Tuesday 18 June
We were up and out of Connecticut early this morning, as our travels yesterday did not take us near a supermarket to stock the RV. So with nothing for breakfast or even water to drink, we headed for Providence, Rhode Island promising the kids we would stop to have breakfast and shop there. As Providence has the honour of most donut and coffee shops per capita anywhere in the US, Ross was also looking forward to breakfast!
However…he got a shock at the size of the city, didn’t want to drive through it in the RV, so set about looking for an outer suburb of Providence instead while continuing along the interstate. As a result, we bypassed Providence ENTIRELY! AND the following three exits…*sigh*. Next thing we knew we had crossed the border into Massachusetts.
We then decided to keep travelling to Boston, and just stop wherever we found a Walmart along the way. That turned out to be Walpole, where we spent an hour and $170 on groceries. Seeing as it was now 11.30am, we decided to treat the children who had not had breakfast yet (!) to brunch at a restaurant called Applebee’s across the road. It’s another chain where we took advantage of vegetables and potatoes and steak, and the little kids chose…hot dogs. Oh well, they are not at an age yet where they crave meat and veg!
On our way to Boston, we discussed the fact that in the RV it would be better to avoid city centres and aim to park the motorhome in an outer suburb and make our way into the city centre. So obediently, I removed the navman directions for Main St, Boston and I picked Cambridge (well, I did have an ulterior motive of hoping to inspire the kids to tertiary education by showing them Harvard!!). In following the navman to the suburb of Cambridge, the directions it gave us included low bridges our RV would never get under. As we approached one, and realised it was not high enough, we pulled over sharply on the left on a one-way highway. I then had to jump out and wave down the traffic behind us to stop and allow us to reverse up to turn onto a side street.
Meanwhile, someone had rung Boston Police, and with minutes we heard sirens heading our way!!!!! The policeman was very nice about it all, and when Ross explained I was in charge of the navigating system, the policeman was keen to tease and blame me for it all!! He asked us where we were trying to go, and I told him our plans had been to go to the shopping mall, Bunker Hill lookout, paddleboats on the lake, and see the Red Sox play baseball that night at Fenway Park. He suggested we stay out of the city as there were several low bridges there, stay on Massachusetts Ave towards Cambridge, and head back in on foot. That had been my plan to begin with!!
Anyway, he then offered us a police escort to Massachusetts Ave which was very exciting – and cheered Zac up who had been in the RV crying while we talked to the policeman who he thought was going to take us both to jail!
So we did get to look through Cambridge but couldn’t find anywhere to park the RV so kept travelling to our next planned destination, Salem. This was the site of the witch trials in 1692, and as the play ‘The Crucible’ is both mine and Ross’ favourite play ever, a must-do destination for us. It started raining on the way there and the roof started leaking through the airconditioner which worried us, as we had hit a sign on the one-way highway (warning us too late that we were too tall for the bridge ahead!). Ross checked the top of the motorhome while I organised afternoon tea for the kids, and while the Aircon vent had slid slightly, it easily slid back into place again. Thankfully, there seems to be no other damage!
Trying to find the visitors centre to get information, we went down a street that ended in a dead-end and I again had to stop approaching traffic so Ross could do a million point turn to get out of there. We finally found some parking near the visitors centre at 3.57pm, and as everyone had been cooped up all day in the RV, decided to take them all to the visitors centre….we arrived there to find it closed at 4pm!!!!!!!!! Could today get any worse? A park ranger locking the door caught my eye, so I asked him was there any RV park nearby. He was so lovely and keen to help – he ducked inside to get us a town map, RV park brochure and directions. He shared with us that he has 5 children and often camps at the RV park he was recommending. After helping us and then leaving us with best wishes for a great holiday, we then passed him later twice more in the streets of Salem, and both times he gave us a big friendly wave and grin! The people we met were a highlight of a day strewn with some lowlights!
Before heading to the campsite, we decided to do the final tour of the day at the Salem Witch Museum. This was an inexpensive activity and excellent display of Salem in 1692, and gave the kids some history more succinctly than I could. They are all willing to read ‘The Crucible’ when we get home! As it was already close to 6pm, we decided to buy a quick dinner of fish and chips and head to the campsite. I was sent in with the order, and got to watch the Red Sox game on the tv while it was prepared 😦
Hence the title of today’s post. I wish we could do the day over again! There is a ferry from Salem to Boston which takes an hour and would allow us to explore the city without the worry of the RV, but as we are already behind our planned itinerary, Ross is keen to get on the road towards Niagara Falls, our next stop. I expressed hope that we would have time at the end of this RV journey to fit in Boston, but Ross told me not to get my hopes up as we need to cut back, not add extra things in!! I don’t want to hear the voice of reason right now, I want to go to Boston!!
So the journey continues west tomorrow, and as we head towards Niagara, I will be re examining the itinerary to see if and how we can fit Boston back in again towards the end…;)
PS. Dad, I am DEVAstated I didn’t get to do Boston properly!! 😦 but anyway, could you please wish Aunty Marry a happy birthday from all of us xx