The Ray Adventures: Bellingham, Ma, Plymouth, Ma & Newport, RI

Remember all my whining about cold and rain, now it's time for hot and humid. I'll take the hot any day! This week we have gone from the Boston area to Cape Cod and Newport, RI., there are so many things to see and do. Another disclaimer, the laptop is still acting up, cross your fingers.

Tuesday, July 28th, We took Luci to Camp Bow Wow, a franchised doggie day care, boarding and training facility. We had to jump through a few hoops to get her accepted, their rules are more stringent than private doggie day care.  Luci had to go through a socialization "interview", to see how she interacts with other dogs, since she's been going to day care since age 6 months she aced the test.  Our drive into Boston was pretty smooth. We took Mass. Pike 90, after our experience in Ohio and Illinois we were a bit nervous about the cost, as it turned out it was only $5.00.We found a parking garage near the ticket booth for City View Trolley tours, a hop on hop off narrated tour. We stayed on the trolley for the complete round trip, it took about an hour, for an overview of all the stops. Our first stop on the second go-round was the USS Constitution located at Charleston Navy Yard. The ship will be in dry dock for a 3 year restoration project. Built in Boston, was launched in 1797, nicknamed Old Ironside for the strength of the wooden sides. Also in the Navy Yard are the USS Constitution Museum and the WWII destroyer Cassin Young. After a quick bite at the Deca Café we started the historic 2 1/2 mile Freedom Trail, in 90 degree heat heading UP the hill to Bunker Hill Monument, a mini Washington Memorial. A 221 ft. granite obelisk that marks the site of the American Revolution's first major battle. We didn't climb the 294 step to the top of the monument, it was closed. Darn. Copp's Burial Ground, Boston's second oldest cemetery, established in 1659, besides all the notable people there are thousands of unmarked graves of Afro-Americans. the Old North Church, built in 1723 played in a key role of the American Revolution. Did you ever hear about Paul Revere? At this point we are starting to "melt", we cruised through the Paul Revere House built in 1660, also under restoration. We didn't finish the walk the heat was becoming too much for us plus we thought we could beat rush hour traffic. HA! It took us 2 12 hours to travel back to Bellingham, about 40 miles. Picked up Luci, got back to the coach and crashed.

Wednesday, July 29 It seems all of New England is a "buzz" about the NFL's decision to uphold Tom Brady's 4 game suspension for his part in deflategate at last year's AFC Championship game. Last night's local news spent at least 2/3 of the broadcast covering "it", I'm on the fence about it, why would Tom Brady need to cheat, he's probably on of the best quarterbacks in the game of football but the fan in me says "he's a cheater" What a bunch of whiners. Off to Federal Court TBC.
A day to re-coup. Gary had a medical issue that needed attention, we went to the Emergency Room in Milford. He's fine but it took several hours. The weather is 90 degrees again with high humidity, when we got back I headed for the pool.   AHHHHH!

Thursday, July 30, Providence, Rhode Island is only about 25 miles south of Bellingham, since neither of us were ready to face Boston madness we drove down for the day. We were scheduled for only 2 days in Newport, RI, this gave us a chance to see both. We stopped in historic Pawtucket, a suburb. At the visitor center, we were greeted by a very enthusiastic man, made me want to move there. We took an abbreviated walking tour, entering the grounds of Slater Mill built in 1793, the first cotton spinning mill in America. A 16,000 pound water wheel on the Blackstone River powered the mill. The river itself looks exactly like I envisioned a N.E. river, rocky, a lot of falls and not deep. On to Providence, population 180,000 the capital of R.I., to the east side, beautiful Colonial homes, Brown University and the home of John Brown. We were too early for a tour of the which gave us the opportunity to walk through the neighborhood and the University. John Brown was banished from Plymouth because of his views about the right to worship without regulation from the state. He was a merchant, slave trader, statesman who founded Brown University in 1764. After walking through the area, picking up a geo cache, we went through his home, built in 1788, beautifully restored and furnished with art and Chinese ceramics. Time for lunch, this time we chose a brew pub, (unusual) downtown. A mural dominated one wall, we noticed all the people depicted were all dead musicians. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Patsy Cline just to name a few. Quite a work of art. After lunch Gary toured the State House, I stayed in the car with the A/C, I was done for.

Friday, July 31 The coach had been tentatively scheduled for the slide repair but they just couldn't fit it in. We couldn't face Boston so we just hung around the park. I enjoyed the time at the pool, no frog this time. We drove to Franklin, the next exit south on the 495 to run some errands and take Luci to the dog park. We chatted with a "local", we mentioned we were leaving for the Cape in the morning (Saturday),he told us we'd better leave by 6am because the freeway will be stop and go heading toward Cape Cod. After dinner we connected the Jeep and disconnected all utilities except electricity for our early departure.

Saturday, Aug. 1st. Can you believe it is August already? We left the park at 8:00 (not 6) for the 57 mile drive to Plymouth, traffic would bunch up intermittently but fairly smooth, we arrived at Sandy Pond RV park by 9:15. Too early to check in, we were able to park in a field until11:30. After getting settled we drove to historic Plymouth to see the "rock". In 1620 the Mayflower disembarked here forming Plymouth Colony. Pilgrims first landed at Provincetown before moving to Plymouth across the bay.  The rock has been split into two parts, the bottom portion was left at the wharf while the top was moved several times. Today only about 1/3 of the rock remains.

Sunday, August 2nd., Originally I wanted to drive to the end up the Cape (just because) but after talking with our neighbors who only live an hour away warned me the traffic would be so bad it would take all day. At best it's a 2 hour drive. Massachusetts was holding the Pan Mass Ride, a ride similar to Ride Oregon, with 6,000 riders finishing at Provincetown and would be heading home. So we abandoned that idea, chose to walk part of the Cape Canal waterway that connects Cape Cod Bay to the north and Buzzard Bay in the south, approximately 7 miles long with bike/pedestrian paths on both sides. Two bridges and a railroad bridge cross the canal. It is a lovely walk, watching the yachts and boats. We drove up to Hyannis Port to say "hi" to the Kennedy's but we left their address at home so we just looked around. We met Cecille and J.P., brand new full-time RVers, a whole 2 weeks now, they've lived in Massachusetts most of their lives.

Monday, August 3rd. I took a "power walk" through out the park, without Luci, she stops to smell the roses. After a cool shower we got ready to move to Newport Naval Station Rhode Island, whole 60 miles. Only one misstep getting there, the address we put into Miss Sally sent us to a parking lot of a business, fortunately we were able to get out of that fix with little trouble. We finally found Carr Point Fam Camp located right on the Narragansett Bay, one of the deepest harbors in the US. We had to go on base to pick up the campers package from outdoor rec, decided to hit the commissary. Closed Mondays! We did stop at the Package Store to pick up the makings for adult beverages and the NEX for some cool shirts for me. We had a margarita happy hour sitting outside enjoying the sunset.

Tuesday, Aug. 4th., After waking up way to early, while I was doing my morning sudoko I kept hearing rumblings, thinking it must be jets from the base, then I remembered Newport Naval Station is a teaching facility with no airstrip, I looked outside across the bay, I could hardly see the water. It was quite a thunderstorm. Short lived, it turned out to be another lovely day. A perfect day to enjoy Newport, population of 25,000 except in the summer tourist season, settled in 1639. In the mid 1800's wealthy citizens discovered the vacation spot. Such families such as the Vanderbilts and Astors built incredible mansions, most of them used for only 6 to 8 weeks a year. We took a trolley tour that included touring one mansion, we chose Vanderbilts The Breakers, an 70 room, built in 1895. Just a little summer cottage. Mansions dot the entire route of 10 Mile Ocean Drive. The rest of the trolley ride included historic churches, businesses, colonial homes and shopping districts. I just don't get it, why waste your time shopping when there is so much to do?

That's it for this week, enjoy the pic's.

TTFN

Gary and Pam