Day 15 – July 13, 2003

Rhode Island Layover

The day from hell wasn’t over yet. Despite the soccer team that was celebrating something most of the night and into the wee hours of the day, we managed to get to sleep. We were awakened several times during the night by the occupants of the room over ours, and then at about 8 in the morning, we got a very loud awakening when the fire alarm went off. It seems that someone was playing in the breakfast area and smoked the toast till the alarms went off. Then they could not turn them off and had to wait for the Fire Department to show up. I tried to get back to sleep, and the soccer team decided to leave. When I tried to brush my teeth, the sink drain was jammed and would not drain. When we checked out and I reported this to front desk, he nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and said, “So just the noise huh?” I gave up and we left.

Now since we had picked a place right off the freeway so that we could get on the road easily, I didn’t even notice that I picked the northbound entrance instead of the southbound one until we had driven about 15 miles in the wrong direction and I saw a “north” sigh. After getting our direction straightened out, we stopped briefly in Pawtucket for gas, and then on into Providence. We found the next hotel and checked in, but the room was not yet ready, so we went for breakfast. It was already past noon, so we asked at the hotel where we could get breakfast at this hour and were pointed to a place called Bickford’s. We were greeted graciously and they even handled my humor pretty well. Paula took our order and brought us a great meal. Karen had something called the Big Apple that was like a huge crepe about a foot in diameter covered with sugar and cinnamon. I asked for eggs over medium, which in my vernacular means the white is cooked and the yellow is not, but I guess in theirs it means that both are cooked. Still the flavor was good and it hit the right spot to kill my hunger. I was hoping the place had some historical significance, but they seemed to think otherwise.

While enjoying our late breakfast, we noticed dozens of motorcycles passed by and turned the corner. This must be some main beach route. The odd things about these groups were that all of the passengers were wearing helmets, but not all the drivers. I looked it up and found that it is in fact the law that all passengers as well as any drivers that have had a license for less than one year must wear helmets.

I talked to a friend that lives here and is the reason we decided to stay an additional day. He invited us over for dinner and we took the 15 minute ride south of town to his place. About 2 hours, 4 calls and an escort later, we arrived at his house. It seems that there are two towns out here that are right next to each other that have a street of the same name. I missed one turn and the rest is history. Karen, laughing the whole time, said, “Leave it to you to get us all the way across the country and then get lost in Rhode Island”. The ride was worth it though. We had a great meal and some fabulous conversation. It is hard to meet people that share your interests, but even harder to find friends that share your values and even traits. These are the kind of people that you don’t want to stop talking to because you find their stories interesting and their company pleasurable. Thanks for a great evening and hope to see you soon.

As we left, Mark warned us to be careful and watch for deer that might jump out in front of us. I had given his son a ride a few minutes earlier and had seen one cross in front of us, so I was watching carefully as we left. I was expecting something big, but was unprepared for a pair of eyes bobbing up and down coming straight for us about 12 inches off the road. Just before we met, the fox turned right and ran off the road. Two cats later, we found our way back to the main road and an uneventful ride back to the Inn.

All in all, I’d have to say I like Rohde Island much better than Mass, but the road signs could use a little work. When you come up on a road around here, it is likely there will be no sign and you will have to drive a mile or two to find the name somewhere. I guess cell phones and the ability to call and ask for directions (after looking for an hour or so) balance out the missing signs. Tomorrow we’ll hit the road and head for Connecticut. Hopefully the signs will be easier to follow. Till then, I’ll see you on the byways…