Cape Cod - June 7, 2012

Have you ever driven to Key West?  Well, driving to Provincetown, Massachusetts is similar, just shorter.  The road is banked on both sides by lots of trees and green growth.  No views except for snippets here and there.  The road is called Pilgrims Highway for a while then I noticed signs that read, "Grand Army Highway of the Republic".  Yes, we are a republic, not a democracy.  I don't think many people know that. 

Also noticed were flags hung from many of the over passes along the highway.  You may click on any of my pictures to view them larger and in slide show mode.  That way, you can see the flags with more detail. 

We traveled the highway all the way to the end and then turned left to drive into Provincetown.  The speed limits varied from 20 to 60 along the highway.  Since being here, I have noticed even more how radical the East Coast drivers are.  Stop sign?  What's that?  Seriously, they do not stop, unless they absolutely have to.  In a "California stop", at least you slow down as you roll through.  Here that is not the case. 

The sky was just beautiful as we got closer to Provincetown.  We had no rain all day, just beautiful skies with lots of sun.  No jackets were required.

And here we are driving into the little seaside town.  These old cities here are very cute.  Electric lines are strung everywhere.  Did you grow up long ago when electric lines were everywhere like this?  I did.  Having lived in more modern cities for the past 40 years, I have forgotten all about how messy it looks with wire strung all over. 

The narrow streets began to make me claustrophobic.  I am not joking.  High season is July and August.  Swarms of people were all over the streets today.  I cannot even imagine being here a month from now. 

A sign read, "Dead End".  Get me outa here!

 

 

 

 



Lunch was eaten at a little restaurant called The Coffee Pot.  Tom had a turkey club with a Barq's rootbeer.  I had a pulled pork sandwich with a frozen mocha cappuccino.  Tom is spoiling me rotten with a fancy coffee very day! 

Waiting for lunch at The Coffee Pot.

The beach at Provincetown.

A church viewed from the pier.

Pilgrim Monument

The Amazing Town of Plymouth - June 6, 2012

Wow!  I had the most amazing day walking around the little town of Plymouth today.  I took more pictures than you would care to look at.  Sarah Glover, you would have LOVED this place.  Plymouth is a photographer's paradise. 

Our first stop was Burial Hill.  I took 46 pictures in the cemetery alone.  Reading tombstones is a great experience.  I have been to many old cemeteries, but this is the best one, yet.   


The graves and their markers are not placed in any orderly fashion.  Family groups are, however, grouped together, but nothing is in rows.  As we walked around reading the stones, we were reminded of how many children did not survive to their second birthday.  Mothers lost many of their babies in those days.  The parent's markers are, in general, the larger markers with their children's markers near theirs, but in a smaller fashion.  You can see the groups in my photos.

 
 There are many pictures that I am not including.  We had a wonderful afternoon.  Lunch was at a quaint eatery called Pebbles Restaurant.  We had fish and chips which were fried to perfection.   I said to Tom, "We have to get the fish and chips, because we are on the East Coast."  If we were in Mexico we wouldn't order Chinese food, right?

After lunch we continued through town and came upon a Maui Wowi and Tom bought a nice ice-blended espresso for me.  Mmmmmm mmmmm.

Oldest grave 1681.

After we left downtown Plymouth, we went to several shopping centers.  We hit every store in each looking for silver flip flops and a white sweatshirt to replace those that I lost.  We didn't find either.  However, I managed to get four pair of shoes during all of this shopping.  :)

Now my feet are tired from all of the walking.  I am going to go soak them in the tub and then rest up for another day of walking tomorrow when we head out to Cape Cod. 

Beautiful view of Cape Cod Bay from Burial Hill.

Court House.

Sign on the sidewalk.

Random memorial plaque downtown.

Memorial Clock downtown.

This is what my studio would look like! 

Mayflower II

We ate lunch here.  Delicious!

Fried Haddock and fries. 

Of course, I had to have a coffee for dessert.

I love the postcard sky and the lovely shutters.

Historic home built in 1637.

Beautiful Bed and Breakfast.

St. Peter's Church 1876.

Niagara Falls to Plymouth June 5, 2012

It began with bright sun then clouds descended.  We had no rain, just a little misting here and there.  If you want to live where there are no traffic rules, move east.  Speed limits and traffic signs mean nothing.  I think it's the people's revenge for toll roads and continuous road work.  I, personally, can't wait to get out of here. 






 







 The further east we traveled, the more clouds we encountered.  The New York countryside was very pretty.  Many farms dotted the landscape with the most common color scheme being black and white.



Traffic increased as we drove across Massachusetts, as did the speed at which they traveled.  The heavier the traffic the faster they went!  



 

 

Sandal's final resting place.

I forgot to tell you that on Saturday Tom tried to roll down the driver's window and it would not budge.  It's broken, for the third time.  Not wanting to roll it down and then have it not roll back up, we have not made any further attempts to roll it down.  This means that we have to open the door to pay the tolls.  And that brings me to today's story.  When I wear flip flops, I take them off to drive.  I don't think they are safe for driving.  Anyway, I take them off and stuff them to the left side of my seat.  Then, when I stop, I put them on before I open the door to get out.  At toll stops, I am not getting out.  We stopped at a rest stop to use the restroom and I had only one sandal next to the seat.  I knew right away, it fell out when I opened the door to pay the last toll two hours earlier.  Grrrr...  They were my favorite sandals. 




Now, we are in a hotel in Plymouth, MA for the next four nights.  My blogging should continue through Friday night, then you most likely will not hear from me again until Saturday the 17th. 

Erie to Niagara Falls June 4, 2012

Today, we had light rain for a large portion of our drive.  Toll roads, toll roads, everywhere we pay toll roads.  We looked into getting the EZPass, but decided to just use the cash lanes.  FYI, if you get a pass the tolls are 50% less.  It would have been best if we had gotten a pass before we headed out on this trip. 

Every state handles their tolls differently, also.  Some are more efficiently run than others.  Most have automated booths that you take a ticket from, then pay when you exit.  In New York, they actually pay a person to stand and hand you a ticket as you stop. 

We got to the KOA in Youngstown at 1 p.m.  We set up our cabin and headed out to Niagara Falls.  It's not far down the road.  Our camping host told us where to park for free and then walk.  That is what we did.  We certainly could use the exercise after spending so many hours in the car, day after day.  This Niagara Falls area is greatly in disrepair.  To know the economy is failing, all you have to do is take a road trip. 

The water in the rapids and over the falls is massive. You can feel the power.   We walked all around the Niagara Falls State Park looking as the water from every angle. 

We saw tourists from all over the world.   And the most exciting creature, in my opinion, was this black squirrel.  I have never seen a black squirrel before.  We also saw a tan squirrel with a black face and black underbelly.  Very odd. 


We had trouble crossing streets because New Yorkers own the road.  They don't stop even when you are in a crosswalk with the walk sign lit.  We walked back to the car when the wind picked up for fear that it might start to rain. 

Valparaiso to Erie June 3, 2012

We drove on a red road for a while today through Michigan.  We stopped at a little store and bought some cookies to munch on. 











The skies were bright and sunny throughout most of the day. 

Driving through busy cities, like Cleveland, make me all the more thankful for the little city that I live in.  :)

We encountered a lot of road work all day long.  Seems the colder states have more damage to their roads.

I don't remember exactly where this was, but I considered it a pretty wild turn for a freeway.  Aaron has some XBOX games that were very similar to some of our driving experiences on this trip!  It was like a raceway through the city.

We got to our little cabin in the woods before dinner.  It was rather cool at our campground in Erie.  I went to put on my white sweatshirt, but couldn't find it.  After searching diligently for it, we deduced that I left it on the bed in the hotel.  White sweatshirt, white sheets = invisible sweatshirt.





The grounds had a small lake that we walked around and saw a woman fly fishing.  Just about 50 feet from our cabin it began to rain.  We made it onto the porch just in time to enjoy watching it pour.  It rained off and on all night long.  We woke to cloudy weather, but no rain.