Our last night in Michigan



No beer for you :-(



After leaving the Livery we headed back to the campground. Again there was nobody at the check-in location so we picked up a self check-in form and went to our campsite. I quickly got a fire started and lit some charcoal in the grill. Once this was done I opened a couple of beers we had picked up on our travels for us to enjoy while we prepared our dinner. Just about this time the Park Ranger showed up to check us in and collect the campsite fees. He spotted the two full bottles of beer sitting on the picnic table and zealously went into action. He informed me that Michigan parks are "dry", no alcohol is allowed in the park, open or otherwise. He watched as I dumped out the two beers. But he was not stopping with that. He found three more beers in a cooler that had to be emptied. It was fortunate that I had only put a few beers on ice. We had been on the road for a week, collecting beers along the way. It was bad enough throwing away five good beers but if he had asked to look in our vehicle we would have had to leave. The ranger let me know bringing alcohol into the state park is punishable  by a fine of $160. He wanted me to know he did me a favor by just making me pour out these beers. I don't want to encourage illegal behavior, but, if you like a beer or glass of wine with your meal or while sitting around the campfire, do what Michiganders already know, put your drink in a cup and hide the bottle.