The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 13 - Cape Cod, MA

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Drive Report: None - We’re too busy seeing the sights to move The Rig

The reader may recall that we had plans to go see an exhibit of mostly antique Harley Davidson motorcycles here in Dennis Port today - but we are nothing if not flexible here at The Thin Blue Ride.  Today was a prime example.  Last night when we started looking at other interesting places to go locally, we came across Plymouth.  We were halfway there already what with all the Pilgrim talk at Provincetown yesterday, so it seemed only natural to head over to Plymouth and see where they decided to set up shop after rejecting Provincetown.  Besides, the Ancient and Royal Society of the Alleged Sons and Daughters of All Pilgrims (ARSASDAP) was holding its weekly secret meeting and Susan caught wind of it.  Katie bar the door.  Turns out that Susan’s Great Uncle Milo Cary was a member - having done the requisite genealogical work to qualify, then taking the secret oath.  Don’t doubt me on this one.  Turns out the society assigns one a number after you’re sworn in.  We’re gonna go on the hunt for this number in the near future, since having it is kinda like that whole "legacy" thing universities do.  I hope she can get in.  I wonder if spouses can attend the meetings?  I wonder if I’ll have to work on my Boston accent?  Will I get to wear a Pilgrim outfit to the meetings?  Will Susan acknowledge me as her spouse at the meetings?  All these questions remain unanswered at this point.  But more on this later.  There were also dead people to walk past, a big rock, an old white car and a foot pursuit involving the National Park Service.  Oh - and I still got to see an antique motorcycle.  It just wasn't a Harley.  Well, technically, I got to ride it.  But that needs to remain hush hush for now.  It looked like this...

This, readers would be Plymouth Rock.  Yes - that Plymouth Rock.  My apologies for the shadow, but the reader will note that the portion of the rock covered by said shadow is engraved "1620".  This would be the date of the Pilgrim's landing at Plymouth.  I looked for Susan to have her stand by the rock for a pic, but she was too busy planning our heist.

We got this shot of the fancy garage they built over Plymouth Rock as we fled with the Park Service hot on our heels.  Listen, those guys are fleet of foot, it wasn't easy gettin' this pic for you all what with her (Hey - they have lady Park Service guys) breathing down my neck.  In the first couple of shots her hand was reaching out to grab me, but I finally got one without her hand in the way.  Apparently one is prohibited from taking chunks of the rock with ya when you leave.

This was the cause of all that Park Service consternation.  Susan talked me in to jumping over the rail and "retrieving" a piece of Plymouth Rock for her.  She was quite specific, "Get me the piece that has 1620 engraved on it."  We smuggled it out of town in a used pie box from Marion's Pie Shop where we went the other day.  I think she's gonna use it to impress the folks over at ARSADAP when we get there later today.

After we shook off the Park Service we ran across this.  I don't know the year or model but would guess it's no newer than the late 60s to early 70s based on the fact that it has front drum brakes.  Check out that boxer engine.  How cool is that?  It was also quite timely to run across it as the Park Service was looking for two thieves on foot.  Susan hot wired the Beemer here and off we went.  This completely threw off the APB they put out on us.  Sigh - the things I do for love... 

This is Susan in front of the Mayflower Society House.  Turns out I was just a little off with the name - it's the Mayflower Society.  It's a really nice house, the Park Service will never think to look behind it for the Beemer.  Anyway, we hoped to inquire about her Great Uncle Milo, but the administrative offices were closed.  But we know who to talk to there now when we check with them later.  The ladies who give the tours were all wondering why we were out of breath.  We just told 'em we were so excited to get here we ran all the way.  Hey - that's mostly true.

Then we wanted to go look at some old churches.  It was kinda like Mission Impossible to get there what with the Park Service flooding the area with Rangers, so when this Rolls Royce stopped at a red light, we jumped in and got a ride to... 

We got out here.  This is the Church of the Pilgrimage.  We didn't get to go inside this one, but I thought it was so cool that it warranted inclusion in tonight's post.  But we did get to go inside...

...this one.  This is the interior of the National Pilgrim Memorial Meeting House.  check out those beams supporting the roof.  There are no pics of the exterior because it was covered in scaffolding as it is currently undergoing extensive restoration work.

This is the lectern from which the faithful hear the word.  Check out the engraving on that thing - impressive.

And just inside the front door was this poster.  It depicts all the Mayflower Pilgrims.  The individuals depicted in light grey didn't survive the first year.  The dark forms survived and descendants have been identified.  The one you see here is Samuel Fuller, whose parents both died in the first year.  His Uncle (also Samuel Fuller) is to the right.  This kid is Susan's ticket to fame - or at least admission to the Mayflower Society.

Right behind the church is this graveyard.  This is us whistling past the graveyard.  There's a lotta dead people in there!

But we went in anyway.  It's actually on a big hill behind the church - note the grave of William Bradford, Mayflower Pilgrim and mayor.  The views from up there were amazing.  Ya just have to watch where ya walk...

Susan and I both kinda like perusing old cemeteries.  The Park Service never looks there.  And as an added bonus, some of these old tombstones are pretty interesting.  You can even hide behind the big ones - should the need ever arise.

Still in the cemetery.  Check out the two houses built on that sand bar.  Yowza.  Who gets to make the milk run when ya run out

Once things cooled down a bit, we headed back to the scooter and saw this 65 (I think) Mustang Convertible.  This is a sharp looking car.  Susan asked me if I wanted it.  Given our day thus far, I said no.

When we made it back to The Rig we ran into these folks.  Meet John and Barbara.  They're retired from baking (him) and education (her) for 10ish years now.  We chatted with them for a good bit.  Turns out they're here weekends throughout the season.  Sounds good to me.  We had a chance to fill them in on how we ended up on the east coast (the ride).  They were quite interested and Susan regaled them with stories of our adventure - she left out today.  Susan also asked them if the Park Service had happened by.  They looked puzzled, but said no.

Tomorrow we head North to the coast of Maine.  Unfortunately we gotta make it either past or thru Boston somehow.  Since we just heard from John and Barbara that they prohibit vehicles carrying propane from entering tunnels and since tunnels are on the route tomorrow, we've yet to figure out how we're gonna pull that off.  We don't want to end up violating the law.  The last thing we need is to get pulled over by the Propane Police what with the Park Service APB and all.  More on this later.

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 12 - Cape Cod, MA

Friday, September 20, 2019

Drive Report: None - More tourist stuff.  I should write a book.

Today we made the trek to the far North end of the Cape - Provincetown.  It’s about a 41 mile jaunt which hadn’t ought to be a big deal, and it wasn’t.  But probably only because we’re here after Labor Day when most of the tourists have given up and gone home.  The scooter is certainly handy for this sort of stuff - ya can park it pretty much anywhere.  And it moves right along on the highway.  But alas, it is short for this world.  We’ve decided that once we get back to Manhattan we’re gonna sell it. There does not exist, apparently, enough space in the garage for two similar toys.  And since we’re going to go get the Moto Guzzi fairly soon after we get home, something’s gotta go.  If you see the Scoot, don’t say anything.  I wanna break it to him gently.

It was another interesting day.  Did you know, for example, that before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, they first landed at Provincetown?  Yup - they all signed the Mayflower Compact aboard ship while anchored at what would later become Provincetown, then sallied forth to look for stuff like freshwater and soil that would support crops.  Th Compact set the tone for governance in the New World for centuries to come.  If you doubt this, as proof they have a museum and everything.  Right now they’re cranking up to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim’s landing come 2020.  Apparently the Mayflower II (a full size replica of the original as best they’re able to determine) is due to be here for the festivities.  It should be a hoot...

Oh yes, and someone I know is a Mayflower descendant.  More on this later.

So, hug the kids and pat the dog, here we go...

One learns all these nifty Pilgrim/Mayflower facts either by paying attention in school, or by going to the Pilgrim Monument.  I'll leave the reader hanging as to my assimilation of this information.  This, readers, would be Pilgrim Monument, built between 1907 and 1910.  It rises just over 250 feet and cost less than 75k to build.  Made of solid granite from Maine.  There some stairs and a series of ramps inside which permit breathless treks to the top by tourists from near and far.  It is a pretty impressive sight.  Taller than the Astoria Column (which we also ascended) by 90 feet, if memory serves.

But before our climb commenced we walked around the hill on which the monument is located.  The sights from there were pretty impressive, and the hill is only 100 feet above the water.  Note the one lone sailboat just outside the harbor.

Another view from ground level.  Not as many boats here as in Newport, but this isn't an active port any longer.  At one time it was the whaling capital of the world, but those days are long past.

Once you climb the Monument, the view is a little different. The same breakwater in front of that little sailboat a few pics back is now clearly visible.  BTW - fewer boats doesn't mean that there aren't some big ones here.  Check out the blue and white motor yacht to the right of the pic.  I believe the one in motion pointing toward the reader in the center of the pic is a whale watching expedition returning to off load all those high paying whale watchers.  We didn't watch whales, we walked up a zillion steps instead.  It sounded like more fun.

But a zillion steps or not, we were still all smiles.  What's not to smile about - I'm still not at work!  The view would have been much better without the modern glass across the opening.  See the bars behind the glass?  That's all they used to have.  This is a sure sign that lawyers are overpopulating their ecosystem and that we need to implement a program to restrict their breeding.  Either that or open a hunting season on 'em.  All that glass means I now have to look around grimy kid hand prints and nose prints.

A view down the shoreline of Provincetown from atop the Monument.  Pretty cool.

After that it was off to Herring Cove Beach to check out the lighthouse.

This is us on Herring Cove Beach.  Ya can't go much farther North on Cape Cod and stay on dry land.  Herring Cove Beach is at that little hook on the North end of the Cape.  Not much wave action here either since we're on the inside of the Cape and the water you see behind us is Cape Cod Bay.

Getting to the beach - easy.  Getting to Race Point Lighthouse - not so much.  You can do it, but it's a 2.5 mile walk down the beach, in the sand.  Yeah - no.  So I zoomed up the old i-phone camera and this is what we got.  That spindly little thing in the distance is it.

This doesn't look like too big of a deal, but this is one of those motor yachts.  We watched it for a while and at first it was so far away that its speed wasn't apparent.  But as it roared past the beach maybe half a mile out, it looked like it was really moving.  Open the pic up and check out the wake of this thing.  It's going fast enough to throw up two wake waves instead of just one.  My Lord - stopping that thing must be like stopping a freight train.

We headed back to The Rig at about 1630, but stopped by a local Italian eatery on the way.  

And it was some Italian eatery.  I opted for the traditional Spaghetti and Meatballs, while Susan chowed down on the Shrimp Scampi with pasta.  The waiter tried to get us to order dessert.  Ha!  Oh - did I forget to mention that we stopped by the pie place today?  Yeah - they didn't sell by the slice.  And since Susan likes cherry pie so much, I had to order a pie of my own - blueberry/peach, if you must know.  We felt less guilty since they were 6 inch pies.  The net result of the piefest, is that we each have half a pie left from that trip.  It's sitting right there in boxes daring us to eat it.  Being as it's only 2030 here right now, it may not survive the evening.

Finally, among her other endearing qualities, Susan is the previously mentioned Mayflower descendant.  When we were going thru the museum today there was a list of passengers on the Mayflower - some with asterisks beside their names.  When I inquired, she pointed to the name of Samuel Fuller.  He had a dot beside his name.  Apparently some g-g-g-granddaughter or another of Fuller's married a g-g-g-grandson of John Cary's.  John Cary's name ring a bell?  Yeah.  More Plymouth Colony history.  He didn't make the Mayflower trip.  Must not have been paying attention to his cell phone when the text came telling him it was time to board.  But he showed up in the second wave.

I tell ya, I may have to learn a snooty accent to go to Cary holiday gatherings.  Rumor has it they have a nail from the Mayflower.

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 11 - Cape Cod, MA

Thursday, September 19th, 2019

Drive Report: None - we’ve taken up tourism as a full-time job.

It got down to 51 degrees last nite.  A bit chilly for getting around on the scooter right away, so we slept in, did some cleaning of the RV and when we finally headed out it was for a late lunch in Chatham.  We had big plans for the afternoon - two, not one, but TWO lighthouses.  And of course, light houses are next to beaches, so we’ll have to check out the beaches.  And then there are whatever odd little opportunities that present themselves.  So, we went into the day with a plan, but we were flexible.

Here it is...

As is the case every day, we check the forecast before getting out of bed.  Hey - when your chief mode of transportation is a scooter and ya have a spouse who feels chilled at 65 degrees, you do what ya gotta do.  Anyway - this one was a first for me - note the stuff in the orange bar in the pic above: HIGH SURF ADVISORY.  The details are - waves running 6-9 feet and dangerous riptides.  Well then, no marathon swimming for Susan today, eh?

We headed over to Chatham for lunch before we headed to the lighthouses.  Susan told me she finagled an invite to The Captain's Table.  Hey - I watched Love Boat as a kid.  I know it's a big deal to dine with the guy who wears all the braids on his coat, so I wore my new "Yorktown" ball cap.

Turns out, she meant the restaurant behind us in the pic above.  I was sorely disappointed and consoled myself with a crabby patty (ok, I was crabby).  Bonus points to the reader who can name the animated cartoon series in which crabby patties are a big deal.  Hint - the theme song mentions a pineapple.

After lunch we decided to walk around Chatham a bit to soak up the sights and hit a few stores.

This is one of the sights we soaked up.  A rather large and old Methodist Church.  The history behind all these communities once ya make it this far East is something to be admired.

The Episcopals are giving the Methodists a run for the money, eh?

Then it was on to take in the Chatham Lighthouse...

This is us with the lighthouse in the background.  That would be the bow of the first all steel Coast Guard lifeboat poking its nose in on the right side of the pic.  Those life boats are amazing.  According to the info board by the fence behind us, they're self righting and self bailing.  Apparently they're pretty much steel corks.  Oh - and the lighthouse puts out 8,000,000 candle power. 

This is the lighthouse and what was originally the keeper's house.  Now it's all Coast Guard property.  But what's a trip to a lighthouse without a quick trip to the beach it overlooks?  So, off we went to the beach.

On the way down we stopped for a pic - this colorful sign ended up in the background.  Upon further inspection...

Hmmmmm...  They've never met the likes of an Accountant.  All those sharks are probably in arrears on their self employment taxes or something equally as deviant.  Out there, swimming around all day, nothing to worry about except which seal they wanna eat next. They're livin' the Life of Riley and being all irresponsible.  BTW - note that at the bottom of the sign, you can download the "Sharktivity" app to receive alerts and report sightings.  Just go to your neighborhood app store.  That'd be handy.  You're about to catch a big wave and hang ten when your phone starts blaring a shark alarm. 

Then there was this.  No lifeguard?  I'm thinking this would be the least of my worries when a Great White shark was chomping on my leg.

But this is a gorgeous stretch of beach,  And on top of it all - no pesky lifeguards to interfere with the sharks' dining experience.

While we were there we chatted up a local couple who suggested we hit the fisherman's wharf in Chatham about a half mile up the road if we wanted to see some seals.  This would be one of those odd opportunities I mentioned earlier.  So off we went...

This would be fisherman's wharf.  Ya can always tell - it's the seagulls.

And this would be a seal.  Some other seal told him, "If ya wanna watch tourists, go to fisherman's wharf."  So, off he went and here he is.

Then there were these two.  The one in back was kinda shy.  When we got there there were maybe 10-15 of 'em in the area.  About half of which were really close to the wharf.  They were just kinda lazing about.  My guess is that they're here to snag scraps the local fishermen toss overboard.  They all looked kinda fat to me, but then again, they are seals.

After that, it was off to lighthouse #2 - Nauset Lighthouse near Nauset Beach.  When we arrived we learned that this stretch of beach was a national park.  And the waves were considerably bigger...

We stood in the parking lot atop the dunes for a while just to watch the waves break.  Susan says it's like watching a fireplace.  I'm gonna say that the larger of these waves were in the range of 8 feet.  There were seals about as well.  Interestingly, the shark alert signs were here also and one of the things they suggested was to NOT swim in close proximity to seals.  Gee - I wonder why?  While we were watching, a group of three surfers headed for the beach and two of 'em paddled out to take on the waves.   On one occasion I saw a seal about 20 feet from a surfer.  When that happens, do the sharks play odd man out to decide? 

Susan and me on the beach.  Now I'm really glad I unloaded her surfboard before we got here.  Those poor sharks.  They'da never knew what hit 'em.

This would be the Nauset lighthouse in the background.

I got a little closer for a better pic later.

We walked down the shore a short distance.   The beach was interesting.  Behind us where it looks wet it dropped off maybe 8 feet down to where most of the waves washed on shore.  But occasionally a large wave would come in and I'd have to retreat to keep my feet dry.  Susan didn't have to retreat - she was nowhere near when the water came in.  I look around and she's waving at me from New Jersey!  Not gonna intimidate many sharks that way!

Finally, this.  I'm gonna say that the people who own these houses have the best views on the Cape.

We planned on hitting Marie's Pies on the way back to The Rig, but had spent so much time goofing off at the beaches that it was closed by the time we could have gotten there.  Oh well, it gives me something to look forward to tomorrow - pie for breakfast.

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 10 - Newport, RI to Dennis, RI (Cape Cod)

Wednesday, September 18th, 2019

Drive Report: 78 Miles / 1:22

Check-out time was 1100 sharp this morning - unfortunately, we weren’t sharp.  Didn’t miss it by much, but we had intended on leaving an hour earlier at 1000.  The hold up was the new neighbors.  Last evening a class C RV similar in size to ours pulled in to the slot next to us.  I had occasion to chat for just a minute with the gentleman who had been driving.  His name was Jules and his wife Francine.  They were from Quebec - that would be in Canada, for those of you who slept thru geography class.  Anyway, as Susan and I were prepping to move this morning, we ended up talking with them for a good bit.  Turns out that he’s an attorney and has partially retired with plans to fully retire next year.  He asked about me being a police officer since he saw the logo on the RV.  Then he told me that he was a defense attorney.  Ha - talk about opposite sides of the fence.  But he was still a good guy.  So we gave them a few tips on what to do around Newport and inquired about getting into Canada when we’re at Lake Champlain in a week or so.

Once we left it was just a short jaunt over to Cape Cod where we keep our summer home.  Well, OK - it arrived the same time we did.  So we’re now set up at the Camper’s Haven RV Resort - which has its own private beach right across the street from the RV Park.  Susan got all worked up and was trying to remember where she put her surf board - in the RV - right.  It was taking up so much space that I snuck it out before we left.  Now I just gotta convince her that she forgot to pack it.  I’m mildly optimistic about my chances.

Quick point of clarification.  Since it was only 78 miles total drive today, I did all the driving.  Hence all pics taken while in motion are used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.

We passed over several small (by local standards) rivers and bays today, this being one example.  All were very picturesque.  I found it interesting that people sell boats here the same ways they sell cars back home.  Find a high traffic location, park it near traffic and away from the other boats, then put a big sign on it.

We were not on the road long today when we hit Massachusetts.  They were glad we arrived.  Yes - apparently everyone in the state was waiting on us.

Another river crossing.  This one made the blog because of the freighter docked to the right side of the river.

It was pretty windy today.  A first for quite a while - in fact, pretty much since entering the Ozarks the wind has not been a factor in either the bike ride or post ride activities.  But today it moved The Rig around on the highway a bit.  They make use of the wind here the same way we do back in the Land of Oz - wind turbines.  These were the big ones.

And speaking of big ones - another huge bridge.  This one took us over part of Buzzard Bay.  Great name for a bay, don'cha think?

Forgive the bars in the foreground, but Susan had no choice.  What we're after here is the unique "drawbridge in the distance.  It looks as though it just lifts from both ends and then lowers when appropriate.  How does one become a draw bridge driver?  Play with Legos a lot as a kid or something?

The blue dot is us at the Campers Haven RV Resort - our home for the next four nights.  I can't believe we're on Cape Cod.  I'm gonna have to do some serious hobnobbing here.

After we arrived at the RV Park, it was off to the laundry room to take care of business.  Susan was appalled enough at the condition of the room...

...that she went to the office and asked for a broom and dustpan to clean the place up.  (Raise your hand if you're surprised.)  The lady behind the counter asked her, "Do you want me to have someone come down and clean it up?"  I used to play with fire when I was a kid - but I learned.  I think that lady needs to take up a less risky job - like maybe lion taming.  She did, however, send the maintenance guy down to clean.  He showed up with a dry mop and a spray bottle of cleaning solution.  He probably needed a match and some gas.  Because...

...after he left it still looked like this.  This looks nasty even to a guy.  But - we work with what we're given.  Susan held her nose and finished the laundry.  Hard to believe they can call this a Resort.

Then it was off to the beach for a quick look see.  Note the Cape Cod cottage on the beach behind us.  You wouldn't believe what I have to do to get her to smile after something like that laundry room.  But I can usually pull it off.

This is a better shot of us and the beach.  I don't know if the water behind us is technically a bay or if it qualifies (among those who decide such things) as the Atlantic Ocean.  Me?  I'm goin with ocean.  Depending on precisely which direction one goes from the beach one might strike an island (Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard) or head straight to the ocean.

These little birds were all over the beach when I went down to the shore.  They look like some kind of piper or plover.  When the waves came in they ran like the wind - their legs were just a blur.

Some seagulls were eyeing us suspiciously.  Probably looking for their next meal.  I pointed 'em at Susan, she's small enough to carry off.

And then there was this guy.  I went over to talk to the owner of this rig and he was outside checking tire pressure.  He wasn't very chatty and seemed to have trouble hanging on to the tire pressure gauge.  Next thing ya know he'd get distracted and start wandering around pecking the ground.  Some people shouldn't buy the really big rigs.  They're just not cut out for 'em.  When I came back by a half hour later, he was still there.

A pretty slow news day here at The Thin Blue Ride.  It looks to be pretty cold here overnight - 51 degrees me thinks.  In order to warm the interior of The Rig up this evening, we used the oven - and baked some chocolate chip cookies, but that was just a coincidence.  We'll probably stay in for the morning, at least until it warms up a bit, and then head out to explore.  Susan was looking around today on line while in that glistening laundry room and found an exhibit of (mostly) old Harley Davidson motorcycles on Saturday - only 3 miles away.   We can't possibly miss it.  Susan loves the big hogs.  She can't touch the ground, but she loves 'em anyway.

Till next time.