I like your "fire pit!" It looks like a big bowl. Nice heart shape in there, too! Were you burning hardwood? That middle one (with the heart) looks like hardwood of some sort.
We had a couple campfire this weekend, but it was really hot and muggy. They're more fun in cooler temps!
Good luck with the dock anchor! Brrrrrrr!
The fire pit is actually a crusher cone. It's used to crush rocks into gravel or sand. That crusher cone is solid steel which makes for a terrific fire pit, BUT if you need to move it we have to use a forklift on a bobcat.
The wood we burn is birch, which throws lots of heat and you are right, you need cooler temps to enjoy a big campfire :) Oh, and we don't have hardwood this far north. If you know where Ketchican, AK is, I'm due east, so way the hell north :)
On another note...what size of a wide angle Canon lens do you recommend? I'm seeing favorable comments for 11-24mm and 16-35mm and I think yours is a 10-22mm? It's so confusing!