Bird Photos from Bear River

Here are eleven of the best photos I got this morning at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge outside Brigham City, Utah.

American Avocet

Black-crowned Night Heron

Snowy Egret

Black Stilt 

White Pelican

 Western Grebe with chicks

 Clarks Grebe

  Fosters Tern just hunting and hovering 

 Yellow-headed Blackbird

 Sandhill Cranes 

Just two old boys discussing fishing. 

Snowy Egret and Double-crested Cormorant.

 

Day Four of our Whirlwind Western Wandering

It was 34 degrees this morning at 6 AM MDT when we woke up. Spotted snow in the mountains east of Brigham City. Might have been there yesterday but might have fallen overnight.  With the low cloud cover and rain we had around dinner time it's hard to say if there was any snow on the high peaks or not.

Was "up" to 40 degrees when we got to Bear River to go birding at 7 AM. And a great morning we had, too! Lots and lots of birds. We tallied 40 species of mostly western waterfowl. The Western and Clark's Grebes, Cinnamon Teal, Black Stilts, Avocets, and White Pelicans were among the highlights of the morning. I took many pictures and hope some of them came out. I'll post some as soon as I take a look at them and do whatever editing needs to me done.

The drive to Ontario, OR went smoothly and we settled into a motel by 5 AM. Tomorrow we have about 370 miles to Portland and gain an hour as we cross into the Pacific Time Zone.

Three Days on the Road

Day One saw us travel from the Aerie across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and most of Illinois to the town of Ottawa. Seven hundred and twenty miles in mostly fair weather. We did hit a few heavy rain showers in Ohio but not much else. A good portion of I-80 in Ohio had construction going on, especially in the area south of Cleveland. That section has been undergoing reconstruction for years.

Day Two we finished with Illinois, then traversed all of Iowa and a large portion of Nebraska to finish in Sidney--a distance of close to 850 miles. If I thought Ohio construction was bad, it was nothing compared to Nebraska. It seemed like more than a third of I-80 westbound was under reconstruction. Iowa had almost no construction for its entire length and the rest stops were the nicest I've ever seen. They were immaculate!

Day Three we finished I-80 in Nebraska and drove all 400 miles of it in Wyoming before entering Utah. In Utah we only followed I-80 until we got to I-84 and took that interstate west to where it joins with I-15 north. We stopped in Brigham City, Utah for the night. A "short" day of just about 650 miles.

We had thought we would be able to go birding at the Bear River Refuge once we found a motel room near Brigham City, but the sky opened up and we opted for dinner at a nice steakhouse instead. Perhaps tomorrow we'll be able to do some birding before we leave for Boise, ID and the town of Ottawa, OR just a little over 300 miles away. After that it will be another 300+ miles to Portland, OR.

Days One and Three saw us battling headwinds with Day Three being the worst. The wind across western Nebraska and all of Wyoming was howling at 25-35 miles per hour with gusts going even higher. Motor homes and tractor trailers were noticeably listing to one side and travel trailers were fishtailing under the pressure. I was happy not to have the Wilderness in tow! As it was, both days saw a considerable drop in the miles per gallon I was getting int he Tundra. There was a 4-5 mile/gal difference from what I got on Day Two when the winds was calm.

The temperatures have been something else. In PA and early Ohio things were cool due to the overcast skies. Then it got warm...really, really warm. Under clear skies and bright sun it reached 91 degrees in central Nebraska on Day Two. Today, with the wind howling it still reached the mid 70s in central Wyoming, but as we reached Utah the sky got clouding and there was a bit of rain. As a result, the temperatures fell like a stone. It was 43 degrees and pouring at 5 PM MDT when we went for dinner. I've little doubt that it may have been snowing in the mountains just to the northwest of here. (We did see some snow on the peaks of the  Colorado Rockies from I-80 in Wyoming.)

That's all for now. 

Conditions at the Aerie June 2, 2012

When we got back to the Aerie yesterday, I checked the rain gauge to see what we got from the "severe thunderstorm warning" that was issued earlier in the week. There was 1.12 inches of water in the gauge and all the plants (especially the weeds!) in the garden looked pretty good.

The leaf lettuce and beets were doing especially well, but the zukes and cukes had sprouted as had most of the bean seeds I had planted the day before we left. Some of the beans look like they may have lost their seed leaves prematurely and are little more than four inch long spikes, but enough are growing to provide us with an amble amount of fresh string beans starting in a couple of weeks.

I did a little weeding and Terry has thinned out the leaf lettuce providing several nice garden salads.

Last night we got had another sever thunderstorm warning but the heavier showers stayed off to our west. We just got rain. Lots of rain. This morning the gauge held another 1.2 inches of water.

It was quite cool with the outside temps around 50 degrees and a steady breeze blowing dried things out pretty well while we loaded Ricks "stuff" into the truck. The grass got dry enough that I was able to crank the lawn mower up and cut the grass. Despite being fairly dry, it took me a goodly amount of time to get the job done because the grass has grown like wild fire and I had to empty the bag after every second or fourth row.

Terry did some grocery shopping and got all the laundry done today so we've got some clean undies and shirts to wear.

Except for packing our own bags and putting them and some groceries for the trip in to the truck, we are set to go. We'll easily be on the road tomorrow morning before 8 AM. Earlier if our cat alarms go off at 3 AM like they did today!

Our days on Upper Cape Cod; 3c (more) WHALES!

Our whale watching was the best! Time after time there would appear a ring of bubbles followed by a ball of birds and then white foaming water int he center of the ring. Then a whale or more than one would appear gulping down the food they need so badly after spending winter in the Caribbean where their type of food is scarce. Several times we saw whales leap completely out of the water (breach) as if in an attempt to launch themselves into the air only to come splashing back down. I couldn't capture these unpredictable yet spectacular actions with my camera however, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Pair of blow holes (nostrils) atop whale's head. 

Sometimes distinctive colors or scars on the fins and back also help ID individual whales. 

The top of the flukes may help in ID too.

Two whales in a coordinated feeding attack.
 One is heading away from us, the other towards us.

Whale gulp! 

Another view of the underside of a whale's tail flukes. 

The naturalist had a photo album of all the distinctive markings that allowed him to give names to nearly every whale we say. This identification along with other information is collected in a database to assist in research of these endangered whales.

Sometimes the whales were too close. Especially when your zoom lens is set for longer distances and they end up right next to the ship.

Whale's back... 

 ...going... 

 ...gone. 

We had a great day on the water and saw more whale activity than we anticipated. (After a while it got to be like watching Bald Eagles around the Valdez fish hatchery. Ho, hum. There's another one.)


That's the way we spent our Wednesday.


Thursday morning Terry and I headed back to the Bolt hole to drop off the trailer. We spent the night before heading to the Aerie to gather Rick's "Stuff" for our trip to Portland, OR.

Our days on Upper Cape Cod: Part 3b WHALES!

Once out in the whaling sanctuary, the means by which the Dolphin Fleet could guarantee sightings became clear. The first ship out in the morning would have the toughest job of locating a group of active, feeding whales. the other ships would merely have to follow their sister ship to the one or two dozen active whales and each ship would take turns following the whales as the day went on. However they worked it, once the ships were on the whales, the captains were careful to keep the ship speed slow and do as little as possible to disrupt the feeding whales.

In any event, we got to see between 16 and 20 different whales in the hour and a half that the Dolphin VIII was out in the sanctuary waters. These are just a few of the photos I took. All the whales we got up close to were humpback whales. There were a few minke whales off in the distance but not close enough to get good photos.

Why are they called humpbacks? 

When a whale sounds, it often flips it's tail upright. The coloration of the underside of the tail can be used to identify the whale. This rather plane upper surface is of little help, however.

Whale's tail. 

The whales are feeding on little lancets--they look like 6" long worms--that they corral with a bubble curtain. The whale dives to the bottom (about 150 feet) circles as it releases bubbles forming a tube about 18-20 feet in diameter. Then the whale rises in the center of that tube with its mouth open wide to scoop up the small food fish. The humpback uses baleen to strain the fish from the salt water and gulps down the fish. Birds congregate to pick off the spillage.

Three whales feeding. 

Birds enjoy some easy pickings. 

Cow and her calf do lunch together. 

Distinctive color pattern on the underside of the tail flukes. 

Whale strains its food to the delight of the gulls. 

(...to be continued.)

Our days on Upper Cape Cod: Part 3a

When we went to Alaska as a group back in 2010, we enjoyed several cruises in Alaskan waters and got to see lots of seals, birds and even a few whales. All those trips were for other purposes, however. One took us from Skagway to Juneau. Another was a dinner cruise. Then there was the fishing trip out of Homer. Others were to view glaciers up close and personal. None of these cruises actually got you out in the ocean but, rather, were in inland waterways--channels and bays still pretty well confined between two somewhat nearby pieces of land. (The trip out of Homer got closest to the open ocean, yet still got no further than the opening of Cook Inlet.)

Our whale watching excursion out of Cape Cod was a little different in that once we rounded the point of land forming a curled fist encompassing Provincetown, there would be nothing between us and Europe. And, we would be going out with the sole purpose of locating and observing whales.

Dolphin Fleet Whalewatch.  

The Dolphin Fleet operates at least 4 vessels out of the Provincetown Harbor. Dolphins VII, VIII, IX,and X were docked at the pier on Wednesday. Only VIII and IX were cruising on this day, however, as it's still early in the season. Thirteen of us planned on going out on the final trip of the day, the 1:30 PM cruise on Dolphin VIII. Previously Dolphin VIII had sailed at 9:45 AM with what looked like an eighth grade class and while we waited for it to return, Dolphin IX set sail with a crowd at 12:30 PM.

Dolphin VIII returns from its morning cruise. 

Shortly after 1 PM we were permitted to board and it soon became apparent that this would not be a crowded vessel and we would have plenty of opportunity to move about should we need to.

Part of The Alaskan Crew 

Provincetown has an interesting history of it's own. It, not Plymouth, was the first landing spot of the Pilgrims. An event usually overlooked in the history books, but commemorated with the tallest free standing granite tower in the world. Terry claims she and her sister once climbed this beast for a fantastic view of the harbor.

Tallest free standing granite tower in the world. 

As a working fishing port, there are many folks of Portuguese ancestry. There's a plaque commemorating their contributions to the town but there's a special set of murals for some of the noted women behind the men who kept the town running smoothly.

As we cruised out of the harbor and around the "fist" we passed wide beaches, lots of sand dunes and not a few lighthouses.

Including this one with a keepers cottage that can be rented in season. No electricity, however, and access is "over the sand" as they say. But, with blue fish and striped bass running within wading distance of the beach, it might be worth it!

While we cruised, we got the obligatory safety talk from the ship's naturalist and his helper. He also provided a little background as to the types of critters we might see, their behavior and the reason they are here.

After 30-45 minutes we finally approached the whale sanctuary and spotted the Dolphin IX with several whales off her bow.

Excitement began to build with the knowledge that we would soon be getting some of that "up close and personal" experience ourselves.

Lots of WHALES!  in the next post.

History! In baseball.

The Mets had a no-hitter this evening. Johan Santana tossed it against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets won 8-0.

This is the first no-hitter the Mets have ever had. All those great pitchers they have had--Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Koosman, etc.--threw no-hitters after then left the Mets.

Our days on Upper Cape Cod: Part 2b

After a short lunch at a place called Catch of the Day (where we just happened upon four others from our crew), Terry and i drove to the Truro Winery to participate in a wine tasting. For $10 each, we got a souvenir wine glass and a taste of five of their wines. With both Terry and I buying into the tasting, we got a chance to taste ten wines and since they only had ten....

It's a small vineyard and they do not grow all of their grapes. some they purchase from vineyards on the Finger Lakes or out in California. We managed to like four of the wines well enough to purchase a case composed of three bottles of each. 

Truro Winery. 

After the winery, we headed back up the Cape to the area just north of Provincetown along Race Point Road. It was just after the visitor's center closed but the view from the deck was great.

While much of the Cape is losing ground/sand to the ravages of the ocean, there are a few areas that are gaining sand in abundance. The north "fist" and curling fingers are collecting sand eroded from the beaches and cliffs and then swept along the eastern shores. The southern end near the "elbow" has also got a long, narrow spit of sand washed southfrom the middle of the Cape. Signs outside of Provincetown warn of the danger of wind blown sand and it's obvious that the road has often been covered by sand.

Dunes north of Provincetown. 

A short distance down Race Point Beach to the west is the Old Harbor Life-Saving Station.

Old Harbor Life-Saving Station 

Most of the trees on the Cape are scrub oak and pine. Both were in flower while we were there and the air was occasionally pale green with pine pollen. This photo shows both last year's female cones (the gray ones), this years female cones (the brown ones) and the male flowers (they look like brown caterpillars).

Pine cones and male flowers. 

We then drove into Provincetown to have our dinner at the Lobster Pot. Good service, good food. And the place didn't start filling up until well after we were into our meal. The crowds that were out and about Monday evening were long gone--or at least greatly reduced.

Then it was back to the campground for a little socializing with our friends and discussion of Wednesday's Whale Watching Trip.

Camp at Adventure Bound Campgrounds, North Truro 

 

Our days on Upper Cape Cod: Part 2a

On our second day on the upper reaches of Cape Cod (Tuesday), Terry and I headed south to Eastham and the Salt Pond Visitor Center. We toured the small museum and watched a short video about the formation and transformation of Cape Cod. Then we headed for the beach. The nearest one was the Coast Guard Beach almost due east of the visitors' center.

Former Coast Guard Station. 

The handsome building above was a Coast Guard station for approximately 20 years.

Looking over the dunes toward the beach. 

Terry walks out on the beach. 

Terry on the beach. 

The tide was out when we looked out over the beach. Terry went looking for some shells and found herself dropping over a four to five foot drop on her way out to the waster. (I didn't feel up to testing my leg on the very loose sand.) Terry was surprised to find no shells on this beach. With all the sand and storm wash action the area experiences, you would think there would be some clams or scallops, but there were no signs of them on the beach. Shells may have been lacking on the beach, but I found a couple up on the dunes. A few of them were occupied.

One lonely snail on the dunes. 

Snails on the half shell in the dunes. 

After a short period of time, we went back to the parking lot near the former Coast Guard Station and looked behind the dunes where there were some estuaries and marshes.

Behind the dunes. 

Then it was on to the next beach and lighthouse: Nauset.

 Like many of the areas around the Cape, Rosa rugosa is abundant. And they were in flower. These plants are abundant and prolific. The propagate from large hips and from their root systems, too.

Red and white Rosa rugosa. 

White Rosa rugosa. 

 Like many of the beaches, there's a steep drop down to the beach. Nauset Beach is accessed byh a flight of steps. there was then a long walk out to the water and a small stream that had to be crossed. A few young kids were out in the wash with their parents and a couple of harbor seals were looking in from the swells to see what the giggling was about.

View of Nauset Beach. 

The road leading up to the beach is called Cable Road. The reason for that is the small shack in the photo below. This was the end of a very long cable that ran under the Atlantic to Europe.

Cable Hut and Nauset Light House. 

A short distance up the coast, there's another site that played an important role in the history of communication. These were at Marconi Beach. This is the site of the first transmission of wireless messages across the Atlantic.

Plaque at Marconi Beach

There were four towers here that supported the wires that formed the antenna for the transmitter/receiver. They sat on the edge of a sand bluff which has now eroded considerably. The operators' shack and the concrete pads of two of the supporting towers have long yielded to the ocean's power.

Then it was time for lunch...

Our days on Upper Cape Cod: Part 1

After Terry and I got our trailer fixed on Memorial Day Monday, we hustled up Route 6 to rejoin our friends in North Truro. Not long after we parked and unhitched the trailer, we were again out exploring the surroundings.

We drove up to Provincetown and discovered it was definitely NOT the time to be driving a large pick-up truck through the narrow streets filled with folks of assorted tastes and flavors. Apparently there had been a weekend film festival and we arrived just after the final curtain. People were looking to eat, walk back to their cars, bicycle about in the evening hours, catch the ferry back to Boston/Plymouth, or just hang out.

We headed west on Route 6 (the only direction you can go from Provincetown) and found a nice, elegant and sparsely populated restaurant in Truro just off Route 6 A and enjoyed a wonderful meal.

On our way back to the campground, we drove down Highland Road to the Highland Lighthouse, also known as the Cape Cod Light, the oldest lighthouse on the Cape. We were too late to go to the museum and I went and left my camera in the car (the leg was still in bad shape and I wasn't sure how far I could walk) so I didn't get to take any pictures of this particular beacon or the beach in front of it. But they were spectacular!

Thus ended Monday.

Near the Tip of the Cape

We made it to North Truro, MA yesterday after a bit of drama. Everyone else was ready to leave bright and early from the Bay View Campground, but when Terry and I tried to activate the slide out on our trailer we got nothin'. No whir, no click, no nothin'. I checked all the fuses I could reach and couldn't find one that was burned out or anything. I pulled the switch from the wall and tried to use a jumper cable in case the switch was bad and that didn't accomplish anything. I took a look under the trailer in case a wire was busted--I don't know why, maybe a squirrel would have chewed through it--but there was no signs of any problem.

So, off to the office we go to get the number of The RV Doctor. Terry makes the call and tells him we are scheduled to leave at noon. Remember, this is Memorial Day. The Doc says he'll try to get to us before noon and--better than his word--he shows up around 9:30 AM. We describe the problem and he starts going through his check list. All the fuses (including a few I didn't know about under an access panel in the nose of the trailer), all the wires, all the switches. I even showed him some fuses, selenoids and what-not under the bed he was happy were easily accessible. All the fuses and wires were A-OK. Finally he gave the little selenoid under the bed a little tap with the handle of his screwdriver and BINGO! juice was flowing to the slide out's motor again.

But...the rear side of the slide out was binding and the whole thing wasn't coming in properly. SO...in and out, out and in, in and out...I pushed the little button to make the slide out move while The RV Doctor tried to figure out what was causing the damn thing to bind. Finally, he asked me, "When did you lubricate this last?" and I had to confess it was just before we left fro Alaska in June of 2010. His head dropped and I heard him mutter under his breath as he went to get the WD40. (He says silicone lubricant is best and should be used ONCE A YEAR! or more even if the trailer is in storage. Another lesson learned.)

We managed to get out of Bay View almost an hour ahead of our noon dead line and boogied up Route 6 to the Adventure Bound Campground in North Truro where the rest of our party was already encamped.

Our adventures for the day didn't end there, however. Terry and I drove up to the very tip of the Cape on Route 6 to Provincetown. Some spectacular sand dunes and spits along the way. The town itself has a very, very large and active gay community and this weekend they sponsored a film festival or something. And we got there just as it was time for everyone to go home or out to dinner. We were looking to dine at The Lobster Pot, but so was everyone else.

Commercial Ave. is one-way, narrow, has parking on both sides of the street, has bicycles going in both directions--often in the middle of the street, has people walking in the middle of the street, has people walking their dogs in the middle of the street,  has people (and their dogs) standing in the middle of the street, etc. In short, it was not a great street to be driving on with my Tundra. With no place to park, I reached the north end of Commercial without running over anyone or their dog--or having a bicyclist become a new hood ornament. There was a gentleman in safety yellow directing traffic so I pulled up to near where he was.
"Excuse me, could you tell me how to get out of here?" I asked.
He smiled, "Oh, seen enough have you?"
We laughed a bit but he told me how to get back to Route 6 so Terry and I could find a little quieter place to eat with a little less flamboyant atmosphere. (Really! Two guys dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow walked by as we talked to the fella giving us directions.)

Today we visited several lighthouses, the site of the first wireless radio transmission by Marconi and the Truro winery. A very nice day. There's talk of going whale watching tomorrow. It's a three hour cruise. If I see Ginger or Mary Ann get on board....

On the Cape and Martha's Vineyard

We spent the day out on Martha's Vineyard.

We left the dock at Woods Hole bright and early, catching the 6:15 AM ferry for the 6 mile ride across to the island and then had a three hour guided tour of all the villages. We didn't actually stop at any of them but enjoyed the running commentary of our guide along the way. I was once a tour guide on the island but with a full sized bus that couldn't comfortably access some of the small roads we traveled today in our large vans. (Our group of 16 divided into two vans for the trip around the island.)

The ferry dropped us off at Vineyard Haven and after taking a brief ride around the Haven, our guide headed off to Tisbury, Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, (almost) to Chappaquiddick (there's no longer a bridge to this little town and it's become an island all by itself), through West Tisbury, Chilmark, over to the cliffs of Aquinnah, through Menemsha and back to Vineyard Haven in time for lunch.

Terry and I had lunch in the restaurant no part of the hotel I once brought guests to back in 1974. It's long been improved and the name has changed to The Mansion. Looks much, much fancier today than it did back then.

I found I recognized very little of the island despite the fact that very little has changed. Oak Bluffs and Edgartown are still the beautiful little villages they were back then with a combination of small and quaint and big and impressive. The difference is today they are all expensive. (Oak Bluffs was a religious camp meeting town back in the 1880s and is the center of the Afro-American community on the island. Edgartown was once home to whaling captains galore when Martha's Vineyard ruled that particular industry.)

Our tour guide pointed out the number of celebrities who have homes on or who have vacationed on the island. Nearly all the politicians mentioned seemed to be Democrats and nearly all the actors, singers, performers named I seem to remember as being of the progressive bend.

We gathered at the dock to catch the 2:15 PM ferry back to Woods Hole on the Cape and then head back to our campground.

******

I haven't taken many pictures this trip, but here are a few to give you a feel...

The 2010 Alaskan Crew 

The Ferry arrives at Vineyard Haven 

The Ticket Office at Vineyard Haven 

 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute 

Part of the Village of Woods Hole from the water. 

More of the Village of Woods Hole from the water.

 

Report from the road: On Cape Cod (barely!)

Terry and I left the Bolt Hole early on Wednesday morning and drove out to Cape Cod, MA via the Bourne Bridge over the Canal and to the Bay View Campground. We were the last of the arrivals on Wednesday but one other couple, Robert and Nancy, would be arriving on Thursday.

After a brief "Happy Hour" gathering, we split to do our own thing for dinner, which, for Terry and I meant going to a place called Sandy's just over the bridge for a seafood platter large enough to supply us with several meals!

Thursday was another day of "everyman for himself." Terry and I drove down to the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, then Woods Hole to visit the Aquarium (small, but nice), a short walk on the beach of Nantucket Sound, and finally on to Historic Downtown Falmouth. Back at the trailer park, we all got our foods and beverages together and headed over the bridge to West Wareham and Bruce and Sue's home for a picnic. There are 8 couples from the 2010 Alaska Trip present. Bruce and Sue made 9 out of 23 rigs. A pretty good turn out.

Friday: "Everyman for himself," again and Terry and I went to visit Sandwich and the glass museum they have there. Much smaller than the museum in Corning, NY and focused upon the product of their own glass factory but very interesting indeed. (They needed to import sand--sand!--from Maurice, New Jersey because the sand on Cape Cod contained too much iron. Go figure.) Then we had lunch at a lovely bakery/cafe before heading over to the north end of the Cape Cod Canal where the Corps of Engineers has a Visitors' Center and the Coast Guard a DHS facility. If we could have found a spot with free parking--and if my knees stopped complaining--we might have enjoyed a walk on the beach of Cape Cod Bay.

Tomorrow we are going to take a ferry over to Martha's Vineyard where we will have a bus tour of the island scheduled.

All set to hit the road!

It rained softly for most of the night. Started just about 4 PM on Monday and has continued overnight and through much of today, although it was a bit spotty at times. We'd get an hour or so when there were actual blue skies visible--but never in a postion to allow the sun to break through. This rain is supposed to continue through much of the night but stop around dawn. I blame Alberto.

Lucky for us the avian alarm system worked a little too well this morning. The birds started 30 to 45 minutes before sunrise--which was officially around 5:30 AM. It wouldn't have been too bad but I have learned a few too many bird calls and spent time trying to ID the songs instead of pulling the pillow over my ears and going back to sleep.

Being up and about at 5:30 provided lots of time to get things done between showers and before noon.

The trailer is now packed, the ATV is pretty much put back together (it's only missing the starter which is on order) and we're ready to hit the road for Bourne, MA tomorrow morning bright and early. I'm sure the birds will see that we are up in plenty of time to have breakfast and pack a lunch for the road.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the folks from our trip to Alaska again. We'll be meeting up with a couple of Tennesseans, Texans, Louisianans,  some Aussies, and a few Massachusetts folks. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy the weather around the Canal area and get a nice tour of Martha's Vineyard before heading up the Cape to North Truro for a couple of days. Once in North Truro, there will be time to walk the beaches and visit Provincetown.