Catching Up at Horseneck Beach State Reserve, Massachusetts

After reaching our 50th state of Rhode Island, we wanted to retreat somewhere we could get some work done, and have access to the Cape Cod area of Massachusetts.

We had a blog reader we really wanted to meet up with, and Chris’ cousin spends his summers on Martha’s Vineyard.

So we back tracked a bit before continuing our journey south.

This post covers September 18 – 22.

Horseneck Beach State Reserve

A local contact in the area had recommended Horseneck Beach State Reserve (our review) as a possible spot for us to stay while needing to be in Newport. We ended up finding a spot much closer, but afterwards this seemed ideal.

It was less than an hour drive – so not putting us too far off course. And giving us easy access to Cape Cod and ferries to Martha’s Vineyard.

Horseneck Beach sits out on its own little peninsula, and the campground itself consists of about a 100 pull through spots amongst the sand dunes. The ‘front’ row provides for oceanfront spots, which get booked up well in advance.

Since we weren’t so fortunate to snag a killer view, our next preference is maximum privacy.

Again, I used my Google Satellite trick to compare open sites on ReserveAmerica to book the site I thought would bring us the greatest amount of joy.

Site 84 was available for our time frame, and appeared to be at the end of a row with a possible ocean peak.

Well, we were right about the end of the row – we were mostly off on our own next to the volleyball court (which no one used during our stay). We pulled into the site with our windows facing ‘backwards’ towards the ocean, which worked out quite well.

However, the site’s view included a rather tall sand dune and a dumpster. We could get a peak of the ocean however from our office windows, which is better than nothing, right?

We really liked the location – surrounded by water. There’s pleasant walking trails along the coast, and ample beach access. There’s even a walk out to nearby Goose Neck Island, which features two WWII look out towers, walking trails and amazing sunset views.

But our biggest complaint about the campground was the lack of hook-ups. Well, not really. We’re solar powered, have a sizable lithium battery bank (yes we know, we’re way overdue for an update) and huge water tanks. We’re made for dry camping.

The problem really was – no generator hours.

So here you are, in this lovely spot where you just want to kick back and listen to the waves.

But noooooo… someone nearby is always running their generator. It’s a constant hum of generators from morning to night. And while most use quieter Honda’s and Yamaha’s, it just takes a handful utilizing cheap & loud contractor units that you can hear from several rows away.

This place would be so much better if they had just a few hours during the day in which generators were allowed – as to encourage folks to pre-think their energy management a bit better, and to have some time in which there was just the sound of the waves.

Hey, we may be solar snobs.. but we understand not everyone, especially those on vacation, wants to invest in that sort of setup. Designated generator hours help achieve a happy balance.

Social Time

Aside from getting a lot of work done, especially during a full foggy rainy day (in which we ourselves did need to run the generator for about 45 minutes) – our intentions with this visit was social.

Long time followers Scott & Jeanne have written several time over the years. And they had previously invited us up this way to join them and some friends for a weekend catamaran sailing adventure. The timing never quite worked out for us to arrange that, but we definitely wanted to meet up with them.

Turns out, their favorite winery is right up the road in Westport – and they offered to swing down to spend an evening with us (with wine in tow!).

We had a great time laughing and drinking wine with them. And Scott got out his drone to catch some pictures of the bus in the crazy foggy sunset lighting.

Eerie pink skies at sunset (no photo enhancement done at all to this.)

Hanging out with Scott & Jeanne. (Drone shot, courtesy of Scott).

Our other social plans were to catch a ferry over to Martha’s Vineyard and spend an afternoon with Chris’ cousin (also named Scott). Unfortunately, this was easier said than done.

There are several ferries from along the coast – and they can get rather confusing to an out of town visitor. Long story short, we ended up missing two possible ferries before admitting defeat.

Oh well, can’t win them all.  We headed back to the bus and wrapped up a couple projects. And we were treated to a pretty spectacular sunset for our parting evening.

What’s Up Next & Hurricane Matthew Shout-Out

After this visit, we headed on over to the New London area of Connecticut for an awesome visit with my family. I’ll fill you in on that stop later.

Hopefully this weekend we’ll find the time to put together our announcement of what’s next for us (but thought I’d keep the travelogue going in the meantime).

Right now, I’m trying to keep myself distracted.

Hurricane Matthew is presently bearing down on my old hometown of Melbourne, Florida where I have several friends. It’s also where my Mom lives (who we just spent time with in CT.) She has headed inland this morning to safety – but this storm has us on the edge of our seats with our stomachs full of butterflies.

I’ve gone through several hurricane evacuations (and landfalls) while living on the coast. They’re scary, and my heart is with all facing Hurricane Matthew. Stay safe, please.

As a side note, it was actually in the middle of my 3rd (or maybe it was the 4th? – it was a crazy season) hurricane evacuation in 2004 in which I bought my very first RV on eBay (bad idea – I ended up with a waterlogged pop-up tent camper). I did so with the intention it might need to be my back-up house, and perhaps be a fun weekend vacation get-a-way. Going through the process of packing up all my worldly possessions so many times caused me to re-think everything about my concept of home. Which made me ready to explore a nomadic lifestyle when I met Chris a couple years later.