Cape Cod Trip - Day 2

After my whirlwind day yesterday, this morning seemed a bit lazy.  I was up early (0530) but found that all the dogs, Dad and Beth were already busy around the house.  After doing a little bit of reading, Sudoku and Duolingo, I got ready and departed for Mass at Corpus Christi Parish (nearby in Sandwich).  This was the first time I'd gone to church there but my dad had previously shown me the impressive structure.  It was even more amazing inside!  I arrived about 15 minutes before the 0730 service and had enough time to check out the architecture and some of the art.  Afterwards (0820), I returned to my dad's home and had breakfast with him and Beth.  Usually, my dad has all kinds of plans for us - a drive, some beach walking, etc.  Today, however, he seemed happy inside his cozy home with all the dogs.  They shamelessly begged for food from me but I was told that they seemed very comfortable (unusual, I guess) with me.  This made Dad and Beth happy.  Later in the morning (1000), Beth departed for a nap so my dad and I had one of our interesting political discussions for about an hour.  I'd coordinated to meet up with my sister (Katie) and husband (John) so said goodbye to Dad, Beth and the dogs at about 1145.  From Sandwich, I drove north (via US-6 and MA-3 until I reached MA-139.  I arrived at Katie's home in Hanover (MA) by 1230 and let myself in (they were running late after church).  By about 1245, though, we were all together and spent the next several hours visiting and eating a light lunch that John made.  It had been a while since I was able to speak with both of them and we got to share some happy stories about our kids, vacation plans and other family news.  Time ticked away quickly and it wasn't until almost 1700 that I asked if we could go get some dinner.  Hanover (MA) has one of the few remaining Friendly's restaurants in the area and I always try to visit when I'm in town.  Fortunately, John and Katie like it too!  We sat down at about 1730 and ate our fill of supermelts (I had the "fishimijig") and ice cream.  More great talks ensued and I felt quite satisfied with all the really high quality visiting I'd gotten in just over 36 hours.  At 1915, I said goodbye and departed from Hanover South for Hanover North.  I got on MA-3 and encountered some congestion as I made my way to I-93 and through Boston.  The closer we got to the NH-MA border, though, the lighter the traffic (and higher the speeds) became.  As I approached Hooksett, I decided to stay on I-93 so I could make up a bit of time - this meant that I used the toll both.  Overall savings in time was about 15 minutes (for $1).  Once on I-89, I was able to make great time to Lebanon (more audiobooks).  There were some ominous signs about a winter storm coming the next day but, happily, I didn't encounter any precipitation.  By 2115, I rolled into the parking lot for my condo after a nice, quick ride home from Massachusetts.  What an amazing few days!  I'll definitely sleep well tonight...