Beach-tastic!

If you know anything about me, you know how much I enjoy going to the beach. It's like a tradition within our family. Each summer, "go to the beach." Usually we go at least twice - Memorial Day and Fourth of July. This summer? Not so much...

Given my little mishap with the knee, as well as some scheduling conflicts within the fam, we didn't venture down to the Gulf Coast at all.

Want to know how much I missed it? While I was laid up during Memorial Day weekend... as well as the 4th... I would pull up Galveston.com to glance at their webcams. Yeah... sad...

On Friday, I flew down to Houston and was picked up at the airport by my folks. We, along with my two nephews, spent the weekend on the island having a great time.

The pic here shows me, knee and all, arriving on the beach. I call it "my long walk to recovery." I always look at my trips to Galveston as a time to unwind. Well brother, I have A LOT to unwind from after this summer!

I turned off work and my knee and everything else and just enjoyed "vacation." What a word... it totally describes my experience. I took a vacation from absolutely everything - and I'm so much better for it!

It rained on Saturday throughout the day... you can see the clouds in that picture, along with others on my site. But Sunday was perfect - blue skies and a nice sunburn to boot!

One thing I really enjoyed was the pool - I spent more time in the pool than at the beach. I wanted to see what it felt like to really work the leg, so I took advantage of the water and moved the leg in a constant "bicycle" motion. I could feel that scar tissue break away... it was incredible!

Plus, the pool has a jacuzzi... so I would rotate between the 102 degrees of the spa to the nice/refreshing coolness of the pool water.

The nephews were great - they didn't pound on me like they normally do... thanks to a conversation from their parents. Tanner was very engrossed with my knee and my experiences. He would go underwater with his goggles to look at it (and the wires pushing through the skin) and touch it.

However, the funniest thing was a conversation he had with me about the actual events of the knee explosion. First, he thinks I was running really fast when it happened. Had to set him straight on that. Then, he wanted to know if anyone was there to help me. I assured him there were friends and strangers there. But when he found out I got to ride in an ambulance, do you want to know what he asked? "Uncle Regan, was there a TV in there for you to watch?"

After laughing, I then had to tell him there was no TV. I then had to explain that it wasn't a joy ride. Finally, I told him they inserted a needle in my arm so I could get medicine... "I don't EVER want to ride in an ambulance Uncle Regan!"

So there you go... the mind of a 2nd grader...

Overall, I had a blast hanging out with them and experiencing my first vacation of the summer. Hopefully next summer I can return under much different circumstances...