It has been a fairly quiet week around Rhode Island since we got back. Sunday up in Massachusetts, we enjoyed our final morning of camping with a nice swim in the clear green water of Manchaug Pond. Beautiful day so we took our time before driving the short distance back to the parents’ house in Warwick. Old Holbrook has such a mellow feel to it and Linda in the office creates a comfortable space for families and old timers alike.

Pam’s sister Kim had come out from California to visit with the folks. We enjoyed a nice afternoon catching up. Lots of family reminiscing and a cool dip on the pool. For dinner, we grabbed a couple of pizzas from Don’s, a family favorite since 1967.

Monday, PJ and her mom ran errands in the RV while Pete was in Providence for his latest round of chemotherapy. Pam had an optometrist appointment then they roamed around town trying to find some of those funky eclipse watching sunglasses. No luck, everybody was sold out. Luckily, we had pizza boxes from the night before, so we assembled a quick “eclipse viewer” pinhole camera. A little anticlimactic after seeing all the excited people on t.v. getting into complete darkness in the zone of totality.

Tuesday, my awesome father celebrated his 89th birthday dancing around on his freshly implanted new knee. Youthful, active and the producer of the finest poached eggs west of the Mississippi. You are truly inspirational and loved by all who come to know you. Hope your day was fantastic. A very Happy Birthday to you.

Wednesday, PJ’s parents celebrated a whopping 59 years of marriage. To commemorate the occasion, we all went out for dinner at a lovely dockside restaurant a short drive down the coast. The food at Nautika was excellent and the views were fantastic. PJ’s sister Kim and cousin Beth arrived shortly after we did and we had a great evening raising our glasses to the happy couple.

Thursday was Kim’s last night in town, so Pete headed out and picked up some lobsters and we had a tasty lobster boil out on the back patio. Another beautiful New England summer evening. We stayed outside until the sun went down cracking claws and enjoying the family time together.

Friday, Kim spent the day hanging at the house until she left for the airport at 4:00 in the afternoon. She said her sad farewells then drove the short distance to the airport. I hopped on my bike and dropped off my external hard drive at the computer repair place. Jennifer or as Pete likes to call her, the girl with the dragon tattoo, is changing out my hard drive and fixing my DVD drawer. She’s done some fixes for Pete and seems pretty competent and easy to work with. I tried to circumnavigate Warwick Lake on the ride back but could only make it so far around until I ran into the fenced off runways at the airport. I retraced my tracks stopping at the lake access to talk with a fly fisherman who seemed to be practicing his technique more than seriously trying to catch a fish. Got the RV back from Arlington RV with the refixed slide out. They replaced a faulty breaker.  Hope this time’s the charm.

Saturday, PJ and I took a test drive in a slightly larger RV that one of Pete’s good friends is selling. Kind of feels like we’re cheating on Lexi, but having some extra space sure would be nice. Don’t really think this is the one but the itch for more living area is growing more pronounced. Not saying we’re committing to making a change but the idea is intriguing. Stay tuned for further developments.