On Holiday...

What better way to usher in the summer than a camping trip with friends? Will and I joined four of our friends camping at Afton State Park for the Memorial Day weekend. We had perfect weather, good food, lots of laughs, an indominable campfire (it survived through 2 hours of rain), lots of dogs (4!), and NO BUGS.

Afton isn't too far out of the city, so it was a really short trip to get out there. It lies along the St. Croix River, so it is a mix of river bluffs and prairie land. The campsite is up on the top of a bluff, so you have to hike with all of your gear up a pretty steep hill (in near 90 degree heat)- needless to say, we avoided hiking that hill unless necessary the rest of the weekend:) We did do other hikes though, and got in a little swimming. Buckley, our friends' 6 month old puppy learned how to swim, which was pretty hilarious. He was not so sure about it at first...

We were a little worried about Mosby in the tent because he tends to bark if he gets startled by a noise. Since the tent is not exactly soundproof, this could have been a problem at night, but he did great! He tried a few times to push his nose against the zipper of the tent because he knew that was where to get out, but he settled in eventually (and the second night he was fine). This was a huge relief because we love to camp in the summers, so now we don't have to figure out what to do with the dog whenever we go.

It really does feel like summer now. The days are consistently in the 70's and 80's, thunderstorms are making their way through occassionally, and you basically couldn't pay people to stay inside (us included). Much like Seattle, when you survive so many months of winter (although this year's wasn't too bad), summer makes it all worth it; this is why we live here and don't give in to the urge to move the entire state a few thousand miles south. Camping was a great way to start out the season and we are hoping to have a number of other trips before this wonderful season starts to give way to the Alberta Clippers and windchills. Below are some pics.

Until next time,
Kirsten