42 Days.....42 Excruciating Days......until vacation.....

Kate has been counting the days until school is out, Mom (Anne), I'm sure, has been doing the same, it will reach 92F here this weekend, baseball is in full swing, and the bermuda grass seems to grow 3" daily here in Texas........it can only mean one thing:

SUMMER IS HERE.

In Texas this is not entirely a good thing.....that is, unless you are headed to the Gulf Coast at some point between June and September. For example, living in Texas means you can book a trip to the beach and actually have it be 15 degrees cooler when July and August days in the Metroplex run 107F.

I think the beach holds a special memory for Stacey and I for several reasons. For me, we grew up going to the rough surf, sand dune beaches south of Wilmington NC (Holden Beach). And in my teens we started going to the Redneck Riveria-ish beaches of Destin-Ft. Walton. Stacey would rather be at the beach (not including the so-called beaches of Texas....think, muddy brown lake sand) than anywhere on earth.......anywhere! However, when I was in High School, one of my classmate's parents invited 4 of us to Captiva Island Florida southwest of Ft. Myers. In my opinion, this may truly be one of the last pieces of Florida that hasn't been invaded by 40 story glass high rises and strip malls. So, since the early '90's we've made roughly 6 trips back to Captiva......last year celebrating Stacey's parents 60th birthdays for a week in July.

So, in 42 agonizingly long days....we get to go back to the beach (Captiva) with Tom & Stacey, Anne & Bob (celebrating thier 60th), and Mary & Derek. Kate and Preston might explode with excitement before then. In my mind you always need something to look forward to, and Stacey would tell you it's because I'm too anal retentive and just enjoy the planning of a vacation. But where else in the world can you cast a line for snook, find some of the most interesting shells you'll ever see, swim in your own private pool, snap a photo of a manatee at 2 ft, and finish the day watching the sunset at the world famous Mucky Duck. http://www.muckyduck.com/webcam.htm

It's just too bad I haven't found that mega-millions lotto ticket yet, or that view from the Mucky Duck webcam would be our view from the beach house deck!

42 days, 18 hours, 35 minutes......