JULY 1, 2015
CAPE COD CAMPRESORT. Our home right now is Cape Cod Campresort, in the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts. We’ve been here 
about five days. The resort’s motto is: There is no place like this place near this place, so this must be “the place.” I hope so, because it’s costing us $100 a night…more than we like to spend. It’s as close to upscale Buckhorn Lake Resort in the Texas Hill Country as we’ve found, so we decided to stay a full two weeks. The resort is truly big-rig friendly and offers large 2,500 square foot sites, three swimming pools with jacuzzis, fishing and boating on a private access lake with a sandy beach, a large recreation room, internet cafe and proximity to everything Cape Cod has to offer.
TORNADO WARNING! The weather since we arrived has been fabulous: lots of sunshine and warm temperatures. But New England weather can change in a flash, and today it did. When we awoke, a light rain was falling. But within the hour, the rain was driving…beating so hard on our roof it sounded like we could be inside a snare drum. All of a sudden, both our cell phones simultaneously emitted an loud, air-raid sounding alarm: Tornado Warning! Take shelter immediately! This wasn’t an “advisory,” but a “warning.” There’s a big difference. We grabbed our camera bags and laptops, jumped in the Jeep and drove to the resort office, where there is a secure area. The TV was tuned to the weather station and everyone watched intently as the meteorologist kept emphasizing how imperative it was for everyone in town to take shelter. Fortunately, the storm passed to the west within about 20 minutes and the rain subsided. Back to normal, but quite an experience for a couple of folks from Southern California.
We had a large secluded spot for our stay at Cape Cod Campresort.
This RV Park has a huge clubhouse, 3 swimming pools, a private lake and lots of other amenities.
The entrance gate is controlled by a guard in the office. After hours, a magnetic card is required. No riff raff allowed here!
There are lots of wild turkeys around the area. When they cross the streets in town, motorists give them the right of way.
You know you’re staying at a top-of-the-line RV Resort when flower boxes adorn the dump site!
The resort has its own private lake, with a nice beach, swimming, fishing and boat rentals. It’s a pretty good size lake.
ABOUT THE CAPE. Cape Cod is a hook-shaped peninsula that juts 65 miles into the Atlantic Ocean from southeastern Massachusetts. There are capes all along the New England coast, but when anyone talks of “the Cape,” the meaning is immediately clear: Cape Cod. It is comprised of fifteen towns with quaint villages, seafood shacks, lighthouses, ponds, bay and ocean beaches. Two islands are also associated: Martha’s Vinyard and Nantucket. The famous Kennedy compound, consisting of three houses on six acres of waterfront property on Nantucket Sound, is also located here. As we’re finding with so many areas we’ve visited in New England, it would be easy to spend an entire summer here and still not see, learn and do all that is Cape Cod.
Here’s the big picture. It’s deceiving, though, because the states are small, by California standards. You could probably drive through all six states on this map in a day if you really pushed.
We’re in Falmouth, on the lower part of the map. This is called the Upper Cape. Go figure! About 45 minutes on the ferry will get you to the the islands of Martha’s Vinyard and Nantucket, both located in Nantucket Sound.
CAPE COD LIGHTHOUSES. Due to its dangerously hidden and constantly moving shoals located just offshore, Cape Cod’s coastline has been called an “ocean graveyard,” containing over 3,000 shipwrecks. So, many many lighthouses or “lights” as they’re often called, were erected here to serve as beacons and warn ships of the danger. Many of the earliest lighthouses here feature a light tower that was attached directly to the roof of the keeper’s residence. Characterized by a stairway to the lantern room from the top floor of the house, these became known as “Cape Cod style lighthouses.” Ironically, the only Cape Cod lighthouses still in operation are located on the West Coast, off Oregon and Washington.
Nobska Lighthouse in the town of Falmouth, on Cape Cod.
View of the ocean from the lighthouse.
FALMOUTH. The campresort where we’re staying is in the town of Falmouth. The terminal for the ferries to Martha’s Vinyard is located here. The topography is similar to that in the rest of the Cape with many small ponds, creeks, and inlets surrounded by pines, oaks and rocky beachfront. And the shops and restaurants along Main Street are among the most enticing we’ve seen in New England.
Old Silver Beach in Falmouth, on Cape Cod. The weather was perfect.
This is the entrance to the harbor and marina in the town of Falmouth.
I had some company on the dock where I took these pictures.
The beach at Woods Hole, which is a village in the town of Falmouth, I know, it’s a bit confusing. In Cape Cod, north cape is in the south and villages are located in towns. Or maybe it’s just me…I’m new to this whole New England experience.
Shops along Main Street in the town of Falmouth. Our motorhome campsite is just a mile or so from here.
Typical Cape Cod Storefront.
SUNSETS ON THE CAPE. Dramatic sunsets are almost daily occurrences on Cape Cod. We’ve been treated to gold and crimson skies over diamonds dancing on the sea at the end of almost every day. There are so many vantage points…literally hundreds of rocky coves, inlets and beaches just on the Upper Cape where we’re staying. I took these pictures last evening at Wood Neck Beach, just a few miles from our campsite.
The trail leading to Wood Neck Beach. There are literally hundreds of little beaches like this on Cape Cod…a beachcomber’s paradise.
A lifeguard stand in the foreground, with an impressive waterfront home in the distance. Wood Neck Beach. June 2015.
During the last few minutes before the sun dropped below the horizon, the colors changed from pale yellow to gold and then to orange.
I think the buoy marks a lobster trap.
Of all the places we’ve been during the first two years of our Adventure, I think Cape Cod is my favorite. Beautiful natural scenery is around every corner, as are American history and politics. There is so much to see and do that I’m having to resist the temptation to get a little frantic about it. I’ve got to keep reminding myself of our mantra: “What’s the rush?” After all, if we want to stay here longer than the two weeks we’ve booked, no problem. We can just stay. Again, that’s one of the benefits of RV travel: Having complete freedom and control over where we visit and how long we stay there.
COME BACK AND SEE US SOON. OUR ADVENTURE CONTINUES.
