Woke up to the early alarm at 6:30, made coffee, headed to the dump, and were well on our way by just after 8:00. A not-so-quick stop at a BK for breakfast (only because the northbound exit was closed due to construction, so we had to go back south for an exit before heading back north again), another for fuel, the Wal-mart in Big Rapids for final shopping before we headed out to the easy-to-find campground less than 8 miles from town. This looks like a really great horse camp! The only drawback is that there is only one well house with two spigots, but it is a solar powered pump so it works like a regular spigot, thank goodness. For convenience, we had already filled up the RV at the Walmart (love their outside garden center spigots!), so we only needed to fill up the collapsible rain barrel and the horses’ initial water tub. Strange thing happened at Walmart, though, another example of rules gone mad! Here in Michigan you can buy liquor at a grocery store. Though the selection at Walmart was limited, we picked up a couple of bottles of vodka. At checkout, I was told I needed to show my id (which I had left out in the truck, since Hubby had his wallet). Even though Hubby was making the purchase, the cashier claimed that it was Walmart rules that if she thought anyone in the party was under 40 that she needed ID from EVERYONE in the party! First of all, I’m 54, and though I think I do look pretty good for my age (don’t we all!), I haven’t looked 40 in probably 10 years. Secondly, the fact that Hubby was making the purchase should have settled the matter, that’s not what the rule (apparently) says. I asked what the drinking age was (21), and asked if I looked older than 21, and of course the answer was, yes, but because, in her judgment, I looked under 40, and because that’s what the “rule” said, I had to go all the way out to the truck (which, of course, was WAY out in the parking lot, because that’s the only place there is room for my entire rig), get my wallet, and return with my ID, just so that my husband (who is 79!) could buy two bottles of vodka. When I got back, I asked what happens if a parent wants to buy liquor when they have a kid with them, she said kids were exempt. I wonder what she would have said if I had told her my Hubby was my father (a common mistake anyway), and whether she would have allowed the purchase then, but I didn’t. I don’t know how someone can work for a company that has so little trust in their employees, (and so little training that they don’t know what over 40 looks like!) but maybe that’s just me. Glad I work for myself, despite all the aggravations that can cause. Anyway, as usual, once we got to the campground, we found the only site in the campground where we could get a satellite signal, as the rest are deep into the woods, which is very pleasant and cool in the shade after a very hot day in the upper 80’s (and the last few days in Ohio in the low 90’s!). It’s also convenient to the well, so we quickly filled up the rain barrel with our long stretch of Pocket Hoses while we got the RV set up. The only flaw is that it’s not very level, so I think we’ll have to disconnect the truck to get level, but not until tomorrow. Only a couple of other people in the campground, though there are over 40 nice sites, and from what we can see, the trails should be spectacular, a nice hard packed sand and dirt mix, with no stones or gravel, and so well traveled they’re bound to not have may limbs down either. The trail map looks very promising, and we’re excited about our week here, though there’s a lot of rain in the forecast for the next few days. Frankly, though, we’re so exhausted from our recent schedule, we’ll be quite happy to do nothing but sleep, read and watch TV for the next couple of days before we worry about riding. When we do ride, though, that will be our 40th state!! Got everyone settle in by cocktail hour, and settled in for the evening.
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