East Coast Tour - Day 21

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Some early morning calls found a place that would look at the trailer that day (as opposed to waiting weeks), but unfortunately we also discovered the trailer is too tall to put on a flatbed truck. The shop sent out a mobile unit and after taking a tire off the mechanic found that it was not the axle but a fabulously destroyed bearing. It was a quick fix and we were on the road by 1PM. Due to the late start we set our sights on Plymouth and headed east. Jessica wasn't too far from the Rhode Island State line and we passed it with out being prepared to take the picture. We turned around and headed back just to get the shot. While in Rhode Island we stopped in Newport to see the Mansions. We thought we might take one of the servant's life tours, but, once again, parking the trailer was too big of a challenge. We saw signs for Fort Adams, and once again proved that going off-script can lead to amazing experiences. In the dock was a tall ship not unlike the Toly More, which Anne and Michelle sailed on during a school trip in Catalina. The fort grounds were being setup for a huge folk music festival in a few days, so it was a bit chaotic. We took the last tour of the day. Fort Adams was commissioned in the early 1800s and was used first as guard at the mouth of the harbor through WWII and then as a testing ground for new military technology up through the 1950s. It has been partially restored and the tour takes you on top of the walls, into officer housing, and through the casements and the listening tunnels that run out under the crown works. Walking around in the moats and other outer defenses, it was hard to convince ourselves that we were not still in England, especially while hearing the tour guide talk about land defenses and murder holes, etc. After Fort Adams we pushed on to the Plymouth KOA, which isn't in Plymouth. Many of the KOAs we've stayed at are named after local attractions but are not directly in the city. We pulled in with enough time for Michelle to go swimming before we cleaned up and headed to bed.

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Photos

It's a bust
The tour was great.. but this statue of Adams.. was a bust.

Ex Bearings
I can't bear to think what would have happened if these broke at freeway speeds, instead of on a lazy country road.

Rhode Island
We had to go 5 miles out of our way to turn around to get this pic. These small states are very cute, we sometimes forget to check how far to the state line.

Fort Adams Tour
We are about to go up onto the walls. Steep, slick steps. The tour was very neat.

Creepy Tunnel
Listening Tunnels so that soldiers could hear enemies trying to dig under the walls and attack them. Every once in a while, the stone walls were left bare to allow the Fort soldiers to conduct counter-mining operations (basically dig to the enemies tunnels and blow them up).

Tunnel Rat
Stickers... Yay (tony and Anne) No thank you (Michelle).

Masssachusssetttttttttsssssss
I don't know how many s and t to put in which parts of the state... so we just add enough to cover.

Tall Ship
Anne and Michelle told stories again of their tall ship experience in Catalina, and talked about the differences in the two ships.

Updating the Map
Too bad we don't update the blog as religiously.

I'm on a map
(running out of things to say for the map pics)

Rhode Island
It's so cute

Thanks Jessica
We never got a pic with Jessica (too much trailer trouble), so her horse gladly filled in for her (after we fed it some grass).