... and beyond

I arrived at Karen's doorstep a little before 8. She had neighbors over, and they had (quite understandably) already eaten dinner. But they (graciously) allowed me to shower before sitting down and joining them. Since it was already so late, I went out back and attempted to set up camp after her neighbors left. I wasn't able to do it in under 3 minutes, but I was able to get the hammock hung and all of my things straightened out. I had a restful sleep, and I'm confident the more I use the hammock the more proficient I'll become with it, both in regards to set-up and sleep.

I think I slept for a good nine hours and in the morning we visited the bakery and I received a short tour of the neighborhood and beach.

Luckily it was low tide, so I was actually able to see the beach.

When I first came down, I had intended to ride back to Boston the next day. However, the night before that seemed like an awfully daunting task and I made the (correct) decision to instead bike to Provincetown and catch a ferry back. To catch the afternoon ferry I had to leave relatively early, so I bid Karen fare well and hopped back on my bicycle.

Cape Cod has a few nice trails, and I followed the rail trail for most of the way to P-town. After that I followed 6 all the way to the ferry.

Although a little pricey, the ferry was a nice way to wrap up the trip. I shared stories and talked bicycling with a family of three who were returning from a tour of the Cape, ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and enjoyed the ride. The ride home in Boston was nice - I felt much more comfortable riding a loaded bike through the city coming back than I did leaving. Plus, it's always gratifying riding faster than hipsters, but especially so when your bike weighs more than them.