Trips to the Cape

Does anyone remember the moment in "Legally Blonde" when Elle is checking in at Harvard Law School and says, "I don't see the social calendar. You know... mixers, clam bakes, trips to the cape?"

Today, on this very sunny Saturday Chad and I got up at the early hour of 5am to embark on our first trip to Cape Cod. Why so god awful early on a Saturday might you ask? "The Cape" is essentially the Hamptons of Massachusetts. Its the only place to be in the summer. So being an extremely popular place, we were advised that "the traffic out to the cape is stop and go for the one hundred miles from just outside of Boston to Provincetown (the town on the tip tippiest of the Cape). Eager to miss out on such a fun experience we left our place at 6am only to arrive two hours before the bike shop opened. So of course, we go looking around for a Starbucks to hunker down and wait. But as is typical in Massachusetts, we can't find one, but we find plenty of Dunkin' Donuts (did you know that there are more Dunkin' Donuts in Boston then there are Starbucks in Seattle?). After acquiring our bagels I reluctantly took the only open table next to a questionable old man wearing an FBI shirt. I mentioned to Chad that I thought his shirt a bit ridiculous and disgusting. He suggested that perhaps he actually worked for the FBI, but upon further inspection (as I suggested) he read "Female Body Inspector" underneath the large lettering. And much to our entertainment the old man went on to explain to his other old buddies that he had to "get to work" so he might head down to the beach and whip out some binoculars. Ah... thank you Dunkin' Donuts.

We rented bikes at the head of the Cape Cod Rail Trail that starts in Dennis, MA and goes for 25 miles up the cape. The trail was great; it is mostly tree covered, passing lakes and picturesque meadows, with little sandwich and ice cream shops along the way. We biked 12 miles up (still an impressive feat for people who usually bike around 0 miles) and ended up at a great beach. It was just like you would imagine a Cape Cod beach to be: beautiful white sand, tall green grasses, the leaning-down wooden-fences, and sail boats against the blue waters. We stayed for a few minutes and then biked 12 miles back to Dennis. We grabbed lunch at a tasty restaurant and then drove back to the beach to enjoy the afternoon. When we got there we were surprised to find out that someone had misplaced the ocean several hundred yards out. The tide was so far out that we walked for nearly ten mintues in water that barely reached out knees. Chad wanted to swim but he couldn't even submerge himself. We would have had to hike a half-mile or so out to actually get in deeper water. I napped in the sun for a while, which was very nice after a long bike ride. Chad discovered that crabs like to hide in the sand with their eyes sticking out, and if you get close they'll leap out and pinch you. It was a good afternoon. We eventually made our way back home, passing the endless line of cars on the other side heading out to the Cape, and back to Boston. Boston still doesn't feel like home, and I suspect in some ways it never will, despite the amount of time we will spend here. But I did feel a small sense of excitement when we first saw the sky scrapers in the distance when driving back on I-93.

Besides trips to the Cape we have been pretty much gearing up for normal life. I just finished my second week at my new job. It's been going great, I love it already and everyone there is nice and extremely helpful. I love working with patients and learning new things. The eye is a truly amazing organ. Chad will finish up his last week in the lab this coming week. He will be giving a presentation on his work that he's been doing for the last four weeks. Last week we had two new friends come over for dinner, Winston & Gina. It was great to have them over: they are a lot of fun, and we are excited to hang out with them again. We met them at church and Winston is going into his second year at BU Medical School. Chad starts school a week from Monday. So crazy. He is very excited. This week he is getting together with some classmates for dinner on both Wednesday and Friday nights. He is looking forward to gaining new friends and meeting the people he will be spending so much time with. I am so excited for all that is coming up for Chad, however I am a little apprehensive about how it will change things. So far in our marriage (four months total) we have pretty much spent 24/7 with each other, so it will take getting used to. So far moving to Boston has gone so well, I know God will continue to bless us.

TTFN.