Sunday, June 23, 2013

 
Coming into Providence, RI.  


Our trip to Rhode Island to visit the capital and drop off a wheel chair blanket was very interesting because we did  8 boarder crossings to get the job done. 
To deliver the blanket to the Veteran's Home in Rhode Island we left Connecticut and crossed the border into Rhode Island, from Rhode Island we had to cross the border into Massachusetts, then we had to cross the border again to go back into Rhode Island.  There we delivered the blanket.  Off to Sam's and the Capital building in Rhode Island.  So, back to Massachusetts into Rhode Island and there we found out the Sam's Club was no longer in business.  So, off to Sam's Club in Massachusetts.  From there to headed back home.  Massachusetts to Rhode Island then to Connecticut and home.  All of this in a 120 mile round trip.  Our poor GPS was announcing "border cross ahead" more than street turns. LOL

 Rhode Island is the smallest in area, the eighth least populous, but the second most densely populated of the 50 US states behind New Jersey.

 Rhode Island was the first of the 13 original colonies to declare independence from British rule, declaring itself independent on May 4, 1776, two months before any other colony. The State was also the last of the thirteen original colonies to ratify the United States Constitution.
 Roger Williams was a theologian forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Seeking religious and political tolerance, he and others founded "Providence Plantations" as a free proprietary colony. "Providence" referred to the divine providence and "plantations" referred to an English term for a colony.
"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" is the longest official name of any state in the Union. On June 25, 2009, the General Assembly voted to allow the people to decide whether to keep the name or drop "and Providence Plantations" due to the misperception that the name related to slavery. The referendum election was held on this subject during the November 2, 2010 elections, and the people overwhelmingly (78% to 22%) voted to keep the original name.

A rare type of rock called Cumberlandite, found only in Rhode Island (specifically in the town of Cumberland), is the state rock. 

 The mean elevation of the state is 200 feet.

 Rhode Island covers an area of 1,214 square miles.

 constructed from 1895 to 1904

The Rhode Island State House is composed of 327,000 cubic feet of white Georgia marble, 15 million bricks, and 1,309 short tons of iron floor beams
The dome of the State House is the fourth-largest self-supporting marble dome in the world, after St. Peter's Basilica, the Minnesota State Capital, and the Taj Mahal. On top of the dome is a gold-covered bronze statue of the Independent Man, originally named "Hope." The statue, weighing more than 500 pounds is 11 feet . Independent Man represents freedom and independence and alludes to the independent spirit which led Roger Williams to settle and establish Providence and later Rhode Island.

 One of the first public buildings to use electricity, the Rhode Island State House is lit by 109 floodlights and two searchlights at night.




 The Foundry is one of America's most distinct office and residential locations. Once the site of one of the industrial revolution’s most successful companies – Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company – today it is the location to many of New England's best companies and the region’s most distinct loft apartment living.

The campus offers 26-acres and 13 of America’s most celebrated historic buildings – pristine in renovation.

 History of The Foundry

The Foundry complex has a rich history dating back more than a century.  The former industrial campus once served as the home to then industrial global powerhouse – Brown & Sharpe.

Brown & Sharpe originated in 1833 in the South Main Street shop of David Brown & Son, makers and repairers of clocks, watches, and light precision tools. The firm took its present name in 1853 when Brown's son, Joseph, made Lucian Sharpe a full partner. Inventions flowed constantly from the small shop, including the first automatic machine for graduating rules (1850) and the precision Gear Cutting and Dividing Engine (1855).

With business booming and the company expanding – including 300 employees working at 14 different locations – Brown & Sharpe purchased land on Promenade Street along the Woonasquatucket River in 1872.  Employee Thomas McFarlane designed the first building – a 66,000-square-foot, brick, cast-iron, and concrete structure that included spaces for all the company's functions, from design studios to production areas. The company filled out its 33-acre parcel (later reduced to 25 acres when a portion of the site was cleared to accommodate Route 95) with buildings closely linked with the development of various machine-tool products. Among the structures are a carpenter shop, powerhouse, machine shops, warehouses, grinding shop, and steel storage bins.

 

This is the lane that took us into the Rhode Island Veterans Home.




The Rhode Island Veterans Home is a 110-acre complex located on Mount Hope Bay  in Bristol, Rhode Island.  This is the location of the wheel chair lap robe for Rhode Island. 
This was on the grounds of the Veteran's home.  I guess they have had a few problems with "is this real".  You can see a bit of the complex in the background.
Park Bridge has a park on it and is a walkway to the Woonasquatucket River.
Neat view of the city of Providence.
A building made of shipping containers. It is very imaginative and fun to look at.
Rog trying to figure out were these vacuum lines go and what is connected to what. 
After the cat did some exploring under the dash area he came out with all sorts of colorful stuff hanging all over him.  He then processed to get aggravated about the situation and just came barreling out.  Now we have a real mess because he broke lines and pulled lines and well....Rog was not happy.  For a couple of weeks we needed a quick fix to stop the leak so my knitting needles, double pointed and one to my circular set, were used.  Rog has "most" of it fixed.  We have the red line that is a mystery line.  Last known it has no home. 
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