It is fun to spend some time in New England in the summer. July is especially nice. It is warm and sunny. We brought our bikes and a spirit of adventure with us exploring a few new trails as well as some we had been on before.

We enjoyed a new-to-us trail, the Erie to Pittsburg trail. We were on the Allegheny River Trail portion, on the way up to Massachusetts. I knew about the Rockland Tunnel (2868’ long) 10 miles into the trail, but I did not realize it would be so dark. I am glad we have bike lights, but we should have had a stronger light, as the trail guide says. It was a good experience biking in a tunnel. We enjoyed the pretty Allegheny River flowing along the trail.  

We enjoyed our stop in Emlenton, Pennsylvania, and had a good dinner in town before heading to our hotel. The views of the Emlenton Bridge put the large span into perspective for us. The bridge is 270 feet above the water and is the largest in Pennsylvania, and the fifth largest span on the US interstate system. I was surprised to learn it touches three Pennsylvania counties.

One of the joys of being a grandparent is watching our grandson. From his perspective, I wonder what it is like to hang out with your grandparents. He looked like he enjoyed our time together. Since we are not enough on our own, his parents feel the need to have our grandchild play with other kids his age. That is part of the summer fun, playing in the water and keeping cool.

I am sure many other grandparents take their grandkids to the dentist. This was a first for us. We had an interesting time and, of course, ice cream afterwards for a visit “well” done.

We like to walk daily and so, when we are watching our grandchild, he also comes along for the walk. It may or may not be at the same pace we are used to, but it is sure a good time to be with him.

I remember from living in Massachusetts that almost everyone went to “the Cape” in the summer. We again visited the Old Silver Beach on Cape Cod. I know why most people come to the Cape. You should too, just not when we are planning to drive in. It is good to swim with your grandchild.

We like to stay active, and when we were not watching our grandchild, we were able to see some of the area. We biked the Coventry Greenway and Trestle Trail in Rhode Island, a new trial for us. We began with a tunnel, but we could see daylight, so it was not nearly as long as the one in Pennsylvania. This trail has several pretty stretches, and we were able to ride a 30-mile loop from Cranston.

Some days it is windy. I am a grandpa, so, let’s go fly a kite! My daughter-in-law already had kites, and it was her idea to fly kites on a windy day during our visit. I am glad to share kite flying with our grandson. Afterwards, we can blow bubbles.

The Dodgers came to Fenway, and we went into town with our kids, a friend and our grandson. We enjoyed seeing the Boston Red Sox play at Fenway. We had good seats. I am glad we got to take a train into town and enjoyed a good game against the eventual World Series champion Dodgers.

When we lived in Massachusetts, they did not have a boardwalk on Lake Williams. They do now. It was fun to explore with our grandson. He ran most of the way out and back—nearly a 2-mile run on Lake Williams.

We have two kids living within 30 minutes (driving) of each other. It is good for us; we get an extra visit each time we come. And our grandson loves his uncle.

What would you rather do? Go to the zoo in Providence with its dinosaurs exhibition or play on a playground? We were all set to take our 4-year-old grandson to the zoo. However, he was more interested in the playground. So, we had a fun morning on the playground. We also walked around the nearby Japanese Garden.

We enjoy playing games with our grandson, and he has been obsessed with playing Uno and now Candy Land. We found a candy land trail within the Hasbro Playground at the Roger Williams Park in Providence, and it inspired us to make one on his driveway. It is a good way to play and use our imagination as well.

Other Fun:

I did take a day and play Maple Hill disc golf course, the number one course in North America and ranked number 4 in the world. It is a magnificent course, and unlike that other golfing game, it costs $10.00 to play a round of 18 during the week ($18 on the weekend). No caddy or special shoes required.

Our daughter-in-law printed the book “the Blue Hippo” for our grandson so we could re-live the fun Uno games.

We took our grandson to soccer practice and kicked balls with some of his team members.

On the way back, we stopped and took a walking break at the Firestone Metro park. It was good to get out and stretch our legs.

See you on the road!