Tracey’s Dad turns 80 on the 4th of July. Fact is, this picture was the biggest reason we made this trip now. The whole family in one place. How often does that ever happen?

John, Jo, and all the grandkids.

John, John, and John

The Monkey Troop with Jo and John McEachern

It took us about 90 minutes to drive 15 miles to the National Seashore. I swore it couldn’t get worse. Then, we saw this outbound traffic on the way back. Our best guess is, some of these cars we saw heading down cape wouldn’t make it in less than two to three hours. And, when they get there, it will be crowded to or beyond capacity. Yikes. Doesn’t sound like fun to me.

The National Seashore undergoes ongoing changes due to the forces of nature. Hard to believe, but this area was once densely forested. Settlers stripped the land of trees to create shelter and heat in winter.

The parks service has been struggling to save the land for years. From the looks of it, they’re not winning the fight. One more thing: if you look closely at the waters behind the kids, you can see seals riding the surf near the beach.

In 1903, Marconi used the broadcast station depicted in this model to transmit a message across the Atlantic. It made history and opened a new era for broadcast communication.

Today, this is all that’s left of the station. It’s from one of the towers—one of the towers farthest from the ocean. The rest was lost to erosion.

Even though the visit here was kind of a yawn for the kids, it’s a tradition for me to stop by the Marconi site when I come to the Cape.

Nauset Light on the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham is the one pictured on every bag of Cape Cod Potato Chips. We visited today while Kate helped Josephine and Chris get ready for John’s birthday party.