All for $1.25

My stepson, Kenny, stayed with us for about a month a while ago, and some of his mail still comes to our house. Yesterday I received a letter addressed to him emblazoned on the front with "Violation Warning". I was kind of afraid to open it, but when I did it was from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority FAST LANE Toll Violation Processing Center. It seems he went through the Fast Lane Tollbooth without having a Fast Pass transponder on his car.....which means he did not pay the toll. So in order to retrieve their $1.25, they sent this notice which consisted of two pieces of paper with a photograph of his license plate, a return envelope, and directions on how to send in your $1.25 via check or credit card. Uh huh.....like I'm going to put my credit card number on anything to do with the Massachusetts Government. I put a dollar bill and a quarter in the envelope and sent it on its way. I hope they use the money wisely. My List For Today: The Things That Happened on the Canoe Trip from Hell. 1. We got to our campsite and it was basically a wide spot on the side of the road.....an outhouse and one spigot for water in the middle of the 'campground'. 2. I forgot the tent poles and had to drive 45 minutes back the way we came and spend $75 on a new tent. 3. After being sternly warned by the 'campground' owners when we checked in that it was a 'family campground' and I'd better keep my teenagers under control, a dozen tents were erected on the site next to ours with a bunch of 20-somethings who partied all night long. 4. When we went down to the river for a swim, there was a couple bathing nude right beside the dock. She was in the process of 'soaping him up'. 5. The first day of our two day trip we woke up to rain so we put all our belongings in my car and locked it in the parking lot and took my brother's truck to the canoe rental place where we would begin our trip, canoeing back to the campsite to stay a second night and canoe a second day. It rained (ie. poured) the entire day. 6. As we were finally approaching the campsite at the end of the first day, a huge streak of lightening exploded in the field beside us. 7. Upon leaving the canoe and desperate for dry clothes, I realized the keys to my car, where all our belongings were staying nice and dry, were in my brother's truck at the canoe rental place several miles up the road. We stood in the rain for an hour waiting for the shuttle to come take my brother to his truck. 8. We quickly decided we were NOT staying a second day, so took the soggy mess that was our tent and sleeping bags and stuffed them all into the back of the truck. THE ONE GOOD THING THAT HAPPENED: On the way home we stopped at the "Pig House"....also known as a fantastic ribs place....and had dinner in the nice cozy restaurant.