Visit with Phil & Lois in Rhode Island
OCTOBER 11 &12
On Monday, October 10, 2022, sister Sarah flew from Ukiah, California, to Salt Lake City preparatory to flying with me to Providence, Rhode Island on a Sistah Visit to our brother and sisters-in-law on the East Coast. Sarah spent the night and she and Jeff had a good but brief visit. The next morning she and I caught a 4:00 AM Lyft to the SLC Airport. The SLC airport is putting in a shuttle train but it is not finished, so we walked maybe half a mile (only slight exaggeration) to our Southwest gate and our 7:00 AM flight to Providence, RI.
We both had carry-on, soft-sided, rolling suitcases and our purses, Sarah even pulling Aunt Marg's roll-on and carrying Marg's large leather totebag. But even though we were lightly loaded, boarding was a hassle because the flight was full--every seat up for grabs. We ended sitting several rows from each other near the back of the plane, Sarah near a wailing baby.
Left: The Canyon at the SLC airport, by artist Gordon Huether. "Taking inspiration from the surrounding landscape, The Canyon inspires passengers through an indoor canyon. The installation represents the vast canyons of Utah and creates a sense of place for the airport. The 400 ft. long by 22 ft. tall tensile membrane fins are comprised of aluminum tubing and composite fabric."It was a long day. We got into Providence's T. F. Green Airport at 4:30 PM--an 11-hour trip because of our early start and a layover in Chicago's Midway airport.
When we finally arrived in Providence, we hiked another l-o-n-g distance to Budget Rental Car where we had reserved a mid-sized car . . . and were immediately stymied because the car was a 2022 model and my older cell cord did not fit the car's 2022 cell receptacle. We could not use Sarah's phone either because on her flight to Salt Lake City the battery had grown hot, expanded, and separated the sides of the phone. We later learned that this was dangerous and that the battery could have exploded! When I last talked with Sarah, she had gotten another phone (a different model) and was learning how to use it.
Without a connection for my cell, and with a very low cell battery, we had no GPS. However, Sarah, who had lived in RI when younger, managed to get us from Green Airport to Phil and Lois's house in Tiverton by guess and by gosh.
Soooo good to be with Phil and Lois in person! Hugs all around. After getting organized in our upstairs rooms and catching a breath, Sarah and I sat down to a wonderful dinner of an excellently prepared spinach, white bean and bacon salad with maple-mustard dressing and then enjoyed relaxing with Phil and Lois and their new cat, Cruz. They had just gotten Cruz, a rescue cat, the day before, and he was still wearing his collar after being neutered.
Such a sweet cat! Though he was sneezing and bothered by the collar, he was a big softie that wanted always to be where the humans were. He would stretch out his considerable length on the kitchen floor or at our feet in the living room.
Serene Cruz on his scratching pad |
OCTOBER 12
After breakfast of cereal, fruit, and coffee this day, we took a long walk along the bay with Phil and Lois. The two take long walks every day and are very active, Lois still playing tennis and Phil, though 83, working in the garden and hiking the area and some of the seven miles of trails in nearby Weetamoo Woods.
Phil, Susan, and Sarah on our morning walk |
The old Tiverton library--nearly at the top of Phil and Lois's street--now converted to a vacation rental |
The new Tiverton library |
Reading room with its cozy fireplace and wingback chairs |
Teen room |
Magazine and computer area |
Sarah and Phil on the new Tiverton Library steps, Sarah's shadow making her look like a mermaid . . .or a rocket with tailfins? |
Phil & Lois's area of Rhode Island is gorgeous: replete with sailboat-filled harbors, interesting wetlands and woods, great independent stores, and wonderful large, old historic two-story houses on treed properties and streets, some behind 1700s stone walls. After 42 years in Oklahoma, and one-plus now in Utah, I had forgotten how lovely and old the east coast was and felt pangs of nostalgia.
Below is an Internet photo of the stag taken by a better photographer than I.
After the sculpture park we visited the Raymond F. Jones Memorial Dog Park, wonderful for dogs and owners alike with picnic tables and structures that allow the dogs to climb, burrow, and hide. It is in a fenced, forested area and very attractive. See below.
That evening after a dinner of zuchinni soup and delicious bread, we relaxed in the downstairs television room and watched the 1994 movie The Browning Version, an excellent movie starring Albert Finney. I remember falling in love with a much younger Albert Finney when he starred in the 1963 movie Tom Jones. Cruz relaxed too . . . on the ping-pong table.
OCTOBER 13 & 16
We drove to Vermont on the 13th and back to Rhode Island on the 16th. You can read about our Vermont visit in the next blog post.
OCTOBER 17
On this day, Phil and I took a long circular walk down a hill near their house, along the bay and then back up the hill on which their house sits. Though three years younger than Phil, I had to stop and pant a couple of times as he strode up the hill to his house.
It was fun to be one-on-one with Phil. During our visit we had many group and one-on-one conversations. It was so good to talk to Phil and Lois in person. Despite phone calls, emails, and texts it had been years since I’d seen them. The modern nuclear family with parents, siblings, cousins, grandparents and aunts and uncles spread across the U.S. (and elsewhere) is not for the me. I feel almost guilty that my two daughters never got to know their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, not only on my side of the family but on husband Jeff's also.
When Phil and I got back to the house, both Phil & Lois were eager to take us to Portugalia Marketplace in Fall River, Mass., a shop selling all things Portuguese, and particularly salt cod and other fish and seafood, beers & wines, ceramics, spices, sausage, cheese, nuts, etc. There are many Portuguese in the area because of the fishing fleets. I had fun in the large market, buying several Christmas gifts. A sample of their ceramics, right.That evening Cimarron came for dinner and we had a delicious salmon and salad dinner. It was so good to see Cim again and to learn of her work at Harvard Medical School as veterinary support for the university's research labs. She loves her work and has been there for 15 years. In Cimarron's view, laboratory rats are the best. They are smart, trainable, and friendly. Soft, too.
Phil and Cimarron |
Cim, raising a glass to the photographer |
Sarah and I went to bed early because Sarah wanted to leave for Green airport and our 5:00 AM flight at 3:00 AM. Again we were without GPS, but again Sarah, who was driving, managed to find the airport. Finding the Budget car return was another story and we circled the airp[ort several times before finding it. Then we could not find the Budget paperwork and key drop off. After much searching and back and forth, I left the key and the paperwork behind the Budget counter (which was closed) but out of sight. Apparently they found it all right, because I received the bill in the mail not long after returning home.
Our flights to Midway and SLC were full but we managed to find seats next to each other. On the flight from Midway to Salt Lake City, I was seated at the window and Sarah chose the middle seat. A HUGE guy squeezed himself into the aisle seat, overflowing partially onto Sarah. Crowded airports, shrieking babies, and obese seat partners. Sarah may never want to fly again. Just kidding, but she is not coming for her usual Christmas visit. Not because of the above, but because she needs the work hours. We will miss her.
So that's it. The 2022 Sistah Trip East in two blog posts. Read on to hear the story of the The Four Bears and to learn of our visit with sister-in-law Sonja in Vermont.