The last leg of the trip to RI on Monday, from Rochester to Rumford, was rainy. In some places, the rain was so heavy that visibility was only about 20-30 yards. Eventually, we found our way to the house. Our celebration was brief, as we discovered that the lockbox containing the key was not installed. We phoned the maintenance guy, who came about 30’ later with the key. In the interim, Linda realized she’d left her purse at the Lee Plaza at the west end of the Mass Turnpike. Of course, that meant her drivers license, credit cards and Medicare card. Since she thought her passport was also in the purse, it meant she was essentially undocumented, since her birth certificate is in the moving van. Eventually, we got into the house and installed the birds in a second floor bedroom. Then, Linda went about canceling her credit cards and ordering replacements. Happily, one of her Visa cards had a different number from mine, so we had one working credit card between us. Then Linda couldn’t find her car key. Since she had driven without her purse, it had to be somewhere in the car on in the house, but where?
In the process of canceling the card we’d been using on the trip, we were given a phone number to contact the Gulf station at Lee Plaza. It turned out to be the home number of a woman who used to work there, but she knew someone who worked at the plaza. That person went to check, but went to the wrong side of the turnpike. She would visit the correct plaza in the morning to see if someone rescued Linda’s purse.
Fortunately, we’d saved leftovers from the previous night’s meal, so we ate, inflated one of the inflatable mattresses we brought, and got a decent night’s sleep. The next morning, I got up around 6 AM to discover there was no hot water, so no showers. The maintenance guy returned to discover that the water into the hot water heater had been shut off because a valve was dripping. He turned it on with a promise to return and replace the leaking pipe. After I’d gone to bed, Linda found her car key (worthless, since she didn’t have a drivers license) and she found her passport was also in the house and not in her purse. She started making plans to get a RI drivers license. We had a nice breakfast at a bakery within walking distance, but they had no wifi service.
Linda got a call saying her purse was recovered by the staff at the food court shortly after we left, and it was secured in a safe for us to pick up. Meanwhile, the maintenance guy went out to make copies of the single house key. While he was out, we discovered that while we had hot water from taps on the second floor, there was none in any of the taps on the first floor. When the maintenance guy returned, he discovered he’d used the key wrong blank, so neither copy worked., but he was able to get the hot water on the second floor to work At that point, we took back the working key, so we could start the two hour drive to Lee Plaza, where Linda recovered her purse. On the way back we met more heavy rain, this time accompanied by flooding. Indeed, the street we now live on has a flooded section under about 18 inches of water, just a few yards from our driveway. We have no food at home, but fortunately the rain let up for awhile and we found a restaurant open nearby.
The replacement credit cards arrived Wednesday. The moving van should arrive Friday, so by the weekend, we'll have someplace to sit and stuff to cook with. Linda set up the internet server.
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