUR times already due to shoreline erosion!  They have the entire shoreline fenced off.  The wind comes from the land side so blows the sand over but into ridges, which then collapse after awhile taking out a bunch of the coast.  The 4 Nor'easter storms they had this past March really did some major damage, taking out 80 feet!  We got this tidbit of info from our 2nd lighthouse of the day as some years they don't lose any sand and this year was a big year as they did lose 80.  It is hard to wrap your head around losing that much "edge"!  

We did wander down a path to see the Three Sisters, which are three smallish lighthouses that used to be perched out along the coast but erosion also forced their move inland and changing technology kept them from being re-activated.  Here are two of the three, with the third being just out of sight!

Our next stop was the Marconi Beach, as in the Marconi who invented wireless communication transmission!  He was a man definitely before his time!  He needed 210 feet towers with varied antennas as well as kerosene engines producing 25,000 volts of electricity for his messages to reach Europe!!  Holy cow!!  And this was in 1903!  Andrew is standing at the plaque commemorating where Marconi's towers stood.

While we were walking to Highland Light House, the cloud cover was finally beginning to break.  It looked so cool over the water!!  The water had been gray, of course, reflecting the gray clouds.  But as the blue sky appeared on the horizon, the water on the horizon was reflecting that blue!! The blue slowly moved towards shore.  That brilliant shade of blue was just slowly overtaking the gray.  

This lighthouse was the first built in the Cape as it was the "first" spot seen from the ocean and so the most critical.  Boats would aim for this one and could then go north or south safely.  This lighthouse was last moved in 1996 and it was some process.  It really is an active lighthouse and just last May was updated with an LED bulb!!  The people that guided us through this tour were amazing in what they shared.  They could answer any questions thrown at them!  The lighthouse "keepers" moved the lighthouse using equipment that was used to move coal smokestacks!!  It took 19 days to move 450 feet!!  This year this location has only lost 2 1/2 feet of shoreline (so far!), compared to Nauset (mentioned above) which lost 80' so far this year! We were able to walk to the top of this one, about 66 or so steps.  Round and round and round we went, actually not too bad as the view was spectacular!!  We asked and they said they'd seen whales last week and this is a good time to see them but we haven't, yet.  The beach here was so beautiful, and an interesting color, more like khaki vs white or gray or brown!

We drove to Provincetown, where in 1620 the Pilgrims arrived.  Most people think they landed directly at Plymouth Rock but they actually landed here.  In reality they were aiming for further south and the northern part of the Jamestown settlement, but the weather pushed them north and they landed here.  While here they created and signed the Mayflower Compact which was basically a document on how they would rule themselves.  They sent some sailors off to find better land and fresh water and discovered Plymouth was perfect so then set sail for Plymouth.  Those that had sailed from England were actually on the Mayflower the entire time, not allowed to leave until they were finished with their business at hand!  The monument here is huge, solid granite and impressive.  We could also go up this one; it consisted mostly of ramps and some steps.  What a view.  It is hard to describe the history of places like this, our "beginnings" so to speak--the architecture, and the stories.  We were surprised at how busy Provincetown was.  It was the busiest place we've been so far.  We did snack on Lobster Mac-n-cheese and Lobster bisque. :)

We are spending the day in Boston tomorrow so headed to Plymouth this evening.  We opted to see the Rock right away!  We wandered around for an hour or so, taking it all in and getting an idea of what we want to see before we take off again on Friday.  

We found a Walmart so we could return my bike and found we couldn't without the actual receipt since they didn't carry that specific model of bike. Margie to the rescue as she found the receipt and texted it and that worked fine for the Customer Service personnel!!  We then picked out another bike and headed to our hotel.  We are taking the train to Boston so opted for a hotel this evening.  We can do laundry, work on the blog, and take off early.

Nighty night!