Today was forecast to be cloudy but with temperatures in the high 60s so shorts it was. We followed the main road west along the southern edge of Cape Cod towards the elbow and the small town of Chatham as we'd discovered a promising walking trail here and there was a lighthouse too! Driving was slow going as we seem to have found the one place in New England where people actually drive below the speed limits!

By the time we got to Chatham we were ready for lunch and given the weather (cooler than advertised!) and our choice of attire we actually ate lunch sitting in the car - not our usual style at all! We drove on a short way, ignoring the "Private Road" signs as we were sure the trail area we'd spotted was in the direction we were heading. After a couple of bends there we were, the "private roads" were the only access route to the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge.

The folk in the Visitor Centre provided us with a map and explained the location's geography a little. What was more interesting was that they told us we were lucky to have come today not tomorrow as the Republican Party is refusing to agree a Government Department budget and as of midnight national parks and a number of services would simply be shut down and staff unpaid! Politicians messing with ordinary people's lives, it was ever thus, but this situation makes UK political machinations seem civilised.

So with trail guide in hand off we went to follow the coast round Morris Island. The landscape of sand spits and grey ocean was a rather featureless contrast to the White Mountains and Maine and we took most pleasure from beach-combing for interesting shells etc. There was lots of interest but we were particularly fascinated to find a large number of horseshoe crab shells washed up intact on the beach, an animal that we'd only ever seen on TV. We also found a number of whelk shells inhabited by hermit crabs. The gulls seemed to find these too and would carry them around in their beaks looking like they were not sure what to do next to obtain the wrapped meal they'd picked up.

Despite a strengthening cool breeze we decided to take a further stroll along the sand beach at Chatham Lighthouse. We headed south to a point where the messy tides and wind around the long Cape Cod sand spit where creating waves rolling in two directions. It seemed these conditions provided good feeding for seals and we saw severally seemingly playing in the waves just off-shore. Signs warned of dire consequences of swimming in the vicinity. Not only were there strong undertows and rip tides there was danger from jelly fish, seals and great white sharks. It seems the latter are drawn into the relatively shallow waters here by the temptation of a seal dinner. Other than the associated danger of the sharks we couldn't figure out why seals were dangerous to swimmers. Do seals bite?

Back at our base in Mashpee we spent the evening in the blue and yellow décor lounge which features white porcelain and Delft pottery. We had a good browse through local information and made some tentative plans for the rest of our stay with the promise of good weather all week. We haven't broken anything yet!