New England Shore Trekkers are Soaking Up Block Island's Natural Beauty

Today we woke up to the sound of gently chirping birds. After a brief breakfast of blueberries and bagels, we hit the road and headed out to the northernmost point of Block Island with our sights set on the North Light lighthouse. After a sunny bike ride and a luxurious hike through the sand we made it to the beautiful ocean side lighthouse. We spent the next couple of hours simply enjoying ourselves on the beach; doing yoga, collecting shells, and soaking up some sunshine. We then made our way back to the bicycles and grabbed some food to have a beach picnic beside a sparkling pond. After eating our fill, playing the guitar, and swimming in the fresh waters, we decided to pack up and head into downtown Block Island. We then had an hour to roam free and explore the beautiful streets of the town. While Adam, Willem, and Yotam broke off to get candy and slushies, Hazel, Lauren, and Andrea spent some quality time window shopping and picking out bumper stickers. After meeting up we headed over to a classic fried seafood restaurant in which we indulged in clam cakes, fried shrimp, and root beer  floats. Soon after, We decided to hit the road and set our sights for the other side of the island to catch the sunset. While reaching the beach in the nick of time and enjoying some sunset swimming, the Trekkers soaked up the last moments of the long day. We soon headed off for a short but sweet night ride through the sea side streets and returned back to the camp site tired and content.
 - written by Trekker Lauren 

quotes of the day:

"Classic Kirk"

"I'm picking up what you're putting down."

"Sign me up!"

"This is so summer 2K15"

New England Shore Trekkers Head for Block Island

We woke up at the hotel in Mystic and we ate WAFFLES!!! Adam had a five course breakfast. Lauren and Adam led us as points on our long journey. Around 13 miles into our trip, Yotam's chain sacrificed itself to the gods. A nice mechanic came to us from town to fix the broken chain. As we were waiting for the mechanic we had brunch in the most popular back yard in town. The rest of the group continued on while Yotam and Sarah had the chain fixed and then had a nice ride together to catch up. The whole group reunited, we biked ahead, having a great time enjoying the view and the people. After some biking, we stopped to fill up water bottles and our leaders surprised us with sherbet. As we were biking, we looked to our left and saw a beautiful and enormous blue pond. We continued to a Stop and Shop supermarket where we bought lunch and dinner for the next couple days. At the store we split up, three people went on with Elazar to get ferry tickets, three grocery shopped with Sarah. We raced to catch up so that we could catch the express ferry to Block Island! The boat ride was very majestic. We filled out water bottles at the port and headed to the campsite. There we created amazing chicken Mac and cheese. After that we were surprised again with marshmallows! We ate marshmallows, twinkles, and devil dogs. After accomplishing our 40 mile (longest day) we went to sleep tired and accomplished.  -- written by Trekker Yotam

Quote of the day: "this is a family show."

New England Shore Trek Waits Out Storm on Block Island

Tropical Storm Arthur kept our New England Trekkers on Block Island an extra day.  They relocated from the campground to a welcoming church and made a game day out of it.  Trekker Alex tells us,

This morning, we went to the donut shop on Block Island for breakfast. While we were eating breakfast, it began to pour.  The rain was awful, but we get to spend a night in a church, which is different but cool. We get to chill and hang out, which gives us more time to learn about each other -- so even though there's a big storm on the way, we're still having a good time.

They played giant Jenga (which apparently makes some spectacular noise when the tower falls), Scrabble, and other games, told stories, and stayed warm and dry.  The next day, normal ferry service resumed, so they came back to the mainland to continue on their way.

Originally, our New England group was scheduled for two nights at Melville Ponds Campground in Portsmouth.  They're spending one instead and biking on to Providence, just as originally scheduled. 

Block Island Treats the New England Shore Trekkers Right

Our New England Shore Trekkers started off their day in Block Island early and headed to the North Light lighthouse -- only to find it was closed!  They still got to see the exterior of this charming and historic structure, and then went swimming nearby on an absolutely gorgeous beach:

They biked the Clay Head nature trail:

And spent the afternoon in New Shoreham, an adorable island town full of coffee shops, souvenir shops, and ice cream places.

Tomorrow morning, they'll catch a ferry to Newport, RI and spend 2 days there before continuing up the coast.

New England Shore on Block Island, by Jonah

The group has accomplished some great mileage with the reward of hanging out on Rhode Island's Block Island!

As Jonah shares:
"After traveling by ferry to the Island, we got to the campsite and had a good night's sleep. We all were excited to go to the beach and have fun on our first day off.  We all went swimming and hung out at the beach, then some of us went and explored the main town, New Shoreham.  My friend Daniel and I (Jonah) also went on a bike ride around the island with Cliff (Teen Treks Director), who was visiting the group for a few hours.  In the evening we went to an outdoor blues concert and ate burgers.  It was a really fun day."

Beach bound!