Thursday, August 10, 2006

On the Rhode

I promised that I would go back and say a bit about the trip up to Rhode Island.

My friend John, who was moving from Durham to Boston, was my designated moving buddy. But my brother ended up being released from the hospital just in time to make the journey too. So we were three in the big yellow truck.

Paul was supposed to be released at 8am, so after a stop at the divinity school to say an early morning goodbye, I arrived at the hospital about then. Breakfast had just been served, and there were morning meds to be given out, but by about 8:45, we were back at my house and ready to roll. Almost. We also had to get 5 prescriptions filled (the kid's on some serious stuff). So we rolled out about 10:30am, 3 little adventurers in a big yellow truck dragging a little green car behind us.

The voices were nearly constant. Not that I could hear them. But it was like sitting next to someone on a cell phone the whole way: hearing half of a conversation. I'd try to point things out ("Look, Paul, we're in Virginia." "Hey, the Washington Monument!"), but the only thing that got much of a response from him was Philadephia. All of a sudden, he was fully alert, totally attentive, and totally responsive: "This is awesome; it's so big and bright and alive...." He was so pumped. He barely seemed to notice NYC.

Note to weary travelers. If you are driving up 95 to New England and thinking, as we were, "we'll just get past the city, and then we'll find a place," BEWARE. You know the convenient signs that tell you what lodging is available at a particular exit on just about EVERY interstate you've ever been on? The state of Connecticut apparently has something against them. We drove and drove and drove, and then finally just tried our luck at an exit or two, without any at all. Well, perhaps some, but it was all bad. We found a couple of places that would have been possible, if they had had parking for a truck and trailer. One such place may find very slight evidence of our passing on its fence and/or in its landscaping. (Sorry!)

Another note to travelers, in case you haven't already thought of this. If you have a cell phone, and if you can find a friend who is connected to the internet, you basically have access to the internet, even when you're flying down the interstate in a big yellow Penske truck. So, I called my friend Kyle, who eventually got to a computer and called me back. Of course, by this time we were to the part of the state that has billboards and other helpful road signage. But Kyle gave us the number for an upcoming motel and we called and confirmed that they had a vacancy and that they had truck parking. And we slept.

The next day, the plan was to swing by Boston to drop John's stuff off. When I first made this plan, it hadn't occurred to me that we would go right through Providence on our way. I did realize Boston was north of Providence and not precisely on our way. I just wasn't thinking we would actually go through Providence. This was no problem really, except for the fact that it confused Paul a lot. About 20 minutes after I'd pointed out "Hey, look Paul, Providence," he suddenly turned to me and said, "Why aren't we stopping? I thought we made it to Providence." I explained (again) about dropping John's stuff off. Paul conceded that perhaps John was worth a little extra time in the Penske.

By the way, I should note here that for me, John's worth was immeasurable. Not only did he drive the truck the whole way and oversee all the loading and unloading, but he was also good and patient company on a journey that would have been stressful enough without Paul. John was great with Paul as well. It was a real gift and blessing to have him along for the ride.

Once in Boston, John's unloading went smoothly, thanks to the help of some of his future BC colleagues. We hung out with the Coolclan a bit that night, then went halfway back to Providence and found another hotel. Walk-through and closing went smoothly, and Paul and John were able to unload while I signed my name a thousand times.

We took the truck back with about an hour to spare, though we got slightly lost on the way. There are apparently multiple combinations of "North" "Main St" and "Providence" possible around here. I think we were looking for North Main St in Providence, and I somehow got us to Main St in North Providence. Oh well, I'll learn. It all worked out eventually.

And that, more or less, is the story of the road trip to Rhode Island.

2 comments:

Rachel said...

Ooh, I remember that part about Connecticut and the (no) road signs. They also have something against those signs that tell you how many miles you have to go until you get somewhere. I guess they suppose that since you can sneeze and miss the entire state, they don't need to bother with providing any more specific traveler information.

Rachel said...

P.S. My parents (and me, too!)really liked your post about DT's baptism. "Welcome to the family ... here's a poke in the eye."