Mystic Seaport
On our way to Cape Cod we stopped in CT to visit and to go to Mystic seaport. My grandfather acted as tour guide while we were there...

We were lucky enough to have a beautiful day to be at the seaport for most of the day. We ran into another family member, who works there and was on his way to a parade on a very interesting bike...

Cape Cod

First thing first, setting up camp. The tarps proved handy in the cool and rain that we had during the middle part of the trip, and at the very end...

The first real full day we had on the Cape was really beautiful, if a bit windy...
We enjoyed it anyways, ate lunch on the beach and watched the waves...

. . . t h e n   t h e   c l o u d s   c a m e . . .

. . . a n d   s t a y e d   f o u r   d a y s . . .

But really we stilled enjoyed oursleves and went on walks, wandered in Provincetown, and relaxed despite the coolness.
On a trail, one of about ten we walked.

We visited the Truro Light (or Highland Light, depending on your mood) and I got my first look at this side of it since the lighthouse was moved, and my first look inside as they now have tours of it.


A large apple tree on the Fort Hill trail

Just before my mother and Eric showed up, the clouds cleared a bit although the temperature was still cold, within about 20 minutes, while we were walking a trail. Here are a couple of critters we found on that one... the ones in the holes were really nervous and you had to wait for them quietly to peek out, and once you moved they were gone.

Gee, I wonder why that chipmunk was getting so close...

Having not been on the Cape in May before, I'd never seen Beach Plum flower. Seeing it flowering makes it hard to miss on the trails, and it turns out this stuff grows like weeds on the Cape. It's everywhere! Try out some beach plum jelly sometime!

After my mother showed up, the weather was great for almost the rest of the trip.

I even went into the water for a bit!

In Provincetown, the requisite trip up the monument...

The whale watch we went on went pretty far out... (the tall thing is the monument the previous pictures are from)

...and mostly what we saw was...

...each other! Although we did see one whale a few times...

One thing we did was eat really well the whole trip, despite eating dinner out only once! All other dinners were over the campfire, and sometimes lunch and breakfast done at the site too...

do not click!

I wonder how he gets those fires started so fast...

The blur is Eric, narrowly avoiding the need for medical attention.

We went to First Encounter Beach, the site of the first encounter between the Pilgrims and Native Americans. We waited for the sunset, watched it as the clouds started to creep back in. After that, well, we packed up in the rain, which is the most miserable thing to do when camping. So here we'll end with the sunset...