Providence, Westport, Newport
Flying the Edge of America
Sunday, August 10, 2008: Providence, Rhode Island
The sun was shining for us as we flew out of Bar Harbor airport this morning. It
was not long in to the flight before the infamous east coast weather
surrounded us in bubbling cumulous clouds once again. But it was not a bad
flight, compared to some we have had recently, and we got a great view of Boston
as the air traffic controllers vectored us all over their airspace and right
through some very large clouds. Eventually we landed at Pawtucket, Rhode
Island. Interestingly, just after we landed an aircraft reported an emergency and
we watched as the fire trucks rolled out on the runway to meet the injured bird.
It turned out the throttle cable had broken on the airplane. We watched as it
touched down without incident and the fire trucks chased it down the runway. The
odd part of this story is that about a year ago I took Julia on her fist flight
in 51-Juliet, which was also her first flight in a light airplane. We flew out
on what we call the Bay Tour at Oakland airport which takes you for a wonderful
tour of San Francisco. After buzzing the city we head for Petaluma, to buy the
obligatorily $100 hamburger. Everything was going well and Julia seemed to be OK
with the new experience until in the landing approach the "throttle cable" on
51-Juliet broke and we had to make a power off landing. This was Julia's first
experience with general aviation flight. Today brought all of these memories
back for us; we could not help but laugh a bit.
Providence Flight Video
Monday, August 11, 2008
The Capital Building.
We went to a movie for the first time in a long while today. We
saw Hancock; and it was not too bad. We spent the rest of the day visiting with
family and friends which we enjoyed immensely.
The family.
First on our list was a visit with Julia's cousin Rod and his wife Yasmin and
their two children Alex and Leila. I had met Rod's mum and dad when I was in
England earlier this year and Rod reminded me of his dad. We had a great time
chatting and taking the kids to the park. Thanks
for spending time with us Rod and Yasmin it was splendid to meet you all.
The friends.
Later that evening we had dinner with David, Sandy, Claire, and Walter. It was
so good to see everyone again it had been a long time since I had seen Claire
and Walter and the last time I saw David and Sandy was just before my wife Mina
died in 2006. Mina went to Brandeis University with some and met others of the
group while she lived in Boston. We
all used to go on vacation together; the last one was to
Positano in southern Italy. It was wonderful to see you, all thanks for
taking the time to drive from Boston to Providence to have dinner with Julia and
I.
Julia and I made our way back to the hotel and found a rabbit feeding on the
grass lawn in front of the lobby; how odd.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008: Westport, Massachusetts
Enjoying a glass in Tom's garden.
We went for a lovely walk down one of the walking paths in Providence in the
morning. In the good part of town (the side where the university is) the houses
are wonderful, many quite old, and most of the Saltbox House design. The
other part of town, which is across the river, is not so nice. It looks like it
had an industrial focus at one time but it is now mainly rundown with a glimmer
of rejuvenation.
After this we drove out to Westport Massachusetts to visit with Julia's good
friend Tom and his mum Sophie. The trusty NAV-Sheila got us there with a minimal
of "recalculating" and as we traveled the clouds cleared up a bit. We spent
a terrific afternoon together and ate lots of great food (that Tom had prepared
for us) not to mention all of the good wine that was consumed.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Horse Neck Beach.
The two of us went for a terrific walk along Horse Neck Beach in Massachusetts
this morning. The
beach was clean and the water too. Sunbathers crowded all along the shore to soak
up the fleeting sun and some even swam in the cool ocean waters. This walk was
somehow highly invigorating to both of us.
Newport Cliffs.
After this pleasant experience we drove to Newport in Rhode Island. Newport is a
touristy place but its claim to fame are the many colossal mansions the dot the
high cliffs above the bay. We walked the cliff walk which took us along these
cliffs and gave us spectacular views of the ocean and the amazing mansions. Even
though these homes are enormous most of them were at one time or another only
summer retreats for their owners.
After this we drove back to Tom's home in Massachusetts where we joined Tom, his
mum, sister, and brother in-law for another fantastic meal. Much wine was drunk
by all and lots of gourmet food consumed before we bid everyone goodbye and
returned to our hotel; thank you Tom.
Newport Cliffs Video
Trip stats
Obama: 16
McCain: 3
Undecided: 2
Miles Hiked: 138
Miles Flown: 5,232
States Visited: 17
Towns Visited: 24