New England Trip

After sleeping late (to about 8 am after a 6 am walk of Wicket), we did some housekeeping.  Steve went to one of two known Laundromats within 50 miles to do several loads of laundry.  The small Laundromat (“Coin-O-Matic” in Orleans) was packed at 9 am with all 15-20 washers and dryers busy.  Steve waited his turn for a couple of washers and found that they were really only one-half washers.  After finding that some of the clothes in one of the washers were not getting wet, half of that load was transferred to a third washer.  The half-washers cost $2.50 per half load and the dryers cost $.25 per 5 minutes.  A sign in the laundry directed customers to the bowling alley next door for restrooms.  The bowling alley displayed a sign at its front door that restrooms were for its customers only.  After two and a half hours, Steve returned to the campground with half the desired laundry somewhat dry and went directly to the motor home bathroom.

We then drove down to the Cape Cod Canal and took a 2 hour cruise up the canal and back.  The 17-mile canal (7 cut through land) joins Buzzards Bay from the south to the Cape Cod Bay to the north, cutting the landmass of the cape at the juncture to the mainland.  The southern end, before the land cut, has many beautiful homes.  Except at slack tide, the canal has a current of about 4 knots flowing one way or the other.  The following picture shows where the two canal digs (north from Cape Cod and south from Buzzards Bay) joined upon completion of the canal in 1816.  The building is a replica of a structure called “Grey Gables.”

On the way back to our motor home, we went to Woods Hole and visited the Nobska light marking the entrance to Woods Hole.  Since most of the coastline is private or requires a parking fee, lighthouses are an opportunity to get a free glimpse of the ocean around here.  The view from the lighthouse was very nice and a picture of the light follows.