Westward HO!

We enjoyed nearly a month in New England, we did, we really did.  While the weather was not as warm as we would have liked Reagan and Addison, our granddaughters, made up for any other possible shortcomings of the weather!

Addison

Reagan

Newport RI, of course dates from the earliest American history and we enjoyed visiting the area.  We were just there too early because it was too cold for our thin FL blood!  We arrived there shortly before Memorial Day and left the area about 3 weeks later and went to USAF FamCamp near Cape Cod in MA, but more about that later.

Rhode Island reminded me of my very early days in the USAF when I was stationed in Boston; narrow streets that twisted and turned thru town, few street signs, street names changed in the middle of the block, emergency snow routes, and proud historic reminders of our Country's earliest days.

Newport was one of the favorite places of the early American industrial families with big bucks to spend.  Mansions built in late 19th Century abound, many are now historic landmarks open to public tours on a regular basis or on special occasions.  Some are still owned by descendants of the original builder's families, but some are owned by historic preservation societies or other groups.  In FL these would be large County Courthouses or other public buildings in the time they were built.  The grounds around these estates easily exceed the size of football field and are frequently complex garden arrangements immaculately maintained!  BJ wanted to tour a few of them, but we ran out of time.  Along the front of some of these that face a bay is the Cliff Walk.  It is a National Historic Place and is open to the public.  This was originally a path used by the servants to get to and from the mansions unobtrusively and now offers a spectacular view of the sea below and the mansions above it.

Cliff Walk

Cliff Walk

I enjoyed a walk along the Cliff Walk and did some geocaching while doing it.

RI Mansion, now office for historical society

Ft Wetherill

Reagan loves to throw rocks in the water!

 Of course the best part of RI was time with Reagan and Addie.  They spent time with us at the RV and we also took them on trips and picnics to nearby places.   One day we went over to Ft Wetherill, on an island in the Narragansett  Bay at Newport.  Not much left of the fort but there are some beautiful views from the high ground and the girls enjoyed throwing rocks in the water from the little bit of beach there was.

The last week we headed up to a USAF Famcamp on Massachusetts Bay between Boston and Cape Cod.  The picture shows the peninsula with the FamCamp on the tip.  In the pic included we were just to the left of the center, at the base of the green mound (which was originally an ammo storage igloo when this was a coastal artillery installation in WW II).  We arrived there on Monday to cool and cloudy weather and Tuesday was a very stormy day.  We were parked side by side with Rob & Jenna and the girls and we were facing east about 70 ft above the beach so we had a neat view of the roiled ocean below.   With the two vehicle facing each other (we pulled in and they backed in) it made a nice community area between them for the girls to play and entertain us.  And, we had a beautiful view out our front window.

The day after arriving was Stormy Tuesday and Rob & Jenna took the Girls to the Boston Aquarium.  It was an all day adventure and it turned out to be a day many local schools used as a field trip day for end of the school year activities.  Plenty of kids at the aquarium, but trip was enjoyed by all.  BJ & I chose to stay and watch the storm tossed waves 70 ft below us!!  It was an awesome display of Mother Nature's, but not one we would have chosen to watch if given the choice.

4th Cliff playground

So the next day dawned warm(er) and sunny.  Now, that is a display by Mother Nature that I enjoy much more.  BJ and Jenna went on a short shopping expedition, I carved down to Hugarock and back on my Trikke and then in the afternoon Rob and I went on a short geocaching trip to nearby Marshfield.  The Girls enjoyed playing outside, including a trip to the nice playground at 4th Cliff.

Next AM Reagan and I walked down to the beach which was quite wide (and rocky) due to low tide.  She, as usual, threw a lot of rocks into the water, one of her favorite water related past times! 

Reagan on the beach with the rocks

RVs from the beach

The RV's were clearly in view above us at the top of the cliff.  Interestingly, while perusing Google maps I found 1st Cliff north of 4th Cliff across the inlet.  While BJ and I were out touring area we stopped at a fresh fish market south of 4th Cliff and it had an arrow pointing to 3rd Cliff!!   They apparently name their cliffs like they do their streets in MA - randomly and confusing!

Later that day Rob and I put the kayaks in on the backside of the peninsula where we thought it would be a little calmer.    Well the rollers were breaking between where we put in and the North River we were going to paddle up.  After a rough start in the surf we started across the inlet toward the mouth of the North River.  Rollers were coming in from the open ocean beyond the inlet and it was slack tide after high tide.  They were breaking just short of the channel we were in which made it rough for awhile.

Afloat right side up!

 But, we persevered and were soon in the river enjoying the paddle. 

North River anchorage

 As we progressed up the river the outgoing tide was beginning and gaining strength.  When we turned back, we were riding a good current out of the river.  It took us about half the time to get back and lots less paddling.


So at the end of the week, Rob & Jenna and the Girls head back to Newport for the weekend.  We are going to meet up with them on the road Monday and go to the Finger Lakes region in Western NY.  However, for the weekend we were going to meet Jim & Ann, old friends of ours from long ago.  Jim and I were 2/Lt together in Boston and he stayed there after doing his tour in the USAF as that was his hometown.  We next saw Jim & Ann in Germany in 1975 and have not seen them since but have stayed in touch from time to time!  We glad to see them when they showed up at 4th Cliff about noon Friday.  We had decided to move the RV to Wompawtuck State Park which was much closer to their condo in Hull.  So Jim and I took the RV and BJ and Ann took their car and we moved up to Wompawtuck, about 18 miles north of 4th Cliff in Hingham, MA.

More about that fabulous weekend with Jim and Ann in the next post!!