Yesterday not long after noontime I was walking in Providence, RI from the train station towards the RIPTA buses at Kennedy Plaza. It was VERY cold I'd say, maybe 15 degrees Fahrenheit with a foot or two of snow on the ground, not as much snow as the Boston area but I think that's all relative now.
I tried timing leaving the train station so that I didn't have to spend too long waiting outside for RIPTA bus number 60 that goes to Newport.
Upon arriving at the Kennedy Plaza bus area I saw that the RIPTA bus 14 was available to take passengers. In the quick thinking inspired in large part by the cold I decided to hop on the 14 bus with it's final destination of Newport.
Aside from the bus driver, the only other person on the bus was a woman who quietly sat in the back.
The bus remained parked at it's stop near Kennedy Plaza for a about 5 minutes and then departed. No one else boarded. I think there was still another 10 minutes before the next much more frequently running RIPTA 60 bus was scheduled to depart, 10 minutes of waiting in the frigid cold and I hadn't taken the RIPTA 14 in a long time, I hadn't seen the west bay view in a long time, the fresh novelty factor was pretty high.
The 14 bus made its way through Providence and onto interstate highway 95 southbound. Vivid sunny-VERY-COLD-day colors outside, warm inside the bus with the driver, myself and the lady in the back. Not a word spoken. Fine by me.
After making way some miles on the freeway southbound the bus left interstate 95 at the T.F. Green Airport exit. Stopping at the airport a handsome young man came up to the bus.
"Pardon me, but are you going to Roger Williams University?"
"Ah, well, no. You need to take a bus to Providence and then get on the 60. I'm going to Newport, that's way out of your way."
"OK, thank you."
We left the airport with still just the three of us on the bus and continued southward alongside the western shores of Narragansett Bay. We traveled through Apponaug and then onto the Post Road. Approaching East Greenwich is where a view of Narragansett Bay really opens up, in particular the Greenwich Bay part of Narragansett Bay. Looking eastward out over Greenwich Bay I see that its western portion is frozen over. "Wow" I think, "I've never seen that before."
South of East Greenwich, in the town of North Kingstown, the RIPTA 14 bus made way into Quonset Point passing the Sea Bee's statue, a statue that commemorates the founding of the US Navy's engineering group. The bus passes an abandoned Lowes building and then leaves Quonset Point back onto the Post Road.
As the RIPTA 14 bus made way through Wickford my eye's saw that harbor completely frozen over. Passing the John Chaffee Nature Preserve I see a fairly well plowed parking lot, a plowed nature trail with some people walking.
The RIPTA 14 bus southbound alternates it's destination between Newport and Narragansett. The driver, myself and the woman in the back are on a Newport bus. No one else has boarded for the entire trip.
We then make our way eastward across the relatively new concrete bridge that spans Narragansett Bays West Passage, a mostly ice free West Passage. Crossing the East Passage on the Newport Pell Bridge I see a mostly ice free section of the bay. Looking over towards Newport Harbor from the bridge I expect to see ice but see water.
Ending the bus trip at the Newport Gateway Center I disembark thanking the driver. The woman in the back also disembarks. No one else on board for the entire trip.
Fair Winds
Captain Bill
I tried timing leaving the train station so that I didn't have to spend too long waiting outside for RIPTA bus number 60 that goes to Newport.
Upon arriving at the Kennedy Plaza bus area I saw that the RIPTA bus 14 was available to take passengers. In the quick thinking inspired in large part by the cold I decided to hop on the 14 bus with it's final destination of Newport.
Aside from the bus driver, the only other person on the bus was a woman who quietly sat in the back.
The bus remained parked at it's stop near Kennedy Plaza for a about 5 minutes and then departed. No one else boarded. I think there was still another 10 minutes before the next much more frequently running RIPTA 60 bus was scheduled to depart, 10 minutes of waiting in the frigid cold and I hadn't taken the RIPTA 14 in a long time, I hadn't seen the west bay view in a long time, the fresh novelty factor was pretty high.
The 14 bus made its way through Providence and onto interstate highway 95 southbound. Vivid sunny-VERY-COLD-day colors outside, warm inside the bus with the driver, myself and the lady in the back. Not a word spoken. Fine by me.
After making way some miles on the freeway southbound the bus left interstate 95 at the T.F. Green Airport exit. Stopping at the airport a handsome young man came up to the bus.
"Pardon me, but are you going to Roger Williams University?"
"Ah, well, no. You need to take a bus to Providence and then get on the 60. I'm going to Newport, that's way out of your way."
"OK, thank you."
We left the airport with still just the three of us on the bus and continued southward alongside the western shores of Narragansett Bay. We traveled through Apponaug and then onto the Post Road. Approaching East Greenwich is where a view of Narragansett Bay really opens up, in particular the Greenwich Bay part of Narragansett Bay. Looking eastward out over Greenwich Bay I see that its western portion is frozen over. "Wow" I think, "I've never seen that before."
South of East Greenwich, in the town of North Kingstown, the RIPTA 14 bus made way into Quonset Point passing the Sea Bee's statue, a statue that commemorates the founding of the US Navy's engineering group. The bus passes an abandoned Lowes building and then leaves Quonset Point back onto the Post Road.
As the RIPTA 14 bus made way through Wickford my eye's saw that harbor completely frozen over. Passing the John Chaffee Nature Preserve I see a fairly well plowed parking lot, a plowed nature trail with some people walking.
The RIPTA 14 bus southbound alternates it's destination between Newport and Narragansett. The driver, myself and the woman in the back are on a Newport bus. No one else has boarded for the entire trip.
We then make our way eastward across the relatively new concrete bridge that spans Narragansett Bays West Passage, a mostly ice free West Passage. Crossing the East Passage on the Newport Pell Bridge I see a mostly ice free section of the bay. Looking over towards Newport Harbor from the bridge I expect to see ice but see water.
Ending the bus trip at the Newport Gateway Center I disembark thanking the driver. The woman in the back also disembarks. No one else on board for the entire trip.
Fair Winds
Captain Bill
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