Week 4 Report from Home

I am writing this from Ann Arbor, having arrived home on July 30. The camper is cleaned out and back in storage, and as I think about the last month it becomes a whirlwind of memories, activities, driving, meet-ups and new experiences. My last two articles, Roadtripping Through History and Week 3 Report from the Road did not discuss some of my favorite activities during the last two weeks of the trip, so I will include them here. After I posted my Week 3 Report, I barely thought about the blog or writing for the remainder of the trip. My month-long July experience was a practice run for the bigger road trip coming up in the fall, and learning how to keep up with this blog and all of its different facets while I’m on the road is part of the preparation for that trip as well. I would like to get myself onto a more predictable and regular schedule of writing and posting, but I’m not quite there yet (which is true about many of the aspirations I mentioned in my Planning to Plan article). As I keep telling myself, I’m a constant work in progress, and I’m enjoying the process of challenging myself as I figure out how I want to live my life. When I try on new behaviors and habits, some stick pretty well, others remain aspirations, but it is all an adventure in learning about myself.

So this article will put the finishing touches on Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3 Highlights

New Brunswick

My drive into eastern Maine and the dip into New Brunswick were exceptional. I did not spend nearly enough time there, and hope to return and venture further into that part of Canada, perhaps as far as Nova Scotia. Sadly, I just did not have the time needed to do this part of the world justice. The New Brunswick coastline was misty and foggy much of the time, which obscured the amazing landscapes. Yet it was, nevertheless, amazing in its own way.

The foggy mists and cloudy skies inspired peace and reflection, and felt emotionally freeing rather than confining, if that makes sense.

I couldn’t see the shores on the other side of the Bay, but since I didn’t know what was out there, I didn’t miss it and instead embraced what I could see: a wonderful mysteriousness, with dim and receding or approaching shapes in the distance, and beautifully detailed rocks, trees and beaches up close.

My primary purpose in going into Canada was to see the Bay of Fundy, which is well known for its dramatic tides. Although I did not have time to travel all the way up the coast of the Bay, I thought I might be able to see some tidal activity from the lower part of the bay near where I was camping. I did a little research and decided I could make a day trip and drive as far as Saint John, which boasted of dramatic tides at the “Reversing Falls.” The day I chose to go there was misty, rainy and foggy (no surprise at this point in my trip). To get there from my campsite I had to go on two ferries. The ferry from Campobello Island to Deer Island is privately owned, runs only every hour, and charges a fee. The first departure from Campobello was at 9:30am and the last ferry from Deer Island back to Campobello left at 6pm. The ferry from Deer Island to mainland New Brunswick was more frequent and was free, but overall timing to make the 6pm ferry back would be critical. Once on the mainland I had a 90 minute drive to St. John, and another 90 minutes to get back to the Deer Island ferry. Figuring out all this necessary timing and coordination almost discouraged me from making the trip to Saint John. I would have been very happy to simply stay on Campobello and chill. On the other hand, it is a small island and with all the mist and the rain going on, there wasn’t much more to do than I had already done, and I was barely over the border into Canada. I wanted more and I wanted to go in search of tidal drama. So I planned the day around the ferries and gave myself plenty of buffer. My main destination would be the Reversing Falls, and then see what else I had time for.

As it turns out, and it makes perfect sense, timing is everything if you are in search of Bay of Fundy tidal drama. The Reversing Falls are at their most dramatic at either high tide or low tide, when the reversing activity is at the height of transition. If you get there any other time then it turns out to be scenic and beautiful, but not very dramatic. Those in-between times are called “slack tide” and, you guessed it, that’s pretty much when I was there.

Because my time frame for viewing the falls was limited by my ferry schedule, I did not get to see the amazing water action as the tidal forces collided into each other. That said, the view was well worth seeing in any case, and I also learned that this particular location where I took the video is, according to geologists, also where two ancient continents were joined together millions of years ago before they split apart to form North and South America. I spent a wonderful day in Saint John, where I discovered the Wall of Grandmothers (described in the Week 3 Report) and also sampled and visited the Moosehead Brewery. And I’m happy to report that I did make my return ferries with time to spare.

Maine

While I was camping on Campobello, I got an email out of the blue from one of my former colleagues from my Massachusetts days. The exchange went like this:

Message from Don: We’re in Eastport, Maine north of Arcadia on your way to number 6 on your Map. Barbara and I would love to see you and we have wine (some of you may remember that I had posted a map in my Summer Road Trip! article that showed roughly where I would be going on this trip - I didn’t even know Don knew about my website)

Me: I'd love to see you while I'm up here! I'm on Campobello Island until Sunday. Looks like you're on an island - how would I get there from here??  Are you and Barbara around on Sunday?

Don: Are you here now? (Don had no idea what the actual timeline of my trip was, and thought I was at the beginning rather than in the middle)

Me: Yes til Sunday. Could stop at your place Sunday morning on my way back to MA if that works for you. (by this time I had figured out how to get there - no ferries involved so I could predict and control my time schedule much more easily)

Don: Sunday morning works!  

And thus it was that we arranged an impromptu meet-up as I was leaving New Brunswick and heading south down the coast back into Massachusetts.

This is Don and Barbara’s beautiful view from their back deck.

Despite the fog (which pretty much defined my entire time in Maine and New Brunswick) they tried to convince me that if the day were clearer I could actually see Campobello and Deer Islands from their back yard. I’ll have to take their word for it.

I had not seen Don and Barbara for probably 15 years and we had a delightful day together. Because of the late-notice nature of our visit, and not wanting to intrude into their day, I had planned to get in and out in about an hour. However, I ended up spending the whole morning and half the afternoon with my friends. I was reassured to discover that Don is just as insufferable as he ever was when we were working together, and I enjoyed every minute of our visit (but still don’t understand how Barbara has put up with him all these years…).

After coffee and bagels they took me on a tour of Eastport, Maine (which apparently is the easternmost city in the United States - who knew??). It is a beautiful and adorable place that is definitely worth a detour from one’s scheduled path to get there. I bought candy, mustard and beer before I left (I know it’s beginning to sound like I hit every brewery in every town during my travels - it’s true that I love microbrews). The rest of my drive through Maine was uneventful but very enjoyable, as there were few vehicles on the highway and I was able to enjoy the beautiful vistas offered by the open road and mountainous region I drove through. It was cloudy but clear, my favorite combination for a day on the road. I ended up in Camden Hills State Park for the night and by then it was dusk and rainy as I backed up the narrow path into the campsite. I decided to just hunker down, the clouds, fog and rain ruining any plan I might have had for climbing Mt. Battie in the morning. Instead, I found a coffee shop right on the water and enjoyed a relaxing morning in the cozy town of Camden before getting back on the road.

Massachusetts

To finish up Week 3 I did two major stops in Massachusetts. The first was to spend two amazing days and nights at Salisbury Beach.

My campsite was right on the beach, which I loved.

The campground was quite crowded with vacationers stacked next to each other like sardines, but I didn’t mind one bit (I had read some reviews so was prepared for this). What I liked about the location was easy access to miles and miles of sandy coastline, and the totally flat terrain which made for easy biking over long distances.

The days at Salisbury Beach were sunny and bright, a welcome respite from the mist and fog of Maine and New Brunswick. This is where I met Pat, Brian and David, described in my Week 3 Report. I relished my time here, and on the day I left the area I first explored Newburyport and Plum Island. I have been to these places before, but enjoyed my fresh perspective so many years later, and the solitude of exploring on my own.

The second major stop in Week 3 was to stay with my former colleague from my Framingham days. A small bit of context for this visit: Jay and I lived in Framingham for ten years, and Conrad spent his formative years there until we moved to Michigan between his 7th and 8th grade. While Jay worked in the biotech field, I spent my time getting my MSW and then working at Jewish Family Service of Metrowest. My experience there was transformative, in the sense that I literally transformed from being a lawyer and litigator to being a community building social worker. I started there as a student intern, and when I left ten years later I was the Assistant Executive Director. It was a rewarding and significant professional experience that prepared me for the work I did after moving to Michigan. I became very close to many of the people I worked with, and when I knew I would be driving through the area this summer I decided to try and see some of them. Martha (who lives in New Hampshire now - my visit with her was described in my Week 2 Report) and Don (who lives in Eastport, ME as described above) are just two of my favorite people from those days.

When I first reached out on FaceBook to some of the people I used to work with, Malka was the first to offer me a place to stay when I got there, and I happily accepted. I knew that it might be nice to have a nice soft bed (and air conditioning) for a couple of nights in the middle of the trip and I was not wrong.

This is Malka and Anna

Malka was the most gracious host you could imagine, and even let me do two loads of laundry! (thanks again, Malka!!) She took a day off from work and we were able to spend quality time catching up on the missing years of our lives. Her husband David was busy saving people’s lives for most of the time I was there (he’s a cardiologist), but we did intersect here and there and it was nice to see him.

After water aerobics in the morning (fun activity that Malka does every day - totally new experience for me) and a nice lunch at a delicious Indian restaurant, the two of us got to work preparing for the evening’s event. Malka had arranged for a lovely potluck party at her house, and a nice group of my friends came! It was really fun to see them, and also fun for them to see each other since several had retired or moved on from the agency and thus didn’t see each other anymore. Those who are still working there were able to update the rest of us on various programs and people, and those who have moved on or retired updated us on their lives.

This is a representative sample of our group - meet Maryann, Diana, Risa and Myrna. Sorry to those who didn’t make it into this picture!

It was a very joyous reunion! Leaving a job or moving away results inevitably in changed relationships and lost contact with those people whose lives intertwined so closely for so many years. I was at that agency for ten years, and I’ve been gone for fifteen. Yet as each of my friends arrived, I was happy to discover that the personalities that attracted me to them in the first place were still intact, and we fell easily in and out of conversation as we caught up with each other. Such a gift to see them again!

On my way out of the Framingham area headed to Cape Cod, I stopped to see one more person from those days. My former boss and professional mentor, Marc, made time in his busy schedule to meet me for coffee. We had a nice visit catching up. He likes to talk about his “failed” retirement because he keeps accepting requests to take on interim directorships at nonprofits that do important work but happen to be struggling in one way or another. This is meaningful work that keeps him intellectually engaged, but he assures me that he still makes time to be a grandpa (I’m still adjusting to this news, as I knew his daughters when they were teens!). Very nice way to end my time in Framingham. As always, he was very supportive of my endeavors and could appreciate the passion with which I described my retirement pursuits, my interests in traveling and researching family history, and writing. We agreed to stay in touch (I reminded him that my entire life is now online for all to see at any time, knowing that he is unlikely to wade through all my verbose ramblings and musings, which he had to do when he was supervising my work, but not anymore…).

Week 4 Highlights

Getting to Cape Cod

Week 4 was all about the Cape. On my way there I picked up my nephew Gabriel, who had figured out a way to join us for a few of the days. He is a student at Suffolk University in Boston and took a train to Mansfield, which was right on my way. Once I picked him up we drove to Hyannis where I had arranged to stay for free at Cape Cod Beer, a Harvest Host site. (yes, I know, yet another brewery on my travels, but this one turned out to be my favorite, so it was a good thing I stopped there. The thing about these small breweries is that you can only buy their beer locally, so if you don’t take advantage while you’re in a particular place, then you may be missing out on something special in the world of beer - also, local brews make good gifts for similarly minded friends and relatives)

Gabriel had arranged to stay in a hotel for the night, and we spent the afternoon finding things to do in the area, some more successful than others. We can recommend Jerry’s Seafood, although I should not have bothered with the clam fritters and instead gone straight to the fried haddock sandwich and fries.

Jerry’s sits right next to the Whydah Pirate Museum, which was interesting and fun and we also recommend.

We do not recommend the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory tour, which apparently doesn’t exist anymore, as we found out when we finally located it after being directed to the wrong location (darn you, Google, why do you do that?!). Had we been more deliberate in our research rather than simply going there “on the fly” we would have known it was closed, but live and learn, right?

That evening we enjoyed beer and live music at the brewery, and the next morning I enjoyed exploring downtown Hyannis Port while Gabe had breakfast with one of his professors from Suffolk. Hyannis Port is all about the Kennedys, of course, and I can now say that I have visited the favorite summer spots of three of our presidents (Kennebunkport, Campobello Island, and now Hyannis). As I have been saying all along on this trip, the northern Atlantic coastline has been a primary destination over many generations for residents and visitors who can afford to get “away from it all” from wherever else they spend the rest of their year, and Presidents are no exception. The famous Kennedy family members, of course, are actually from Hyannis Port and our President grew up there. I did not see where the family compound was, but the downtown itself is very welcoming and scenic, and the site of a vibrant arts community. As an added bonus for being there on a Saturday, I stumbled into the Cape Cod Pride Festival on the village green which was a nice way to spend a beautiful morning.

The Final Week of Serenity and Beauty

This final week of my trip had been in the works since I believe February, when I booked the campsite, located just a few miles from Provincetown. Once I arrived, I stopped planning and driving, and settled into pure vacation mode. My sister Carol and her husband Dave have been camping on the Cape every summer for the last 20-30 years with a group of their close friends from college. This year they stayed an extra week after their friends had left, and that’s when I booked my visit. Because they were so familiar with the area I simply put myself into their hands, happy to tag along and do whatever they wanted to do, go wherever they wanted to go to see whatever they wanted me to see, and to eat at many of their favorite places (we also tried some new places that may turn into their favorites next year). I would bore you to death if I tried to describe what we did in any amount of detail (kudos to any of you who have made it this far in the article - rest assured I am nearing the end). Suffice it to say the week did not disappoint and was full of good times, great experiences, and delicious food. I’ll give you the shorthand version, through a few pictures and captions:

Our campsite was within easy walking distance of this beach in Truro. This is one of many sunset pictures I took - they never get old for me!

In the evening people who have permits can build fires on the beach and it is quite a sight to see.

We saw seals everywhere we went.

They were clearly interested in us and ventured pretty close to the shore, but mostly minded their own business swimming up and down the shoreline, disappearing from one place only to pop up somewhere further down.

Provincetown has a rich history of supporting and advocating for the LGBTQ community over many decades. We happened to be there during Family Equality Family Week.

We visited Provincetown several times. An interesting place, with lots of art, music, drag shows, interesting shops, and great restaurants. A wonderful mix of diverse visitors and residents. Navigating through the Commercial Street strip can be challenging and dangerous - cars, mopeds, bicycles, scooters, strollers, street buskers and walkers all vying for the same narrow pathways.

This lighthouse is at the very tip of the Cape. You can walk there over the breakwater, but we opted for the ferry.

We visited several of the lighthouses in our vicinity, all still operating and some which had to be moved because of the inevitable erosion of the coastline over the decades.

If you look closely, you can almost see the ocean in the distance over that far dune.

One hot, blistering morning we decided to walk on a trail that took us over the dunes to the shore. We were told it was about a mile to the beach but would be an “arduous” walk. We packed sunscreen and water bottles and made our way to the beach, our feet sinking into the soft, hot (well over 100 degrees) sand with every step, and the sun beating down on us mercilessly with virtually no respite. The reward was the view along the way and the arrival to one of the most beautiful beaches we visited that week (which is saying a lot because they are all SO beautiful). Of course, after cooling off in the gentle surf and watching the numerous seals swimming all around us, we had to trudge our way through the same, arduous path back to the car…

These pictures don’t include the bike rides we took, the drives to various favorite towns, beaches and other places (Wellfleet was particularly fun and has a great ice cream shop that we visited twice - Provincetown also has a delicious ice cream shop - see a theme here?). Each day felt relaxing, with no pressure to do anything, but there was always somewhere to go and something to see. I loved that Carol and Dave wanted to share with me so much of what they love about the Cape. I love it too, even as a relative newcomer to the specialness of the place. I have visited the Cape plenty of times, but never with the intent of just soaking up its ambience and beauty. This time was a real treat.

The last day on the Cape was spent celebrating David’s birthday. The annual tradition is for Carol to plan a “mystery” birthday, full of surprise and fun. This year I was happy and privileged to share the experience, which consisted of a) fresh pastries at a favorite French bakery to start the day, b) a two hour canoe trip through the marshes along the National Seashore, c) a visit to a favorite view which included the spot where Guglielmo Marconi sent the first transatlantic wireless communication (between Britain’s King Edward VII and President Theodore Roosevelt, in case you’re wondering), d) ferry ride out to the tip of the Cape from Provincetown, where we saw the lighthouse in the photo above, and e) dinner at a restaurant on the Provincetown Wharf that Carol and David have been wanting to try for years.

All in all a great week 4!

What’s Next?

Now that I’m back in Michigan I need to think about what I learned from the trip that will be useful on my upcoming trip in the fall, which will be further and longer than this one was. I also plan to revisit my Larson relatives and continue my research into their story, which will provide important context for the October trip. And I need to finish planning the details of the fall trip. So lots to think about and write about and do in the coming weeks. Thanks for getting this far with me! More to come!