Falling in love with old Cape Cod?

OK, don’t hate me but I didn’t exactly fall in love with old Cape Cod.  Our timing probably had everything to do with it. Driving over for the first time on Columbus Day, which is officially the end of the season in New England, and with beautiful weather to boot, meant gridlock traffic.  Any hopes of driving all the way to Provincetown on the far tip of the cape, some 75 miles, was quickly squelched.  The main Highway 6 had little scenery to offer; a lot of strip malls and such, so we decided to exit, find a good place to have lunch, and return another day.


We had stopped at the Visitor’s Center on the way over and got a couple of restaurant recommendations plus some good maps noting places of interest.  We chose Spanky's Clam Shack in Hyannis on the waterfront, right by the ferries.  The end of season schedule offered few choices to Nantucket, some 30 miles away.

We did enjoy a great lunch at Spanky’s.  Their daily special was lobstah bisque (their spelling, not mine) and shrimp spring rolls.  We celebrated with their special “Morning After” bloody Mary/shrimp cocktail….after all Columbus Day also happened to be my big milestone birthday!  All choices got two thumbs up!  Afterwards, we walked around the waterfront and took turns taking photos with other visitors.


In our infinite wisdom we decided to take Highway 28 back through Falmouth, another area we had looked forward to seeing.  This route would take us home along the coastal route, i.e., less traffic, and more scenic.  Alas, we couldn’t see the water for the trees.  And Falmouth, what we got to see of it, was indeed charming but overrun with holiday tourists.

Home, by the way, is Gateway to Cape Cod Camping Resort, another Passport America park that is also affiliated with Thousand Trails.  It was nicely situated in a dense pine forest, in the little town of Rochester, and offered no possible chance of sun infiltration or satellite TV, but did provide great access to the Cape. Sites here were only available Sunday through Wednesday and we soon realized that 3 days was not enough time to fully explore and do justice to the area.


The very best surprise of all was we were right smack in the middle of cranberry bog country!  This was another first among the many we have experienced on this trip.  Luckily we stopped immediately when we saw this brilliant pool of ruby red gems because the next day when we drove by all the bogs had been harvested.  Thanksgiving and Christmas coming, you know!



The Tuesday after the holiday was designated “see Cape Cod day”.  We drove to Provincetown and the end of the road, making many stops along the way, and enjoyed the relatively relaxed pace of traveling the “day after”.  We did find sand dunes and salty air, as the song goes, and The Pilgrim Monument, commemorating the pilgrims’ first landing before continuing on to Plymouth Rock.  But the beaches and lighthouses were our focus, and taking advantage of a beautiful fall day and good photo ops before the long drive back.




What we had not considered was that many/most restaurants and businesses close after Columbus Day.  This became painfully clear when hunger pangs came on and restaurant after restaurant had closed for the season signs posted.  We finally stopped and asked a local and were directed to the Bookstore Restaurant at Wellfleet Harbor.  What a great find!  It was steamers for yours truly.



So with one more day to go we toyed with the idea of driving to Boston but soon nixed that due to traffic, especially with the Boston Red Socks hosting play-off games for the World Series.  Instead we drove to Plymouth and saw the Rock and the Mayflower, or rather its replica.  Plymouth Rock, as you can see, is considerably smaller than what we had expected.  And just looking at the Mayflower we were amazed by the pilgrims’ voyage aboard.  This was followed by a grand trip to Costco.  The provisions were getting low, and we have to move on……

The circle is complete...

This is what 11, 261 miles looks like, and this was just from the end of July through December, when we arrived in Petaluma.  What a year we have had!  

Starting in our beautiful Anza Borrego Desert (as always) the first of the year, then February in Roatan, Honduras, April in San Carlos, MX, August in Port Townsend, WA, then north of the border to the beautiful Okanagan.

East along Highway 2, the most northerly route across the USA, to possibly my 2nd favorite (surprisingly) location at Duluth, MN.  Yes, the stars were aligned, the weather pristine, and bugs non-existent.  And Michigan's Upper Peninsula, oh my!  Ever seen falls like these and the Soo Locks?!

Another crossing into Canada, and my personal fav, Niagara Falls!   I had never been here in all our years of travel and joined the international throngs to pay homage to this world wonder, both from above and beneath.   And we had never heard of the Thousand Islands, but thanks to George, we got to the St. Lawrence Seaway in upstate NY.  And all the Great Lakes...

The original reason for this circumnavigation was to see the Fall Colors, and we arrived in Vermont and New Hampshire at peak leaf peeping season.  Our minds were blown by the beauty of little mountain towns like Bethlehem.

We arrived down east at Bar Harbor for Mainely lobster!  Time to turn south for Cape Cod, then a detour through the Shenandoah & Blue Ridge Parkways, but not before we found the Promised Land.  

On to the Lowcountry of South Carolina and St. Helena Island, Beaufort, and Hunting Island. I truly believe I have lived here in a previous life.  I love this place.  It is a south like no other!

We had not been to Florida for years and had a real resort vacation in The Keys, after a few days spent in The Everglades.  

At this point we were done, psychologically, and the decision was made to get home to the Bay Area and family before Christmas.

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From Yuma, with motorhome service issues tended, and full tummies from friends who fed and housed us, we continued our westerly trek to the Pacific Ocean at Pismo Beach, CA, and a couple of days of re-charging on the beach in near perfect weather.

North to Half Moon Bay, our old home territory, where we were happily greeted by granddaughter Liliana's beautiful little face, along with Santa and Frosty!

Our daughter,Terri, had promised a "ThanksMas" feast chronicling our arrival just before Christmas, and she did good.  Terri's prime rib is consistently the best!

Our youngest grandson Damien at 2 1/2 was a little leery of all the fuss and stuck to his smart phone games, thus auditioning for the next eTrade.com kid part!

On a long awaited trip to Costco for diapers, prime rib, and wine...When, what to my wondering eyes should appear....We happened upon the Christmas camera specials!  We had been doing some research and talking to more professional friends, thinking maybe a new lens, but really needing to upgrade from our old 10.1 MP Canon DLSR kit we bought from Costco many moons ago, when we saw this:

Honestly, the Canon 70D would be comparable but the 18-200 mm lens in the Nikon kit sealed the deal for us.  I think toting around one multi-purpose lens when we're out walking about will be more comfortable after a few miles.  We'll see!  Now the learning curve begins....And please, any tips, suggestions, favorite settings for "on the go" shootings; manual, aperture priority, shutter priority, would be greatly appreciated.

Finally, we arrived back in Petaluma from whence we left late last July.  A lot of time was spent with Christina, our 7 year old, who is a very willing subject for camera practice.  We also got to attend her dance recital and play with the greatest granddog!

And last but not least, a lot of very good food was consumed.  Dungeness crab is always in season at this time of year and our friends Bruce and Phyllis, and Bob and Marilyn, put together a great celebration with the added surprise of abalone, a true delicacy in these parts.  Another tradition for Christmas Eve is tamales at Norm and Wendy's along with some opening of presents, and on Christmas Day was duck with all the trimmings!

My goal for the last few days was to organize photos and get this posted before the year's end.  Yes, it is rushed and disjointed, but it is done.  We have had the most spectacular 2013 and I hope you have enjoyed traveling along with us this year.  We wish you all the very best in this coming year.  I bet you can guess where you'll hear from us next!

Happy New Year 2014!

We're hanging out in Coulee City...

....at a cool City Park Campground & Marina near the very large and famous Grand Coulee Dam.  We have a few days before crossing the border into British Columbia and this area provides sightseeing options and a nice place to organize our junk, subject to inspection and close scrutiny by border agents, as well as fairly close proximity for a day's drive to our next destination, Okanagan Lake Provincial Park.  We're pretty excited about this as we haven't visited this area in several years.

Banks Lake created by the Grand Coulee Dam

By the mighty Columbia, up-river from the dam

History lesson

We've gone through our to-do list many times:  yes, I remembered to renew my 10 year old passport in time, we broke the bank buying 4 new tires and 5 new batteries, we remembered not to stock up on wine and liquor, we don't carry guns, and questionable produce will be tossed.  

We've crossed a few borders in our 18 years and our Canadian friends often do this at least twice a year, many going on into Mexico.  We would never consider going to Mexico without checking with our insurance company (GMAC) so how in heaven's name did we forget to call re our trip to Canada; until yesterday, that is!  Our insurance covers both vehicles but our broker informed us we need insurance cards showing Canadian coverage, and no, they can't fax them to us, they must be the original.  No, they cannot FedEx but will send two-day Priority mail to a general delivery address.  So, we are at the mercy of the USPS.  Why do I not feel comfortable with this.

I remembered to call Verizon to see what our calling and data options are and ended up talking to 3 different customer service representatives, each one giving me a different plan and cost. The last person actually started making sense and we settled on the Canada/Mexico coverage for one month which gives us 1000 minutes, 1000 texts, and 4 GB of shared data between our two devices; the smart phone and Jetpack Mifi.  The 4 gig limit might be a problem but we'll hopefully pick up stray wifi from time to time.  The cost was only $15 more than we pay now for 450 minutes and 1000 texts, plus 7 combined GB of data, which we never use (except when the Garmin map updater goes crazy during the night when you forget to turn the computer off, dummy!). Wow, I say, that is pretty reasonable and then I am informed that my current plan is very outdated and a quick analysis would yield much greater savings.  Why, I asked, didn't Verizon inform me when a cheaper plan became available.  Oh no, we don't do that, our customers prefer not to be bothered.....Seriously!  I am frustrated at this point....

So let's go do fun things and see sights, dammit!  We've been driving alongside the mighty Columbia River and our campground is located at the south end of Banks Lake, created by the Grand Coulee Dam.  Following the lakeshore north we pass lots of day use sites, more campgrounds and state parks with boating, jet-skiing, and fishing in abundance.  We drive through Electric City where there is a great Safeway Market and into the very cute Town of Coulee Dam.  The dam looms large ahead and we pull off at an overlook.  We meet nice folks from Cape Cod who take our picture and tell us about places to visit with names like Provincetown and Falmouth, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.  Our non-existent itinerary for going east this fall takes on more potential non-destinations.

Grand Coulee Dam overlook

One of the largest concrete structures in the world!

Great interactive exhibits in the Visitor Center

The visitor's center is very impressive with rooms of interactive exhibits and lots of information. There are dam tours hourly, and laser light shows at night, and a large, grassy day use picnic area.  Grand Coulee is one of the largest concrete structures in the world, and the largest power-producing facility in the US.  It is an impressive work of engineering.

Now, let's hope our insurance cards arrive tomorrow!

Follow us to Canada!