All Things Travel: Carless On The Cape
BOSTON (CBS) - Spurred on by repeated car delays getting on and off of Cape Cod, a woman I know decided to see if she could get from Boston to Provincetown and back without a car and walk most of the way.
It was a five day trek with 22 miles of the trip, walking the old railroad line that now had been paved over. Signs along the trail indicated you were 100 miles from Boston.
The walker was my wife Joyce and it took two months to plan with nightly stops at B & B's nearby the trail.
"I was looking to get some exercise and have an adventure," said Joyce. "It was very peaceful walking through the woods and seeing another side of the Cape."
The trail is made for bicycles, but there are plenty of walkers, although most of them are out there for an hour or so. Joyce was usually off the trail by 1 p,m., after a 9 a.m. start. Then it was time for leisurely lunch at a local eatery and a quiet afternoon.
The most nerve racking incident came on the first day when the walker smelled a skunk along the trail.
"What would I do, if I saw one," she asked herself. "I had not planned on this possible outcome." Nothing happened. And on another note, the threat of a tornado also fizzled out.
Joyce had planned out everything else. She tried on her husband's backpack, but didn't like the way it felt. A woman's lightweight backpack with different kind of shoulder straps and a waist belt for support was purchased. When full, it weighed about 20 pounds.
The train trip from South Station on a Saturday morning to Hyannis took 2 hours and 20 minutes. The return trip to Boston from Provincetown on the fast ferry took 90 minutes.
Are any future trips in the planning stage?
"I am thinking of going carless to Gloucester to visit a friend," she concluded.
At least she left our condo stocked with food.
Bob Weiss reports
on business travel on Mondays at 5:55 a.m. on WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
