New York to Framingham, Massachusetts

Monday 19 May 2008


Still waiting for a bit more of that nice Spring weather everyone says we ‘should’ be having over on this side of the country. I’ve got this much to say– it’s certainly Green! Flying in to Boston was very pleasant with lots of trees and water everywhere. The airport was in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of New York. There were even rocking chairs in part of the waiting lounge! And people were actually sitting in them!! No rush, rush, rush – everything was very ordered and everyone was very civilised.

Framingham (pronounced ‘frame-ing-ham’) is 19 miles West of Boston, which we only glimpsed briefly as we passed by on a very convenient bus that runs express from the airport for $12.00. We were told by the taxi driver who took us to our Best Western accommodation from the bus depot that Framingham is really a city in itself with a population of 66,910. I can’t comment on the township/city of Framingham at this stage, as we have only ventured over the road to see what ‘Wal-Mart’ is all about (looks just like a great big Target to me) and to the pizza restaurant next door for dinner.

However, speaking of Wal-Mart, Jill and I both ended up spending money on cheap clothes. I actually bought my second pair of jeans here that fit me like a glove and only cost around $17.00 USD. I also bought 3 plain, V-neck T-shirts for less that $6.00 each. I had been looking for YEARS to get jeans that fit me in Australia but they’re all made in China and the manufactures use some weird body shape to base all their measurements on. In the USA, cheap Wal-Mart stuff appears to be made in Mexico and Nicaragua and probably several other South American countries, but they seem to be perfect for the fuller, mature figure. Of course, there are many full-figured people in the USA, so I suppose they just cater for the market . . .

We are really on the outskirts of Framingham here, not far from Spaulding’s International Rehabilitation Center for Polio (IRCP), but just far enough to wonder how we’re going to get there tomorrow . . . Oddly, the bus route seems to be a bit ‘complicated’, and it’s not really far enough to catch a taxi, but a bit too far to push Jill in her wheelchair up a hill on a busy, main road with disappearing footpaths, wheeling my briefcase full of recording gear. Tune in tomorrow to see how it all worked out – I know I will!