What I Did On My Summer Vacation...

Permit me a little indulgence, if you will. A pictorial montage of our family vacation last week.

The original plan was to spend another glorious week at Scusset Beach State Reservation as we attempt each year. It's a pretty popular destination, and rather small as RV parks go (less than 100 sites), so reserving a site takes careful planning and split-second timing. This year, we had neither - we had a small window of time in which to take our annual summer vacation due to the kids' school- and summer- programs, and did not plan accordingly when the reservation window opened.

What this meant was that we wound up only being able to get three days at Scusset this year. Usually we try to reserve 5 or 6 if possible, as it's a wonderful, relaxing place with lots to offer. The beach is absolutely glorious; the Canal offers fishing off the rocks or the pier as well as 7.5 miles of walking/biking/rollerblading trails unimpeded by motorized transport; and should the weather prove daunting, there's lots to do within a ½ hour drive.

Now, with gas @ $4 a gallon, I really didn't want to drive 2+ hours to the Cape for only three days, so we looked around for other campgrounds close by that we could split the week. We found a "Jellystone Park" in East Wareham only 20 minutes away and reserved two additional nights there. Not ideal, as we still have to break camp, pack up, and all that, but it extended our vacation to nearly a week.

We left late on Sunday because my daughter had a very special birthday party to attend in the early afternoon - one of her closest friends from pre-school had a gala event party complete with petting zoo AND pony rides (my daughter is GAGA over ponies/horses/etc.). This meant, naturally, that we didn't hit the road until well after 4 PM, and wound up driving through a blinding thunderstorm. Let me tell you, towing a 27' RV is NOT fun when the winds whip you over and there's standing water in the right lane...

But we made it safe and sound (well, okay, I was looking for a bottle of bourbon to fall into) at Jellystone shortly before nightfall, and got the camper all set up properly:

That's pretty much how the entire stay went. Dark, rainy, and lots of mud... Now, I think had things been different (i.e. had it not been monsoon season), we would have really liked this park - we had about a 2 hour window Monday afternoon where the sun came out and we went swimming in the lake where it was just a lot of fun. But the rain - and there was a LOT of it - meant that the dirt roads made for difficult maneuvering, especially for small ones either just off training wheels or just starting out...

My son expresses his displeasure at the experience:

(It really wasn't that bad, he was just being his normal silly self...).

So we packed up after two soggy days and made our way over to Scusset, which is where we wanted to be in the first place (which may also have colored our impressions of Jellystone...). It was a short drive over to Scusset Beach road, where one is greeted by the Cape Cod Canal Electric plant:

Ordinarily something that looks like a Pink Floyd album cover wouldn't be a welcome sight. However, I've been coming to Scusset Beach since I was a small boy, and the Electric plant rising seemingly out of the sea as one approaches is a visceral clue that vacation time is here. I love seeing that power plant. It means R&R is upon us.

So once again we set up camp, only this time with significantly better weather:

Yeah. That's more like it... The weather was absolutely gorgeous the entire time we were at Scusset. As soon as we set-up camp and had a quick bite to eat we were off to swim in the ocean. Getting back, we realized we had forgotten our clothesline for drying our wet swim trunks and towels, so we improvised. So we present the Dodge Ram Drying Rack:

Heh. And yes, we remembered to get everything off before leaving... (I just know the comments I'll get from the Peanut Gallery for this one...).

Three days of swimming in the ocean, family bike trips along the canal (with my daughter on the tandem behind me we make pretty decent time, actually!), and fishing off the pier with my son. The only way it could possible have been better would have been to have had about another week to stay, especially if it could have been this week as they're predicting a phenomenally beautiful week, weather-wise.

One last shot, one last picture to encapsulate how much I enjoyed this vacation:

That's the view of the start of the Canal itself, with my son leading the way to "go climbing on the rocks". He loves it. Which is only natural, as I loved climbing on those same rocks when I was a little boy, just about his age as a matter of fact... It's funny. I always thought my parents were a little crazy to worry about me as I jumped over crevices and scrambled up and down the sandy inclines.

And then I went and had a little boy who did the very same thing. And *I* worry myself silly watching him jump over crevices and scrambling up and down the inclines. Plus ça change, c'est la même chose...

Okay. I think that's enough introspection. I'll be back with the bile and vitriol soon enough; even sooner if I start thinking about how fucking stupid people are when it comes to driving around slow, heavy recreational vehicles...

That is all.