Day 18...I continue to be amazed...

Day 18 (June 27) ... Today was all interstate, not my favorite roads.  But the day ended in the bohemian, celebratory, city of Provincetown, MA.   Time to party... The Good Life!

"On the road again...". Day 18 saw me wake up in Pennsylvania with a plan to stop in Cape Cod, over 400 miles away.  Since it was a Friday and I anticipated (correctly) weekend traffic I decided to stay on the interstate highway for today.   Traffic was heavy but not dangerously so... the worst places were the traffic slowdowns at the toll booths.

I did notice several things that stood out regarding the days drive.  First, the interstates were not as smooth as the ones I drove up to this point.  I really had to pay attention to potholes and cracks in the asphalt that wanted to grab my front tire.  As long as I stayed heads up it wasn't bad though.  I also noticed that, per mile, I saw more troopers patrolling the road in New York than in any other state so far.  On the plus side the traffic didn't speed much, if any, above the 55mph limit.  I also was pleased to see so much empty land with trees etc.   I was expecting it to look industrialized and one long strip of civilization all the way across to the ocean... and I was very pleasantly surprised.

Hey, seriously?  You couldn't make this a $220 fine?

Cape Cod was a pleasant enough drive once I got over the bridge, but the traffic was extremely heavy and really very slow.  I averaged 25-30 mph and Ronnie, my hostess for the evening, lived about 59 miles down the Cape.

When I arrived at Ronnie's house there were construction guys working on completing the new room added to the beach house and finishing up the electric.  Plumbing in the new mater bath is still a work in progress. 

 

A word about Ronnie.  This will sound a bit unusual, but I met Ronnie for the 2nd time EVER when I arrived at her house.  Prior to that my only other meeting was in the salon where Ronnie was a client of my daughter's.   When my daughter, Jennifer, told her about my planned bike trip Ronnie said, "if you need a place to stay in Cape Cod you are welcome."  And she gave me her phone number along with the admonition to "Call me.  It's OK.  Really.  I'll find a place for you."  So I got close to the Cape, called her, and had a place to stay.   The house was in disarray from contractors working on some renovations...a fact that caused some consternation on Ronnie's part, but she gave me a bedroom, a bathroom, and a great big smile.

The only drama upon arrival was parking the bike.  The driveway was sandy and both the side stand and the center stand sank deeply into the sand.  Luckily there was some scrap wood nearby to put beneath the kickstand and I was able to safely get parked.   It was dinner time and after a shower and change of clothes she took me into Provincetown for dinner at a great restaurant named Napi's.    The food was excellent and everyone from the host and servers to about half the clientele knew Ronnie.  Ronnie is NOT a shrinking violet and she has no compunction about talking to anyone that looks interesting. 

After dinner she took me for a walking tour of 'P-town' with the heads-up that it was a FUN place.  It was.  There was street music and people dancing (Ronnie joined in, of course).  There were drag queens hawking their shows.  There were tee-shirt shops and souvenir shops selling all manner of things that it was hard to live without.  There were couples of every conceivable gender combination holding hands and strolling the narrow lanes.  It's a dog-friendly place and there were lots of dogs accompanying their owners.  It was indeed a FUN town.

 

 

 When we returned to Ronnie's place to call it a night she showed me one more treasure that really put the icing on the cake.  She isn't just sweet.  She isn't just a hoot-and-a-half to be around.  She isn't just the singular best advertisement for living on Cape Cod.  She is also LIVING HISTORY!  Ronnie was at Woodstock.  Yes, THE Woodstock.  In her home there is a poster showing the crowd in front of the stage... in the legendary mud bog that happened after torrential rains and thousands of dancing feet. (She was sitting on a pallet though that her soon-to-be husband procured).   In the lower right hand corner of the poster is the indomitable Ronnie and her future husband.

Ronnie at Woodstock (just above the bottom edge).

I continue to be amazed and delighted at the kindness and hospitality of others on this trip.