Hajfri helg på Cape Cod

Vi tog en campingtur i helgen, till norra Cape Cod. Bodde på en camping nära havet, bredvid fyren Cape Cod Light och ungefär en mile från fantastiska Coast Guard Beach. Vi såg inga hajar, men väl både ett tiotal valar, sälar och en hjort, och mängder av "Fiddler crabs". Vi hann också med lunch i Provincetown med Lobster roll, hummersoppa, fish'n'fries (och potatismos till Nova), och besök på Race Point Beach vid Cape Cods norra udde.

Nyekiperad Kia Soul

Fiddler Crab på Mass Audubon Society i Wellfleet

Eldstaden på Horton's campingplats i North Truro (tyvärr fick vi ingen bild från sidan - den var dekorerad med "indiankonst"-hål med galler, och hade ett halvklotsformat gnistskydd att lägga över - jättecool!)

Coast Guard Beach vid lågvatten sedd från Darrins IPhone - gör sig bättre i verkligheten

Bad i Atlanten - utan hajar, trots att vithajar skymtades samma dag på en annan strand bara lite söderut (vi fick se valar istället, som både sprutade och voltade i vattnet!)

Campingplatsen var supermysig med små skogomgärdade tältplatser med varsin fantastiskt mysig liten eldstad. Jag är inte säker på om morgonen på stranden eller marshmallowsgrillningen på kvällen var bäst. Nova och Zoey hittade blåbär också vilket de var mycket nöjda med. De var för korta för att få gå upp i fyrtornet, men det kompenserade personalen med att ge dem varsin gratisbiljett utan tidsbegränsning med texten "välkommen tillbaka när du är 48 tum". Gulligt!

Cape Cod light - äldsta fyren på Cape Cod. Jag längtar efter att få bestiga en fyr med tjejerna - och för den här fattas bara ca 2.5 tum

"Sportlov" på Cape Cod

Nauset Beach i februari

Vi träffade på en ensam säl - mycket spännande!

Lunch på Land Ho i Orleans - mysigt ställe med god mat. Vi delade på Crab Cakes, Fish & Chips och friterade calamari med mycket cole slaw.

Tjejerna är lediga nästa vecka - Winter break, som väl nog är det närmaste man kan komma sportlov i USA. Vi hade funderat på att ta en skidhelg, men det är stor snöbrist i New England i år. Det slutade med en hotellnatt på Cape Cod istället. Inte det mest vintriga utflyktsmål man kan tänka sig, men vi hade i alla fall med oss blåbärssoppa (tack Markus och Annica!). På bilderna ser det ut som om det blev mycket strand men ärligt talat blev det nog mest tid i poolen på hotellet.

Cape Cod- Last of the photos

 You can see the last of the photos from Cape Cod after the jump.

Cape Cod- National Seashore

Cape Cod was amazing, but the best part of it was the National Seashore.  It is basically (for the most part) a national park.  Kennedy created it in 1961 (which means it is the 50th anniversary this year).  It basically is the eastern coast of the Cape.  When it was created, the area was already settled, so people actually live within the seashore boundaries. 

(There are actually seals in this picture, but they are kind of hard to see. I regret not bringing the good camera)

We ended up going twice to the seashore.  The first time was on a Monday late afternoon and then the last afternoon.  Both were excellent for their own reasons. 

I can not wait to get back to the northern point.  The nature looks wonderful, but I am especially looking forward to taking the bikes up there.  There are bike paths everywhere.  We didn't do any biking, but we did take a walk along the coast to a lighthouse (I should point out here that M is fascinated with lighthouses).  The walk was along the beach the whole way...we think.  We actually never got to the lighthouse.  Instead we just walked along the beach.  The best part of it was that we were being followed and watched almost the entire way.  A pack (I wonder if that is actually the right word) of seals were watching us from the water.  At one point 23 of them were sitting their heads out of the water watching us.  Plus, we found some super cool shells and stuff (like stuff off a shipwreck and starfish).  Next time we just have to find the lighthouse. 

The last day we took route 6a (which is the scenic route) to the southern part of the seashore.  There we did get to see the lighthouses (the three sisters).  Mostly we played at the visitor center and the bookstore there.  We did get our National Park Pass as well. 

Cape Cod- Bird Watching

I have never considered myself a bird watcher, though I think that I could easily get into it. I love watching animals in nature, so it would not be a stretch if I became one. Cape Cod would be an easy spot to start since it is so easy to spot and identify birds. We loaned a little book with common animals along the cape, which was extremely helpful (not just with the birds, but with mammals and sea life as well).

The highlight of the birdwatching were the Osprey. We had two nests right beside our house and they would fly over us all the time. I got a little carried away with the photo taking of them, so deal with it.



At one point I was watching eight of them flying over the house. Of course this is when I did not have a single camera in the house.


One of the cool things about this photo is that the Osprey is sitting on a fly catcher. Each one of these blue boxes catches 30,000 flies each summer.

Körkort!

Nu har jag TVÅ körkort - mitt Massachusetts-körkort kom på posten idag. Jag klarade uppkörningen medan vi var på Cape Cod, trots att jag körde sämre än jag gjort kanske hittills i mitt liv. Nova och Zoey tycker inte det ser ut som jag på kortet, men det spelar lika lite roll som att jag körde dåligt på uppkörningen - det är jag, och jag körde tillräckligt bra för att få godkänt. Darrin och tjejerna må ha två pass, men jag är den enda i familjen med två körkort, och det måste vara coolare!

(Att slippa fler körkortsprov är förövrigt en stark motivation till att hålla sig i Europa-USA i framtiden...)

Cape Cod- Part 1

We are back from holiday and I have to say, we love the Cape. Yes, it does surprises me. Neither M nor I are beach people, though N and Z both are beach kids. I was looking forward to the trip, but I was not really sure just how much I would like the Cape. In the end, it was fabulous. We are already planning our next trip out there.

One of the things that made our trip better was our lodging. The in-laws had rented a house for the week and what a house it turned out to be. We had a view of the beach and a view of a salt marsh that was full of animal life. The house itself was gorgeous. In fact, I would consider renting the exact same house again.

The only "negative" was that we had no internet. We could not even find a cafe that had internet. It was not from a lack of trying. M needed it for work, so we carried her computer around everywhere.

More posts later. Too hot here to sit at the computer and "work".