Cape Cod for Christmas
After a week of work where fewer and fewer people were left as
the week progressed, it was time to head to Massachusetts to see
Kristina's family. We woke extra early and left before the sun rose.
We made good time, until we got to Albany and there was a disturbing sign
saying "I-90 to Massachusetts closed". It turns out an accident had closed the
highway, so we had to seek alternate routes.
We did find our way, and there was even some fresh snow along I-495.
At night, opossums came to the bird feeder (I admit they are a bit hard to
see in this picture):
We had a lot of fun with holiday preparations:
wrapping presents, baking, and all the other things one does before Christmas.
We went for a walk around a cranberry bog near the family home:
Here was our route (the map predates their house being built):
Soon it was time to trim the tree:
The guinea pig was unenthusiastic about eating pine needles:
We went for another walk, to Maple Swamp. The landscape there was
very obviously formed by glaciers. From the top of the hills you
could see the ocean:
Here's where we went:
The guinea pig did enjoy the apple peels from the apple peeler:
And finally, it was Christmas! Not a white one, as the snow had all melted
in the heavy rains a few days before, but that didn't matter. Everyone
had a great time.
This year's most enjoyed presents were the games (Fluxx, Ticket to Ride) and
Kakuro puzzles. I got some exciting candy, plus Japanese Mentos:
The next day we went walking on the Bridge Creek trail in Barnstable.
The trail passes through a large field of
Lycopodium:
We found again the ironwood (American Hornbeam) tree;
it had taken us a long time to find
this last year when we were here (due to confusing directions
in the trail guide):
Along the path, there were scores
of predator-killed birds littering the forest floor. There must be some
sort of story behind that.
Here we are taking a shortcut toward the West Barnstable train station:
Here is where we walked:
All too soon it was time to leave...
On to New Year's in Maryland
Back to main Christmas pictures page