THE OTHER SIDE OF RHODE ISLAND

---

---

THURSDAY

TRAVEL DAY YEAR #3 - STOP #40

---

---

Last year when we visited Rhode Island we stayed down along the southern coast in Fisherman's Memorial State Park at an elevation of just 1 foot. This time we decided to visit the area around the highest point in Rhode Island, which is Jerimoth Hill at an elevation of 812 feet (our campsite is at 799 feet).

The two locations are not that far apart as the entire state is only 37 miles wide and 48 miles tall, easily the smallest of the United States. It is just over half the size of Delaware, which is the second smallest state.

When it comes to population it ranks 44th in total population, but comes in 2nd place when you start talking about population density. Only one state is more densely populated than Rhode Island, does anyone want to take a guess who holds that spot? Register your guess in our Facbook Group comments. No cheating! (i.e. using Google or any other online resource)

Anyway we are here visiting Rhode Island for just four nights, and if you add that to our previous visit of four nights, you'll get a grand total of eight nights. I imagine that will keep Rhode Island securely in last place as we track how many nights we spend in each state during our RVing life.

---

Since we haven't planned any entertaining activities to write about while we are here,
I thought I would write something a little educational instead. Hope you don't mind!

---

Our Campsite #102 here at Oakleaf Family Campground in Rhode Island

---

---

SUNDAY - is our fun day this week! Since the actual highest point in Rhode Island is only three miles from our campsite we decided to go check it out.

Afterwards we treated ourselves to a special lunch for a successful outing. Whom I kidding, we would have treated ourselves even if we had failed.

Once you see this sign look for a place to pull off the road and park.

There is a short 3/10's of a mile path through the woods you must hike between the parking lot and the summit in order to consider yourself at the top of the state.

The easy to follow path through the woods.

Once there you'll find a clearing with a large rock and an ammo box containing a register to sign, just to prove to others that you were there. You can just make out the ammo box on the right hand side in the photo below, secured to the base of the tree with a steel cable lock.

With that stack of rocks added to the high point is it now 813 feet?

The Highpointers Foundation placed the register there and maintains it. Think of the highpointers as the geocachers of the highest points in each state. If you are interested in learning more about the foundation click the link I included.

---

...and now for that special lunch I talked about.

---

If you have spent any time looking at the other pages of this blog you'll be familiar with my Bucket List Pages.

Each state has a list of activities and a few iconic foods to taste while visiting. Last year we spent over a month in Mississippi and I asked the same thing everywhere we went, "Where can I get a slice of Mississippi Mud Pie"?

Half the time they had no idea what I was looking for and the other half they had no idea where I could get a taste. So I gave up and left the state without ever finding it.

Who knew I would have to travel to the tiny state of Rhode Island to purchase ice cream made and distributed from the state of Maine to get a taste of Mississippi Mud Pie, even if it is ice cream and not pie!

In case you were wondering, Mississippi Mud Pie Ice Cream is made with coffee ice cream stuffed with crushed cream-filled chocolate cookies and a whirl of chocolate-coated cookie crumbles.

Also in case you were wondering, YES it was good to the last spoonful and YES we ate it all because there is no room in our tiny freezer, hence it was our lunch!

---

---

... if you wish to receive an email notice when there is a new blog post!

PLEASE NOTE:
After you subscribe a company named Feed Burner will send you an email to once again verify that you wish to subscribe to TWO PEAS AND THE POD to which you must reply before you will receive notices.

---

If you prefer

to be notified of new blog posts.

---

---

We encourage everyone to leave their comments in our Facebook Group! We would really like to hear from you!

---

---

Until next time

TWO PEAS

---

---

FISHERMEN'S MEMORIAL STATE PARK (RI)

This will be our only stop in the state of Rhode Island and since we always try to visit at least one state park where ever we are we chose Fishermen's Memorial State Park, which is located just a few hundred yards away from the beach and small fishing village of Galilee.

It's a beautiful location and the park is well maintained with a few waterfront sites overlooking the very wide and marshy Aguntang Brook that leads out into the ocean. All the Rhode Island State Parks campgrounds are reasonably priced, if you are a Rhode Island resident you'll pay just $20 a night to camp here. Non-residents are charged an extra $15 per night and everyone pays $.25 a minute, with a 3 minute minimum, if you want to use the hot showers in the bath house. The outdoor cold water rinse showers are free if you just need to get the salt water and sand off you. I'm sure there is a good reason for this, I'm just not sure what that could be!

---

---

THURSDAY

TRAVEL DAY YEAR #2 - STOP #30

"The Ocean State" is our 17th visited state

Remember the odd traffic solutions we encounter back in New Jersey? They were called jughandles and while I thought they didn't make sense I could at least see how they could possibly work. Here is a graphic I found displaying the three different types of jughandles they use in New Jersey and I also found out we can expect to see them in many other states while we are here visiting the Northeastern United States.

Today however while traveling east through Connecticut and into Rhode Island we started seeing a whole different solution to traffic flow at intersections. Basically here in Rhode Island they just eliminate intersection altogether. I did some research and found out this is a variant of something called a Michigan Left Turn.

Here is a graphic I found displaying a typical Michigan Left Turn. This moves the turning lanes away from the main intersection and creates a second set of stop lights very nearby. Not quite sure how this improves anything.

But here in Rhode Island while traveling on US1 we found that where a very minor road crosses a major road they just eliminate the intersection altogether. I very crudely altered the Michigan Left graphic to show what we found in Rhode Island.

This works out great for people traveling along the primary highway for a longer distance, there are no traffic lights or intersections to deal with. But if you are on the secondary road and need to get to the other side and continue on in the same direction it does create a bit of a problem.

Let's see if a can explain it in words so you can follow along on the graphic. In order to go straight across the road you first have to make a right hand turn and merge into several lanes of oncoming traffic that is going 50MPH. Then as soon as you can, you have to start moving over to the far left lane so you can enter into the U-Turn Only lane. Don't worry if you miss the first opportunity to do so because about every half mile or so there will be other U-Turn Only lane.

Now wait until there is a break in the traffic so you can make your U-Turn and go to the far right lane. If you made it into the first U-Turn it won't be so bad, there will be a separate non-traffic right turn lane for you to enter into, make your right turn and be on your way. The problem gets worse when you weren't able to merge left fast enough to make that first U-Turn Lane. Because the second U-Turn Lane may not be at an intersection at all and that right turn lane won't be there to get out of oncoming traffic.

Now add into the mix the fact that you are towing a 28 foot trailer behind you. See how this could go terribly wrong pretty fast? Don't worry our now fully functioning GPS has a feature where I can tell it not to route us anywhere that we will be asked to make a U-Turn and fortunately our destination was on the right hand side of US1 so we wouldn't of gotten into the predicament anyway!

Now I can't wait until we visit Michigan so we can experience Michigan Left turns where it all began. If you check out our Visited States Map at the very bottom of the blog you'll notice that Michigan is actually the very last state we plan to visit in the lower 48, of course things can always change but for now, let's leave it the way it is!

---

---

FRIDAY

WORK DAY FROM THE POD 0 MILES DRIVEN TODAY

---

---

SATURDAY

SIGHTSEEING DAY 172 MILES DRIVEN TODAY

We were up early and out the door because we have a lot planned for today. First up, a big breakfast including johnnycakes and coffee milk, two Rhode Island specialties, then we're off to Newport, RI. From where we are camped the best route to Newport will have us crossing the Claiborne Pell Bridge. It is the bridge that is featured on the back of the 2001 state quarter which is at the top of this post. I found out through some additional research that this bridge is currently the only toll road in the entire state, $2 per axle each way for out-of-towners, $.83 for Rhode Islanders. That means by the end of the day we will have donated $8 to the bridge maintenance fund, I'm OK with that!

The Claiborne Pell Bridge

A closer look at the bridge towers as we pass underneath

Our reason for going into Newport is to check out their Cliff Walk, a 3.5 mile long walkway between huge waterfront estate homes and the cliffs that create the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean in this area. This walkway was designed and built by the estate owners between 1880-1920, I can only imagine that in today's world the property owners would be a little more reluctant to share their backyards and these wonderful views with the general public. Today we will only be checking out a small portion of the walk, about 3/4 of a mile of the northern end, because we have many other things to see and do today.

---

---

THE CLIFF WALK

in Newport, Rhode Island

---

---

A commemorative plaque explaining the Cliff Walk's origins

A parking lot view looking towards the northern end of the Cliff Walk

The first few yards of the Cliff Walk

One of the decorative locked gates leading into an estate's backyard

Well maintained landscaping along the walk, notice the tall privacy hedges

One of the visible estate homes along the walk

At some points there are designed access points to the lower level

Some brave people scrambling down onto the rocks

Always a welcome sight along the walk

A look back at the beach where ROVER is parked

Strong barriers to keep people safe from falling off the cliffs

Modest fencing in a little less dangerous area of the cliffs

At several points there are narrow side trails leading...

...down to the waters edge.

---

One other thing we learned while driving around Rhode Island, particularly in Providence, is you not only have to keep your eyes on the road, you have to keep a watch out on the rooftops, you never know what may be lurking up there.

These were just cool looking lamp posts!

Not sure what this is from the street view...

How about from the Interstate entrance ramp view.

The second and third photos show a local landmark, and the advertising gimick, for Big Blue Bug Solutions, a pest control company headquartered in Providence, RI.

---

Enough driving around, let's get out and stretch those legs some more. Rhode Island only has one National Memorial site and that is dedicated to the contributions of a man named Roger Williams. There is a vistor center at the site where we got our Passport Book stamped and then watched a short documentary video about Roger's accomplishments and contributuions to creating the state of Rhode Island in the early days of our nation. After the video we spoke with the park ranger for quite some time about the local history and then we ventured out into the beautiful rectangular park in the center of Providence which makes up the Memorial site.

All this walking around has made me thirsty! I know just the thing to quench that, another Rhode Island specialty drive, Del's Frozen Lemonade. There are shops, food trucks and refreshment carts all over the city featuring this frozen delight, we just had to try one. Apparently not all Del's Frozen Lemonades are alike!

We went to a stand alone Del's store which sold us two lemonades that just didn't seem to meet our expectations. We looked it up on Google and sure enough the location we chose only received 3.2 stars where most others were in the 4.5 to 5 star range. Next time we'll consult Google first!

It's mid-afternoon now and we need to get back home and get some rest because tonight we have a date. Tricia's step sister Chris has invited us over for dinner and her husband Bob will be BBQing up some chicken and sausage. We are supposed to bring desert and I know there was a delicious looking Dutch Apple Crumb Pie at the Stop-n-Shop Grocery on Thursday, guess we'll have to stop and pick one up.

---

---

SUNDAY

WORK DAY FROM THE POD 0 MILES DRIVEN TODAY

---

---

• • • 100 MILE • • • HIKING CHALLENGE 18.25 MILES UNDER OUR BOOTS

A mile and a half hike along The Cliff Walk
brings our annual total up to 18.25 miles.

---

---

Who will be the first to correctly guess our next location? • • • PLEASE USE THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW TO MAKE YOUR GUESS! • • •

---

---

... if you wish to receive an email notice when there is a new blog post!

PLEASE NOTE:
After you subscribe a company named Feed Burner will send you an email to once again verify that you wish to subscribe to TWO PEAS AND THE POD to which you must reply before you will receive notices.

---

---

We encourage everyone to use the comment section below! We would really like to hear from you!

---

---

Until next time

TWO PEAS

---

---