Mid-afternoon the conference ended, so I took the taxi back to the airport to pick up a rental car to begin a few days on my own. My experience with Boston cab drivers isn't very good. Upon my arrival the day before, the cab driver took me to the wrong hotel. I had to catch another taxi to get to the correct hotel. Today the cab driver never turned on the meter then charged me $35 for the short ride back to the airport.

After picking up the rental car, I discovered that Boston traffic is possibly the worst in the world. The reasons are clear: (1) No one yields to anyone and (2) the entire city near the airport seems to be under perpetual construction. After 90 minutes in the car, I finially had travelled the 20 miles necessary to escape Boston to the south.

Once I had left Boston, I noticed that I couldn't pick up any radio stations. I pulled off at an exit to find that the car was missing an antenna. Ok, so I would go the weekend without a working car radio.

The roads from Massachussets into Rhode Island were easy with little traffic. I arrived at Jerimoth Hill around 7 PM and easily found the sign along the state road. Because the owners of the land nearby that has the actual state highpoint are strongly opposed to visitors/trespassers, visiting the sign qualifies as visiting the actual state highpoint. The elevation of the ground at the sign is only a few feet different in elevation from the actual highpoint anyway. I took my pictures to prove I had visited it.

I then headed to the southern part of Rhode Island in search of a hotel. Strange, but after about 30 minutes of driving, I'm on the other side of the state. I found a crummy hotel for $70, ate supper, watched the Republican Convention on television, and went to bed. Hotels are very expensive in New England.