Unexpected blessings

Today?  I had the most amazing beach day with the boys and my Mom.  Totally unexpected for a cold day in April ... in Rhode Island no less. 

The boys had the day off from school for Good Friday and we went down to Westerly to visit my Aunt Bonnie and Aunt Sheila.  They had a blast running the storage units again at the Cornerstone.  I took photos but they all disappeared, which has been known to happen with my current phone. 

After the visit we made our way to the beach.  I had prepped the boys since yesterday.  It will be cold, windy... not a water kind of day.  We can walk around for a few minutes and then we are back in the truck.  Heck I even made them wear heavy long sleeve shirts and their winter jackets. 

50 something degrees at home inland means 40 something at the beach - before the wind.

Stepping into the parking lot to unbuckle the boys, I felt it.  No wind.  At all.  I found myself telling them to leave their shoes and socks in the truck so they could feel the sand since it didn't seem as cold as I feared... but to keep those jackets zipped. 

We made our way out over the dune at Misquamicut and my Mom and I both took a breath, surprised at how clear blue the water appeared and how not cold it was.  Before I knew it, the boys were running in and out of the water.  And while trust me it was cold, I have been to the beach on much warmer summer days where the water feels colder than that. 

We rolled up the boys jeans and in and out they went.  They found shells and a lone crab leg for my Dad (don't ask) and even managed to make 'sand angels'.  When it was time to go the Doodle Bop got mad and the Bunny Bee threw himself down in the sand because they did not want to leave. 

I am so ready for summer.  And more than grateful for this beautiful and unexpected day.  I left feeling completely blessed.

No more toll roads!

Today I am bumping another post I had written due to something I saw on the news last night that sort of ticked me off.  The proposed toll near the RI/CT border.  That's right, I said near.  The RI DOT wants to put tolls between exits 1 and 2 on both RT95 North and RT95 South.

Actually I am more than ticked off.  I am infuriated.  While I understand the need to bring more money into the state during this tough economic economy, I am also feeling like lately we have all been taxed enough.  Many people around this state have not been able to find jobs for years.  Now the state wants us to pay to use the highway we have always used at no cost?

Car taxes are up, home taxes are up - while our home values only continue to plummet.  Gas is so expensive right now.  This summer, like every summer, the boys and I bought a beach pass.  If gas was not so expensive to pump into my beloved Ford Explorer I would have been at the beach 3 and 4 times a week... due to gas prices I only made it there about once weekly (occasionally twice). 

Speaking of that pass... $30 for state residents.  Always been OK with that.  This year though they changed it, it was $30 prior to a certain date, $60 after that - for in state!  (Which by the way doesn't even include all of the beaches in the state but that's another story.)  The buzz is that next year ALL passes will cost $60.  Quite a hike if you ask me.

While the boys are in love with Scarborough, my favorite beach is Misquamicut.  It is where grew up.  My mom's family lives in Westerly and I have always considered it my second home, even if I never technically lived there.  If this toll proposal passes, any time I drive to Westerly, I will be taxed on the way in.  And then taxed again on the way out. 

Seriously?

The Newport Bridge was bad enough at $4 each way.  It would cost $8 on top of the gas for travel just to visit Al for lunch with the kids when he was working on the Navy base.  While it didn't stop me from going, I hated that toll.  Our state is small enough as it is.  Why on earth do we need another toll road?!

Honestly, like it or not I could get behind a toll on the RI/CT border to go in between the states.  They could still benefit from all the casino traffic.  RI won't look at that though, maybe because they would have to share the profits with CT.  Who knows.  All I know right now is that I am not happy about the prospect of having to pay more money any time I want to go visit family in Westerly, or hit Misquamicut beach for the day. 

I would imagine that anyone living in Westerly (the last town in the state before CT) is not happy about the prospect of paying a toll go anywhere in their own state, outside of their town.