Cape Cod with Two Kids & a Wheelchair: Eastham

Today we went to the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham. It has a wonderful view of the salt marsh. It also has a small museum, complete with a box of shells pleasantly labeled "please touch." Danielle loved listening to the sound of the ocean in a whelk and was mesmerized by the prehistoric looking horseshoe crab.

She was amazed when I told her that horseshoe crabs were around before dinosaurs. In fact, the oldest  horseshoe crab fossils were found in 445 million year-old rocks. She would have loved to see a live one. Unfortunately she's unlikely to see one this time of year. They're deep sea dwellers most of the year, coming to shore mainly in May and June.

Horseshoe Crab

While we were at the Visitor Center we got Amanda a National Parks "Access Pass". This is a free pass available to any U.S. citizen with permanent disabilities. The Access Pass admits the pass holder and up to  3 adults for free where per-person fees are charged. (Children under 16 are always admitted free.)  It also admits the vehicle the pass holder is riding in for free in parks where vehicle entry fees are charged (for instance, Yellowstone National Park.)

The Park Rangers were friendly and helpful. We got the pass in less than five minutes. Not only that, but the Ranger pulled out a map of Cape Cod and marked all of the National Seashore beaches on it, highlighting the ones with free surf chairs.

I love the wild ocean side beaches on Cape Cod, but for the most part they aren't accessible by wheelchair. Now Coast Guard Beach in Eastham has a wheelchair-accessible ramp to the beach and two submersible wheelchairs. Most summer visitors take a shuttle bus from a remote parking area, but anyone with a handicap parking permit can park at the top of the hill. The Ranger at the booth at the bottom of the lot checked our parking pass, tipped his mounty hat and waved us in. The view from the parking lot is spectacular.  

There were a lot of cars in the lot reserved for individuals with disability parking permits, but we only saw one other person in a wheelchair. She was in a power chair, looking at the view from the parking lot. It made me wonder why she wasn't down at the beach.

It turns out that it is a long trek down the dune even with a ramp. The two surf chairs were free and readily available. But, why are the surf chairs left at the beach end of the ramp? This is one of those instances where things may have been set up by someone with good intentions, but no practical experience.

A person in a wheelchair needs to either have a companion walk to the far end of the ramp and bring one up to the parking lot or has to get his/her usual chair down the ramp. Then where do you leave your wheelchair? We left ours at the end of the ramp, getting sand in the wheels and heating up in the sun. I suppose one of us should have pushed the empty chair back to the car.

The beach chair worked, but was it heavy going through soft sand. And I don't think it could have actually been used in the water at that beach (at least not during high tide) because there is a sheer drop at the shore and a heavy undertow. I was happy to get Amanda on an ocean beach for the first time in 6 years- I'm just not sure that we'd do it again.

I am sure that we'll be back in Eastham later this week. Danielle specifically asked to see a "red lighthouse." The closest I can find is Nauset Light. It's white with a red top and a light that flashes red and white at night. It's open on Wednesdays so we should be able to drop by in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, this is one place that Amanda just won't be able to access.

Maybe when we're in the area we'll go for a short hike. The Nauset Dunes Trail starts at the Visitor Center and is not too tough for wheelchairs and strollers. It's about a mile and a half with a slope at the beach end. However, the views of the dunes and marshes make it worth the climb, even pushing a wheelchair. When I was a kid we took our puppy, Noodle, for a walk here. He got so tired that my father had to carry him the entire way back to the Visitor Center. I'd better make sure that the same thing doesn't happen to Danielle if we do hike!

For information regarding the National Park Service Access Pass please go to: http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm

For information about horseshoe crab fossils please go to : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207135801.htm

Take it SLOW

Today I turned the car around to help a turtle cross the street. I picked her up and moved her to the side of the road where she was headed. I wondered how many other people had driven past, around or even over her. 

It was an Eastern box turtle with a beautiful shell. Box turtles look for nesting sites in June and July, so I assume it was a female. What an amazing mother to risk so much to find the ideal nesting spot for her clutch of eggs.

I wondered if the other drivers realized what her mission was and if they would have cared. It was such a little thing to stop and move her safely across the road. It took less than 3 minutes.

When I was a kid we rescued a box turtle that had been hit by a car. We fed it berries, watermelon and raw hamburger. It grew very tame - taking bits of fruit and lettuce from our fingers. We released it in the woods at the end of our street.

Box turtles are a now protected species in most states and can't be kept as pets. They have a very long life span (50-100 years) and don't breed until they are about 10 years old. They only lay 3-6 eggs and leave the nest unguarded. Skunks, foxes and coyotes all happily eat turtle eggs if they uncover a nest. Combine this with shrinking habitats and box turtles rarer than they were when I was growing up.

We have a box turtle that lives has lived in our yard in Georgia since we moved in. I know its the same turtle because she has a scar on her shell. Eastern box turtles have a very small territory - typically less than 2 acres. It probably hibernates somewhere in the little patch of woods behind our house.  I see it every few months. Once it wandered into the garage, terrifying Danielle and cracking me up.

We're a family of turtle rescuers. Last summer Kevin helped a snapping turtle cross the road. If you've never seen a snapping turtle they have flat shells and long pointed tails. They also have long necks, quick reflexes and vice like beaks.   They're called snappers for a reason. There is no safe way to handle a snapping turtle. Kevin used a stick to scoop if up and flip it across the road. I'm not sure that I would have tried to move it if I'd been in his shoes.

A few years ago we visited Tybee Island. One of my favorite random sights was the "Turtle Crossing" sign we spied on I-80. Unlike deer crossing signs, it wasn't there to protect motorists from getting hit by turtles, but to protect the turtles from being hit by cars. Tybee's sandy beaches are a favorite nesting site for loggerhead sea turtles. We were there at the wrong season to see any turtles - we just saw the sign.

Sadly, the signs have been stolen from I-80 and turtle fatalities are up this year. I'm sure that some one decided to take the signs as a souvenir instead of just taking a photo. It's a shame because similar signs are readily available through Amazon Turtle Crossing Sign for under $10.00.

Perhaps some industrious Tybee Island merchant can stock Turtle Crossing signs and sell them to the tourists. Until then we wait for the Georgia Department of Transportation to replace the signs - and hope that people will either try stop if they can safely and help a turtle over the highway when they see one trying to cross or at least avoid hitting it.

And if you see a lump that looks like a rock in the middle of the road, slow down a little. If its a turtle, take a minute to pull over and help it across the street.

For information on Tybee Island Turtles go to http://savannahnow.com/news/2011-07-16/tybee-islands-pregnant-turtles-no-match-motorists  To help get the Turtle Crossing signs returned to Tybee Island, please contact the Georgia Department of Transportantion (GDOT) for Chatham County in District Five: District Engineer (Acting) Karon Ivery 204 North Highway 301 Jesup GA 31546.