Retreating

There are times when its good to retreat. When its time to relax and regenerate, when its time to contemplate the big and small in your life.  When you are ready to retreat, its nice to have someplace beautiful and peaceful.

When I took my friend to Cape Cod, it was because she was a retreat leader for a group of women in recovery.  It was a lovely weekend!  The retreat house was pretty, old and well cared for. Of course I didn't take any picture of it.  Its right on Buzzards Bay in Cape Cod and has its own beach. I didn't wander there because the path to the beach was buried FEET of snow.

Saturday morning, we started our day in the Chapel.  Plenty of quiet and calm and pretty scenery for meditation and contemplation.

The view from the Chapel window

So much snow

There is a group of deer the staff of the retreat house have fed through the winter.
They decided that they wanted to join morning prayers

Pretty

They come right up to the window

Mornings started with this view and blessing from nature is a wonderful way to start!

Recalculating, Recalculating....

I went for a lovely weekend trip to Cape Cod recently. I drove my Favorite Nun to a retreat there.  While she was giving the retreat on Saturday, I braved the old and newly fallen snow to explore the area.

I've never been there so this was a prime opportunity to check things out. As soon as Sister Anne asked me to go with her I started exploring the area on Google Maps so I had an idea of places and things I wanted to see.

Unfortunately,  Mother Nature tried to spoil my fun.

There was lots of snow left from the winter storms

When I left the retreat house it was snowing. Nothing that seemed to hinder traffic or visibility. Just enough to get me wet and cold when I left the car.  So I cleaned off my car and headed out.

The Sagamore Bridge, the gateway to the Cape.

My final destination was to be Provincetown,  all the way over on the inside arm of Cape Cod. And that's what I plugged into the GPS. Nothing specific just get me to the center of town and I'll go from there.

Welcome

I knew I wanted to travel over Route 6 cause it was the scenic ride to Provincetown and I would be able to access the National and State parks along the way.   But GPS had other ideas. She tried to take me over route 25. Hmm.  Not the way I want to go.  I saw a sign directing me to Route 6 and jumped on it.  That was the first "recalculating"  from the GPS.  But she went with it this time.

Driving on Route 6 makes you hungry

Driving on Route 6 was lovely, even with the snow.

I took many detours on my way to Provincetown. I  stopped at the Cape Cod National Seashore Park.  GPS yelled "recalculating" at me again.

The Ocean at Cape Cod National Seashore Park

And of course, I needed to put my toes in the water. I am a polar bear, after all..

Just the toes though..

The Lighthouse at National Seashore Park

I made my way back to Route 6 which made GPS happier.  All along Route 6 there were places to explore, different accesses to the beach through the National Park.  There are clusters of cabins for vacationers, and just plenty of beautiful scenery.  I do wish I'd been able to be there once the snow is gone but I can always go back in the summer.

Getting closer to Provincetown and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be doing any more detours.  But low and behold, there is the exit for the Marconi Beach!  This is was Marconi sent the first wireless message across the ocean to England. Time for one more detour; "recalculating" from the shrieking GPS.  This was the "outer most" point of the Cape.

From this spot....

Finally, the destination:

I made it!

BUT I still decided that I wanted to go into the town from a different direction.  So more "recalculating" from the GPS.  I made my way over to the center of town where there was free parking and easy access to everything I wanted to see.

Pictures anyone?

The fishing fleet

Home on the water

Town Hall

Beach Entertainment

After wandering the narrow streets and seeing the sites, I don't think Provincetown in the "on season" is some where I'd want to visit.  It just seemed to crowded and closed in for my tastes. I was slightly claustrophobic in the "off season" for me.

I left Provincetown, with the destination of the Retreat Center plugged into the GPS.  But of course, there were more detours on my way back.  I tripped off Route 6 to see Hyannis.  I put the Kennedy Library as a pass through destination so she didn't scream "recalculating" at me the entire time.  BUT she didn't tell me WHEN we were at the library so I missed it. I  need to work on that with the GPS.  Its got to be a setting or something.

So back on Route 6 for the uneventful drive home. It was lovely.