By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

In addition to getting together in their homes, friends sometimes camp together.

Mike and Kathy Saindon of Derby call themselves “professional campers.”

Together with six to eight other couples, they have spent the past eight or nine years camping with relatives and friends at Winfield City Lake, Milford Lake, and Marion Reservoir.

They and their friends all are retired and are members of American Legion. Other couples come from Wellington, Rose Hill, Junction City, Hutchinson, and Wichita. They plan summers six months in advance. Everywhere they camp, they put out flags on poles created by Mike Saindon.

On Sunday, the Saindons were found hanging out with Kerry and Kathy Shumaker of Haysville.

“I call them the two-day Schumakers,” Mike Saindon said. “They usually stay two days, but this time they are staying for a week.”

The Saindons were approaching the end of a two-week stay. Their campouts range from a week to a month. Their children often join them.

“We’ve been camping more than 30 years,” Mike said. “Our kids grew up camping.”

On the cover

A variety of rudbeckia, also known as black-eyed Susans, line a nature trail at Marion Reservoir’s Cottonwood Point.