It’s been a hot, dry summer in Michigan, unless you count the days that my wife, Denise, and I have gone camping.  It has rained every time that we camped.  No joke! Let’s do a quick recap, shall we?

Memorial Day weekend
The rain was so bad this weekend that we did not even leave the house. We planned on taking a hiking trip with our friends, Tim and Shanna, but the forecast was for 90 degrees and thunderstorms.  This time, the forecast did not lie and it rained cats and dogs.

June 1st – June 3 – Leelanau State Park
We took our four year old niece, Adriana for her first weekend of camping in Leelanau.  It was no longer 90 degrees, instead it was 60 degrees and raining. Adriana was not happy that we couldn’t swim, but we had a great time on a bike when we visited the lighthouse.

June 22 – 24  Ludington State Park
Later in the month, we took Amelia, our seven year old niece, camping for the second year in a row.  We loved the rustic campsite on the shore of Lake Michigan, but once again the weekend was interrupted by rain. We were lucky enough to have one great, sunny day to hit up Sleeping Bear Dunes.

June 30 – July 4 Porcupine Mountains and Copper Harbor
We fled to the U.P. to escape the heat, and found ourselves with 100 degree days in the Porcupine Mountains!  We enjoyed a great hike through the mountains the day after our 12 hour drive, and then it was on to Copper Harbor. We were joining in with my parents and two sisters who were taking and extended trip through the U.P. 

And what did it do in Copper Harbor? You guessed it, it rained. This time it was a huge thunderstorm that rocked our tent and made us very glad that we mostly stayed dry. Our Coleman Hooligan is a great tent.

July 13 – 15 Otsego Lake State Park
We ditched the tent, and borrowed Betty, my parent’s RV, for a weekend  up north with Denise’s sister’s family and two brothers.  We all had a great time, except that it rained! 

It rained all afternoon after we went to the beach. It stormed minutes after we got back in the water that afternoon. It rained during lunch. It rained during dinner. It stormed the entire second night! The park host said it hadn’t rained there the entire summer until we showed up!

It’s a good thing we had that RV. The backpacking tent we brought for Denise’s brothers did not hold the water out, and they would have been soaked the second night. Instead, we piled six adults and two children into the RV.

So, with that, I announce my new business! If you need rain, you can hire me for $100 / day plus travel expenses. I will come to your location in my tent or RV, and it will rain, 100% guarantee (unless my presence brings fire instead of rain. That’s happened in Idaho and in southern Australia).  Book at your own risk. You may get more than you bargained for.