So for the past month I had been planning a solo trip to Cape Cod. I've never been to any of the New England states and this where I chose to go. So Sunday morning I woke up before the alarm went off and pulled out about 4:30 in the morning. I planned to leave early so I had time to take in some sights that evening as I only had three days total. I pulled out from Glenville PA at temperature of 55 degrees. Chilly but not to bad. As I got to the Poconos in PA the temperature had dropped to 40 degrees. I was froze by this point but the sun was starting to rise and since there was nearly no traffic I had to pull off on the shoulder to snap a picture.



A few miles after this I needed gas so I pulled off just south of Scranton fueled up then went into a Burger King for a coffee and some time to warm up. When I pulled out I put on an extra sweater and my rain pants and I was much more comfortable.

A little while later while heading out interstate 84 I crossed into New York. I was heading up the mountain immediately after crossing the state line and the view was incredible. The had a rest area so I pulled in for the sole purpose of snapping a picture of the clouds laying in the valley below.



A minute later I was back on the road and many miles later crossed over a huge steel bridge above the Hudson River. I'd have liked to gotten a picture but just to much traffic to pull off.

An hour or so later I crossed into new territory. I crossed into Connecticut which I have never been to. My impression of Connecticut. The roads suck! They were so rough that I couldn't wait to get out of the state. The scenery was nice though and the leaves were starting to change.




Finally through Connecticut the temperature started to rise and I pulled into a rest area for a break and removed the rain pants. I finished my break and set my sites for my fourth state. Rhode Island!




I enjoyed Rhode Island. The roads were smoother and the scenery along the coast was spectacular. I started up the New Port Bridge on route 138 to cross into the city of New Port.




The views from the bridge were so beautiful I had to make an unscheduled stop to take them in. These pictures are from a little park beside the bay.

 

Great views! That looks like some scenic riding.

 

While I could have took in the sights in Rhode Island longer I had Cape Cod to get to. So back on the bike I went and put on more miles.

My first stop after getting to the cape was Nobska Lighthouse. A gorgeous little spot overlooking Vinyard sound.



The shoreline in this area is rocky but beautiful.



Across the sound you can see Martha's Vinyard. With my little point and shoot camera I wasn't able to get a good close picture of it. By now though the weather was warm and I was loving life.

When I left Nobska Lighthouse the plan was to swing by Hyannis Harley then get myself some dinner. I got to Hyannis Harley and was disappointed because it is just a small outpost shop. Somehow I managed to drive right passed the shop in Bourne on my way to Nobska Lighthouse which is an actual shop. But anyway at the outpost I got my official Cape Cod shirt lol.

After the shop I had to get myself some dinner. i found a little pub a few buildings up from the shop and had myself one of the best bacon cheeseburgers I ever had. Sadly I don't recall the name of the pub but if I am ever in the area again I will be back. I quickly found out eating on the Cape is not cheap. My burger fries and a coke cost me $20 plus tip.

After dinner it was starting to get late and I wanted to see the sunset on Cape Cod Bay. I had heard it was spectacular especially at low tide. So I set cooridanates to Chapin Memorial Beach.

As luck would have it the tide was out. Here when the tide is out it is way out. It is out hundreds of yards. Maybe even a quarter to a half mile. It was really quite amazing. While sitting here some horseback riders arrived to ride on the shore.



It was really enjoyable watching the horses on the beach. But within the hour the main event was about to happen and the sun would be setting. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.







It was amazing!

After this I headed to the campground to finish out my day. Here is where I had my first problem of the day. I get to my site and started setting up my tent. I can't believe I forgot to put the poles for my tent back in the bag! I do some backpacking and the last time I was out I got home and took my tent out to let it air out and dry. Somehow I forgot to put the poles back in with it. Well I can be innovative so I just had to figure this out. Well I found some limbs laying around so I used them as poles. They weren't anywhere near strong enough so in the end the tent had branches in place of the poles the one end tied to the picnic table to help hold it up and a bigger branch wedged under the back end to hold it up. It all worked out and I got a good nights sleep.

 

Awesome pics thanks for sharing them. I go to newport all the time, beautfiul area.

 

In the morning I decided to check out my campground. Since I arrived after dark I really couldn't see anything. Here is my site with my highly rigged tent. Thankfully it is a single man bivy tent or setting it up without the poles would have been near impossible.



So I arrived after hours and had to wait until the office opened at 8:00 to actually check in. So I decided to do some sight seeing around the grounds. Here is a gorgeous little pond at the back end of the campground.



Beside it is an old cranberry bog that is no longer used and is now just a wildlife area.




After getting checked in I rode out to get myself some breakfast. I went to a little diner where I had a great breakfast at the usual overpriced theme up here but at least it was good. After breakfast I had a little unplanned entertainment. Across the street was a gas station so I decided to fill up for the day. I pull in fill up and go to fire my bike back up. Occasionally my bike will go through one of its fits where it don't want to fire right off. It will just turn and turn. So I do it a second time and it just turns and when I let off the stater it backfires so loud that it sounded like a rifle shot. The guys working in the garage jumped and looked around like they were about to be tomorrow's headlines lol. I gave them a sheepish apologetic look and fired the bike up and left. I really wish I could figure out why it does that.

So the plan for the day was to ride the coastline check out some beaches and lighthouses. My first stop of the day was Stage Harbor Lighthouse. When you get here there is a path you have to walk to get to the lighthouse. Along the way I walked out to the shoreline and seen a guy fishing for something.



He had a box that I assume had glass in the bottom and he was looking for something on the sea floor. Then when he found what he was looking for he had a net with him that he would scoop it up with. I am assuming maybe he was fishing for clams or oysters? Maybe some fisherman here could help me with that.

So I finished the hike up the path to the lighthouse. This while nice was my least favorite stop of the day.



From here I headed north up to Chatham lighthouse. This one is right along the road with a parking area right there. The lighthouse is still operational but what I liked most was the views from the opposite side of the street out towards the ocean. I'm watching and I see something jump in the water. Since every beach I've been to previously was further south I'm thinking Dolphins but hoping it was seals. It was seals! I've never seen them in the wild before. I highly recommend bring binoculars with you if you ever come here. The more I looked the more I could see. There were about 15 sitting on a sandbar way out. To far for camera to get any good pictures.



In this picture if you zoom in between the boat and the buoy you can barely see the seals.




This same bay just slightly to the right



From here I headed north again to Nauset beach and lighthouse which is my absolute favorite stop on the whole trip.

 

I loved this place. If you have ever bought Cape Cod potato chips you should recognize this lighthouse.






After checking out the lighthouse I went and checked out the beach. I might live a sheltered life but this is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen lol. I loved it here and could have spent the whole day here.





This beach also had seals. While not as many they were a lot closer. There were either two different kinds of seals or the males just look different than the females. Either way they were really fun to watch.





A short walk up a trail from Nauset Lighthouse is another set of lighthouses. These were the original lighthouses at this sight. There are three of them though I only got two in the photo. These are the the Three Sisters Lighthouses. They were replaced once technology improved and multiple lighthouses were no longer needed to create flash patterns. Many years after they were replaced they were bought one at a time by a private owner and brought back near their original place. They got their name because at sea they looked like three women wearing black hats so the name three sisters came about.



As I was getting ready to leave I seen a photo spot with my bike.



While I really didn't want to leave this spot I had a few more stops for the day I wanted to check out. Next on the list is Highland lighthouse.

 

Very cool pictures. Glad you enjoyed the trip. Good thing you did it at this time of year, a month or two earlier and you would have been stuck in lots of traffic. Oh and those seals, the great whites that spend summers on the cape love them.

 

I plan on riding this area one day. Nice write up

 

I arrived at Highland Lighthouse and it was picturesque. If I was a golfer this is where I would want to play. The lighthouse was surrounded by a golf course. This was also the only lighthouse the could be toured for a $4 fee.




Behind this lighthouse was a pathway to the observation deck. The only real view from the deck was of the back of the lighthouse.



The deck is situated on top of cliffs higher than at Nauset beach. Because the cliffs are unstable you cannot go beyond the deck. The lighthouse originally sat where the deck is but because of erosion it had to be moved or it would eventually ended up in the ocean. Amazes me how they can move those things because just about every lighthouse there has been moved at one time because of erosion.

I was actually disappointed because from the deck there was no sights at all except ocean. Lots and lots of ocean. I couldn't even see the beach or the cliffs and there was no way to go down. But I decided to make the best of it and started scanning the ocean with my binoculars and suddenly spotted something spray. I'm thinking can that really be what I think it is? It was! A whole pod of whales I'm guessing between two to three miles out but with the binoculars I can see them reasonably well. One even fully breached once. It was very exciting because I've never seen a whale before.

Eventually I had to go because I knew my next stop required a long walk. So off to Race Point Beach and lighthouse I went.

After pulling off the main road to go back to the beach you drive through this beautiful nature area. It has a bicycle path running through and all around it. I really want to go back up here with my wife and bicycles sometime because there are bicycle paths everywhere and they are all paved.

So I get to the beach and is just an ordinary beach. I again see whales spraying but they are so far out and with not having the high vantage point I really can't see them that well. So I start looking for the path to the lighthouse. It is actually an off-road vehicle path. As a hiker I can say this was a grueling two mile hike through soft loose sand up and over dunes. I was starting wonder if I was crazy and if it was worth it lol.



But slowly the lighthouse came into view and I was glad I made the walk. I loved the little house that sat there with it. I had read this lighthouse still has a caretaker and there was a truck there to confirm that.



The path leads behind the lighthouse to the beach. This is the northern most point on the cape. I decided to walk the shore line back thinking the sand by that water is probably packed harder and at the very least I wouldn't have the dunes to walk up and over. It was quite surreal to look down the beach and then behind me and not see a single other person.

While I walked I would occasionally see a whale surface out on the ocean. They were a lot closer now but impossible to get a picture of. They wouldn't surface for several minutes at a time and it was unpredictable where they would surface.

Eventually I made it back to my bike and I was spent. I decided no more hiking for the day. Besides that it was getting late and the sun would soon be setting. So I decided to do a little sight seeing from the bike before getting some dinner.

From this spot you can walk across this rock way all the way to Wood End Lighthouse. I was still to exhausted to do it but now wishing I would have sucked it up and did it. The tide is again out.



After this I got myself some dinner and took the long ride back to my campsite. It was completely dark until I got back. I built myself a campfire and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

The next morning I woke up and the first thing I did was check the forecast on my phone. I seen it changed and the longer the day went the higher the chance of rain. I decided there was no better motivation than that to get up and get moving.

I mostly just got caught in small sprinkles and showers from Rhode Island all the way to Pennsylvania. By the time I got to Harrisburg it was raining fairly heavy. I wasn't to worried about because I was only about an hour from home. When I got to York the heavens opened up and I could hardly see. But in the end I made home safe and had an amazing trip.

I hope everybody enjoyed sharing it with me.

 

Thank you for sharing, very nice pics and looks like an awesome trip.