Memorial Day (Backyard) Campout

This year for Memorial Day weekend, our friends all wanted to go camping, but we knew it would be difficult to go somewhere to fit all of us. So what did we do? We decided to camp in our backyard!
During this time, there was a burn ban on, due to a very large forest fire on the Kenai Peninsula, but we made the most of it!

S'mores on the grill during the burn ban

The evening got pretty chilly!

The next morning turned out to be a bit chilly (around 30 degrees!) - but we managed just fine.

It turned out to be a great time with our wonderful friends! What a fantastic kick-off to summer!

Summer is Here!

This past weekend was Memorial Day Weekend, and I think summer may finally be here!  Nine days ago it snowed.  Six inches.  (This year was considered the longest winter on record, since it snowed so late.)  This past weekend it was sunny and in the 70s, and this week it has hit the 80s in some areas of town!

Over the weekend, we headed down to our traditional campground on Kenai Lake, Trail River Campground (just north of Seward) for some relaxation.  (Even though I am taking two summer courses, and did some homework during the weekend, I still squeezed some fun in.)

The requisite foot shot

Kenai Lake

Saturday, we hiked the "burn area" that overlooked the lake (seen in the ridge behind us on the right, in the photo above).  In 2001, when I worked on the Alaska Railroad as tour guide, there was a bad wildfire that went through the area and has left some well-charred landscape in its path.

All-in-all, it was a great warm weekend with great friends.  We're so glad summer is here!