After 12 hours of traveling on Monday, Ren and I have finally made it to Warwick, Rhode Island, where Ren’s Aunt Paulette and Uncle Charlie live. They enjoy a beautiful view out onto the bay, and I am sitting out there wirelessly typing up this new entry. And I’m using the neighbor’s wireless connection (shhh, don’t tell them–we’re going to install high-speed, wireless internet in the house before week’s end).

We unfortunately were delayed in Chicago for nearly four hours and didn’t arrive into Rhode Island until after 1:00am local time. So is it any surprise that I slept until noon on Tuesday? After I had finally gained my senses, we went to East Providence to visit Brown University where Ren’s cousins Mandy and Lorie work. Unfortunately, all that we knew was that they worked in administration–somewhere. Being unsure of the department, we had a difficult time tracking them down. If only we had had a faculty directory! About 10 minutes after 4pm, we found their offices in the Bio-Med building, but too bad for us–they had already left. Defeated, we lifted our spirits with a tasty treat at Uncle John’s Ben and Jerry’s ice cream store and met up with Uncle Richard.

Richard took us over to the cemetery where Ren’s mémêre was buried. This was the first time we had seen the grave-site since she died three months ago. It was a somber time for us all, but we expect to see her in heaven someday.

Afterwards, Richard took us over to Hemenway’s in downtown Providence, where we feasted on clam chowder, calamari, and bacon-wrapped scallops (Aunt Paulette had a cup of lobster bisque). We spent about an hour there before meeting up with Richard’s wife, Georgette, and kids, Simonne and Ricky. We then walked around downtown at an event called Waterfire, which is basically a bunch of little campfires lit up along the river with music playing. A fun time just to walk around and enjoy the evening.

Today is a beach day after we get going, which may be a little while. It’s just a nice, relaxing day today. Something which both Ren and I have needed for a long time!