Boston

Wednesday 6 September 2000

Sun Country Air flight to Boston, via Minneapolis so we can tick off Minnesota on our list of states visited. We'd assumed that the derisory cost of the tickets meant that there would be no in-flight meals and stocked up on food, but there were a couple of sandwiches and some bickies provided which meant that we were pretty stuffed on arrival.

We were due to be picked up by our friend Geoff (who found us the cheap tickets), but he was unfortunately conspicuous by his absence. Wandered round looking for him for about 30 minutes, then as the airport was closing for the night we panicked a bit and phoned him. He'd been sent to Sacramento on short notice; Liz gave us instructions on how to get the bus to their area - we caught the last one of the night - and then drove out to pick us up. Thanks again Liz. Had a glass of wine or three and staggered off to sleep in the guest room in the basement.

Interesting info #1: all American houses, or at least those in New England, seem to be built over a basement which covers the whole area of the house. This provides storage space for the huge number of personal possessions one acquires with the wealth of the world's richest country (except for Liechtenstein), or can be 'finished' to provide extra rooms.

Thursday 7 September 2000

Saw the enormous house in an acre of grounds in the daylight, and became immediately jealous.

Shopping and exploring suburban Boston Metro. Got numerous small ads for trucks and RVs, but nothing of interest. Oh well, it'll have to be the dealers.

Pretty much the whole of the Boston Metro area consists of trees with small to medium communities scattered around and interconnected amongst them. There's very little agriculture, as the whole of New England is glacial moraine and the main crop is rocks. Viewed from the air it apparently looks just like a vast forest; when you're amongst it it feels like one big suburb.

Discovered that we had arrived at the most stressful time in the Smith family life for many years, viz:

	Geoff was looking for a new job. This is infinitely more stressful than in the UK, since one has to consider the loss of health benefits in any interim period, which can cost around $700 per month. Christine and I were both confident that he would be snapped up in a moment, but he was understandably worried as he hadn't yet started the soul destroying process of sending out resumes (CVs to our British friends).
	Liz was about to start the first day of semester (term) of her new MA course at Emerson College, Boston.
	Lizzie and Michael had just had their first day of the new school year. It was actually Michael's first day at a completely new school, so the stress reached extreme heights for him.

The incredibly cute new kitten ...

... which had adopted the family a couple of days previously was driving the two existing cats away and aggravated Liz's allergy something rotten, and would have to go. This would not be popular with Lizzie and Michael.

Geoff's sister and boyfriend were due to arrive in a few days, putting strain on the guest accommodation.

However, they were unfailingly courteous and helpful, despite all this. Thank you both so much.

Friday 8 September 2000

Hired a car to go hunting for our own truck and RV. They didn't have the one we ordered when we went in to collect it, so we got a huge Ford Windstar people carrier instead. Bit of a jump in the deep end for driving in heavy suburban traffic, but better to do it with someone else's car than our own ...

Italian evening meal in Boston with Geoff, followed by dessert in a separate establishment, which seems to be standard procedure locally. Walked around part of the Boston Freedom Trail which takes you past interesting historical monuments and is marked by a wide red line painted on the sidewalk (pavement).

Saturday 9 September 2000

Went with Geoff and Michael to look at travel trailers (caravans) in Raynham, which is apparently the RV capital of Massachusetts. First dealer had one very used one, and also showed us his new Coachmen range which didn't inspire us greatly. Second dealer had no used ones - we were pretty much out of season - but much nicer new Skyline Layton models, cheaper and with two years warranty instead of one. They were also only about $3,000 dearer than two year old equivalents we'd seen in the adverts. Decided to go to the limit of our budget and splash out on a new one.

In the evening Michael (10) built a terrific Lego model of our intended trailer based only on a floor plan in the manufacturer's leaflet. We were most impressed.

Sunday 10 September 2000

We both sang in Geoff's choir in Weston Congregational Church. A very nice bunch of people, and they are blessed with a superb Russian organist.

Went out to look at trucks, but as it was Sunday most dealers were shut. Lost our way getting back, leading to the first of our Top Tips:

Top tip #1: American road signing is truly awful, a veritable abomination. We later discovered that Mass. is about the worst state of all, but none of them is brilliant. Points to note:

	Road names are often not displayed.
	There is often no information as you approach a junction with a numbered road, and sometimes not even at the junction itself, so if you're looking for one the first you know is when you pass it. At night you probably don't even notice it.
	Speed limits arbitrarily change. There are no repeater signs every 200 yards as in the UK; you have to remember the last one you saw.
	Speed limit signs are virtually identical to State Route number signs. This means that if you're looking for, say, Route 30, you're in for a lot of false alarms.
	There are three different types of numbered road: Interstates, US Routes (like Interstates but not so wide), and State Routes. They each have their own numbering system, and some stretches of road can have two or even three different numbers. One road sign may refer to one numbering system; the next may use another leaving the unwary hopelessly confused. Also, State Route numbers only refer to a given state, so Massachusetts' State Route 9 is different to New Hampshire's State Route 9. (Since our initial confusion we've since come to find that there are many more: County Routes, Farm to Market Routes, Local Routes etc. etc.).
	On multi-lane roads, some exits are from the left, i.e. fast, lane.
	On multi-lane roads, the right lane sometimes turns into the exit lane for the next exit with no warning.
	Signs over the carriageway do NOT relate to the lane over which they are suspended. It's just used as a convenient place to put them if the side of the road is full of advertising hoardings.

Monday 11 September 2000

Spent the entire day looking at used trucks - very depressing. Only found two dealers we would trust further than we could throw them and neither had anything suitable in our price range; the others just tried to sell us whatever they had in stock regardless of whether it was what we needed (not V8, not automatic, suspension inadequate etc. etc.). The only one which seemed remotely likely had been used on the Boston 'Big Dig' project for seven years; it only had 38,000 miles on the clock but looked as if it had been through two world wars. Its only redeeming features were cheapness and the fact that it didn't hurt Christine's back (something which ruled out a number of others). Neither of us was inspired though. God, I hate used car dealers.

The kitten was found a new home within hours by the local cat placement society. Great relief all round.

Tuesday 12 September 2000

Decided to spend more money on the truck than we'd budgeted for, and went back to the most trustworthy of the dealers. He had a 1996 Chevrolet 5.7 litre V8 Extended Cab (i.e. two rows of seats) pickup which seemed to drive well and which we both found comfortable, and was only $2,000 over our budget including getting all the towing-related items fitted: transmission cooler, electric brake controller and towbar. It was also the cat's pyjamas as regards equipment, being as we discovered later the absolute top of the range model: custom paintwork and interior, alloy wheels, air conditioning, cruise control, electric seat adjustment, 4-wheel drive, and a stereo with more buttons than the flight deck of Concorde. Altogether a first class posing machine.

Handed over the deposit, then went off to get insurance so that the dealer could get it registered for us.

Top tip #2: When buying an expensive item such as a car, do it if possible in a state with no sales tax (such as New Hampshire). Each state can levy its own sales tax; Mass. is about in the middle at 5%. One big surprise to us was that's it's levied on second-hand vehicles, even on private sales.

We had expected the paperwork to be less than straightforward, being foreign nationals with no Social Security number or US driving license. However, I'd taken the precaution of phoning a few insurance agents, and found one who claimed that it would be absolutely no problem. Waltzed into their office, explained what we wanted, and then hung around during a series of phones calls during which they determined that they wouldn't touch us with a bargepole. Oh terrific - we'd just spent a large sum of money on a truck which we couldn't insure.

Went into agent number two, who sucked his teeth and said he'd have to talk to his manager about this one, said manager being out at lunch. Depression reached new depths. Into agent number three, who sorted it all out without turning a hair. What relief. Only slight setback was that they couldn't give us immediate credit for our UK no claims record; this had to be agreed in due time with the insurance company.

Top tip #3: American insurance agencies nearly all deal with just one company rather than a range of them, which seems to defeat the purpose of an insurance agent, i.e. to get you the best deal. However, in Mass. there's legislation which means that they all have to charge roughly the same rates, so it doesn't actually make too much difference where you go. All very strange.

Geoff informed us that Massachusetts drivers are noted for being the worst in America, to the extent that they are universally known as M***holes. (We had noticed a certain randomness in the local driving, but nothing worse than we're used to). Having Mass. plates on our truck is therefore likely to leave us open to contempt and ridicule.

Wednesday 13 September 2000

My laptop arrived from Dell at long last, and amazingly it worked perfectly straight out of the box. This must be a first.

Joined AAA (American Automobile Association), not so much for the breakdown cover which we're getting through the Good Sam club since theirs covers the trailer as well, as for the free maps, tour guides etc. Membership costs $59.00 p.a., and we immediately got about $70 worth of free literature and can obtain as much more as we like from local AAA offices as we travel around. Good bargain. If we'd done it a couple of days previously it would have been an even better bargain as we'd have got a discount of more than the cost off our truck insurance.

Geoff's sister Lyla and boyfriend due imminently, so we got out of the house for a few days and drove to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, which sounds from its name as if it ought to be located in the outback of Australia. Walked in Freetown Falls State Forest Park, but it was all conifers and pretty dull. Stayed overnight in a cheapo motel; our room had a waterbed which managed to sag in the middle, a seeming violation of the laws of physics.

Thursday 14 September 2000

Went to dealer to hand over huge number of travelers' cheques, and ensure that he'd had confirmation of our insurance from the agent so that he could get the pickup registered. Arranged to come back tomorrow to pick it up after the various modifications, servicing etc. had been done.

Visit to WalMart, with whom we were soon to become intimately acquainted, looked at bedding and bought a kettle and cutlery.

Interesting info #2: WalMart, far from just being a purveyor of cheap and cheerful goods as we had believed, is an essential part of life. It stocks everything with the exception of food, although it has a large junk food department selling crisps, drinks and anything with a high fat and carbohydrate content, the prices are very cheap, and the quality is high. The nearest comparison is what Woolworths used to be like in England in the days when they sold absolutely everything, including food (although probably not many of you can remember that far back). We eventually equipped the trailer almost entirely from WalMart: bedding, household appliances, storage units, cutlery and crockery, tools. If they repeat the same formula in the UK rather than just buying Asda then they should do very well.

Motel in Taunton, near to RV dealer whom we were to visit in the morning. No waterbed, but at least it was flat.

Friday 15 September 2000

Into Bradford RV to buy the trailer. Handed over remainder of the once huge wad of travelers' cheques. Arranged to pick it up on Monday 25th to allow time for us to insure it and for them to get it registered, prepare it etc.

Top tip #4: Caravans have separate registration from the vehicle that tows them, together with their own different registration plate. This allows the state to stitch you up for two lots of registration fees.

Back to the car dealer to pick up the pickup, but it wasn't ready yet. They drove with us to the car rental office to return our Windstar, brought us back, and lent us a Jeep to go and get lunch and kill some time. Finally we got it, and then needed to go and get it inspected.

Top tip #5: The annual state inspection certificate, the US equivalent of an MOT, terminates when you sell a car. The new purchaser has a week to go and get it inspected and, if there are any problems, take it back to the seller to have them sorted. It would seem simpler and more logical if it were the seller's responsibility to do this before handing it over, but I'm sure there's a good reason it's handled this way. Perhaps. At least there's no charge for getting it done.

Drove to garage which did inspections, but as it was Friday everyone was packing up early for the weekend; come back on Monday. Uninspiring motel in Natick.

Saturday 16 September 2000

Got a photo of the truck taken for the insurance company.

Top tip #6: If you take out fully comprehensive insurance, the insurance company requires you to get a photograph taken and a form completed describing the vehicle's condition at an authorised outlet (usually a garage or car rental company). This is to stop you buying a wreck on Monday and claiming the full insurance value on Tuesday. Presumably they were burned so many times that this became a necessity.

Tried to arrange insurance for the trailer but they're closed on Saturdays; come back on Monday.

The truck is nice to drive; very quiet and powerful, but with somewhat agricultural suspension which makes it a bit bumpy. Huge leaf springs - none of this poncy independent rear suspension nonsense, but necessary for pulling a 2½ ton trailer. However, it is enormous even after the Windstar, so I'm a bit nervous about sweeping other traffic into the gutter as I pass. It seems to do about 16 miles per US gallon, which equates to 20 mpg in proper British ones; not at all bad for 5.7 litres and and an automatic box.

Dinner with Geoff to catch up on his job seeking progress. As we expected, various companies and headhunters are fighting over him, so it's a matter of picking the best job rather than taking what's going. He's a happier bunny than a few days ago.

Sunday 17 September 2000

I sang in choir again, while Christine helped Michael with his weekend's homework. Liz and Lizzie got home totally shattered from a weekend Girl Scout camp. Spent the rest of the day setting up the laptop; I thought I'd left all that behind, but apparently not.

Monday 18 September 2000

Got trailer insured - more money, but dirt cheap compared with insuring the Chevy. Got truck inspected. Walked round woodland paths and nature trails all afternoon - very pretty, but the fall foliage hasn't started to turn yet in Mass.

Off to Cape Cod for a few days tomorrow, to use up the rest of the week in the cottage that Lyla and Geoff had been using and to free up the guest room for them to come back.

Gone to Cape Cod.

Saturday 23 September 2000

Back from Cape Cod. Caught up on the last 25 years' news with Hilary and Ron. Lunch at Uno's , a chain restaurant with excellent food, then R took us for a drive round the area followed by a trip to his local bar: lots of blokes in baseball caps drinking cold tasteless fizzy beer and watching rounders and rugby (or something similar) on the television. Lovely home-cooked dinner courtesy of H; stayed the night with H & R.

Sunday 24 September 2000

Drove to Boston for a day out: got hopelessly lost again trying to find the underground car park below the common. Took a trolleybus tour to see as much of the city as possible in a single day, stopping off at the art gallery for a bit of culture, followed by a harbour cruise in the biting wind ...

Excellent meal at Legal Seafood on the harbour; continued our walk along the Boston Freedom Trail. Got lost again getting out of Boston. Stayed overnight with Geoff and Liz; Geoff is now fighting off the job offers with a big stick.

Monday 25 September 2000

The big day: we pick up the trailer. Off to the dealer at the appointed time on what is fortunately a nice sunny day. We were given a rundown on the workings of all the various devices and controls, while the correct sized towing ball etc. were attached to our towbar on the pickup. Then, the crucial moment: pickup was attached to trailer, electrics connected, and everything worked - except for the brakes! Much scratching of heads and sucking of teeth, and most of the technical people at the dealership seemed to have a look one after the other and then go away shaking their heads - never seen this model of controller before, should have had one fitted by us etc. etc. Very depressing, as time was passing inexorably and we needed somewhere to sleep. Eventually someone was found who knew his arse from his elbow and diagnosed a wire not being connected and the gain control not being turned up far enough: success! Got someone to test drive it up the road with me as I wouldn't have known whether it functioned correctly or not, and he pronounced it to be working fine. Sighs of relief all round.

Then it was my turn. As my towing experience consisted of one day pulling a small hired trailer 19 years ago it was a daunting moment, but I managed to get out of the gate without wiping out the gatepost or oncoming traffic. Drove very slowly and carefully about 30 miles to our first campsite: Bellingham Circle C Adult RV Park, coincidentally about a mile away from Hilary and Ron's house, and just up the road from WalMart. The proprietor kindly directed us into our slot amongst the trees, and gave us some helpful hints and pieces of wood to put under the levelling jacks. We had a home.

As you can see from the picture, the total length of the pickup and trailer together is close to 50', and I was driving it in a foreign country, on the wrong side of the road, and with absolutely no experience. Shouldn't be allowed.

The trailer is remarkably well equipped, far better than we'd originally expected when we planned this trip. Standard equipment includes: bathroom with shower and small bathtub, propane or electric water heating, full height fridge / freezer, propane oven and hob, extractor fan, 1000W microwave, 4-speaker stereo radio / cassette, air conditioner, propane air heating, TV antenna with booster, numerous power points, queen size bed, awning etc. etc. There's plenty of storage space, although a lot of it is a bit tricky to get at and / or unhelpful shapes.

No bedding yet, so we slept under a sheet we'd brought with us and the quilt which came with the trailer. Too tired to worry about it much, although it was cold.

Tuesday 26 September 2000 - Friday 29 September 2000

A blur of shopping and sorting out the trailer. Spent vast amounts of time in WalMart and Home Depot (the equivalent of B&Q and open 24 hours), much of it finding shelves and storage units of a suitable size to convert tall thin areas into useful storage space. Essential equipment: Magic Chef - a small electric oven / toaster, vacuum cleaner, socket set and other tools, fan heater, thermal blanket (it was getting colder), more storage containers. Fortunately everything was very cheap; none of the above cost over $20, although food seems more expensive than in the UK except for eating out which is cheaper. Epson colour printer and Panasonic TV / video were about the only things which didn't come from WalMart (we were really intending to rough it as you can tell).

Some time during this week we also took the pickup back to the dealer to get a spare wheel fitted - it didn't have one up to this point - and went into Boston to have dinner with Tony and Frances, Christine's brother and sister-in-law who were coincidentally on a two week tour of New England. Negotiated Boston much more easily this time, as we'd cleverly bought a street map.

Collapsed into bed exhausted every night and shivered a lot.

Off to New Hampshire on Saturday - our first long drive.

Saturday 4 May 2002 - Wednesday 8 May 2002

Final packing and leaving of things for Gabrielle and Andy to bring over next time they come to England. Drove to Dayton airport, said our goodbyes and set out for Boston via Chicago (yes, I know it's the wrong way). Due to increased September 11th security our carefully and tightly packed luggage was all unpacked, then not so carefully repacked, by an embarrassed security guard who couldn't fit it all in again. The first leg was on a Saab propjet, over geometric Illinois farmland ...

... to Chicago, where we and our hand baggage were searched yet again before we were allowed onto a more normal Boeing to Boston Logan. Picked up a virtually new Dodge rental car, and drove to our friends Hilary and Ron in Bellingham, inevitably getting lost near the end (Massachusetts has this effect on us). Ate, drank, talked. Andy kindly called from Cincinnati to check that we'd arrived all right, and Christine phoned our friends Liz and Geoff in Wayland.

We all drove into Boston in two cars to see the sights, which turned out to be a really bad move as there was an anti-hunger protest going on, with huge crowds of marchers wandering around and various streets and the underground car park beneath Boyston Common being closed. We independently found parking spots and met up again via the gift of the mobile phone (I suppose they are useful for something occasionally). Saw the famous swan boats in the park, went up the Prudential Tower for views of the city ...

... got a good final picture of Christine with a large animal (a teddy bear this time) ...

... ate lunch in a bar, and drove to Liz and Geoff's in Wayland with no wrong turns: a first for us. Picked up our post, admired the garden which Geoff has improved no end, said final goodbyes, drove back to Hilary and Ron's and chatted into the night.

On Monday we and Hilary went to Newport, Rhode Island, home of the obscenely wealthy. It's a pretty and well maintained town, not surprising as the property taxes must be phenomenal. Walked round the coastal path from which you can see the houses of the rich and famous (from a decent distance, of course) ...

... and Salve Regina University. Coffee and cakes at Starbucks, couple of pairs of cheap jeans at a Levi's retail outlet, then home for pizza. Watched the FA cup final which Ron had thoughtfully recorded, while Christine and Hilary chatted.

Next day we went to the Garden in the Woods in Framingham: a beautiful area run by the New England Wildflower Society containing over 1,500 varieties of plants, as well as water snakes and turtles ...

We spent a pleasant morning there, and bought a subscription for Liz and Geoff as a thank-you present. Drove round the countryside in the afternoon; tried to go to the Shaker Museum at Fruitlands near Harvard but it was still closed for the winter! Final visit to WalMart to pick up material for a child's patchwork quilt, socks and a BeeGees CD. Complete repack of our bags following the security guard's efforts in Dayton, dinner at Uno's, more late night chatting and bed.

Finished packing in the morning, had lunch at Chili's with Ron - our last ribs, drove Hilary to her job at the local hospital and thence into Boston. Dropped the car off, took the courtesy bus into the airport, checked in (no problem with our grossly overweight baggage; thank you Mr. Branson), phoned friends, took off almost on time at 7.45pm.

Tomorrow we'll be back home in Eastbury. How strange.