Looking at my calendar right now and seeing that it says “July 31” I can’t help but feel a little sad that in a few more hours this month will pass. I have such an admiration for July. While I usually use June to go on trips, I spend the month of July taking it easy and truly enjoying summer life. When August comes around tomorrow it is our unofficial start of the fall sports season for us staffers in Grizzly Athletics and although I really do have a couple more weeks of summer fun left, the laid back-care free attitude of July is no longer.

This particular July for me was extremely nice. I didn’t do anything too special. I didn’t do anything crazy. I didn’t go to any big concerts. I didn’t go to Vegas or to Los Angeles as I have done the past couple of Julys. Except for a whirlwind day trip to a southwestern state, I didn’t even leave the ground. But this was all okay with me because I still managed to have a very enjoyable month. Let me explain a few reasons why.

My Fourth of July was one of the highlights of this great month.

The weather we had this month was out of this world. They say that Montana has two summer months, July and August. Even though they say that, July in Missoula still sometimes brings sketchy weather. Not this year. For pretty much all 31 days of July we got the weather pattern I absolutely love….hot and dry. We probably had at least 15 days where the temperature reached at least 90 degrees. For the other half of the days we were always comfortably in the 80’s. I was so appreciative of the sunny skies I saw each day along with the hot temperatures. This is what summer is all about and Mother Nature delivered.

While not the trailblazer that I usually am during the summer months I did get to spend a little bit of time outside of Missoula, something that is much needed considering the time that I am confined to the city during the sports season. I pretty much made a tour of the eastern half of Washington State. I traveled to Spokane a couple times, Walla Walla once, and Dayton once. All of the driving I did was on clear roads with beautiful scenery.

Golf was one activity that made this month great…playing with my dad and bro made it even better.

I also got to do plenty of summer activities during July! I got to swim, soak in the sun, go to a beach, BBQ, golf, eat ice cream, watch baseball, hang out at the pool, play lawn games, and enjoy a few cold ones. I definitely felt like a lazy summer all-star over the past four plus weeks. I became one with the outdoors and loved every minute.

But what made the great weather, the road trip travel, and the fun activities of July so memorable for me? It was that I got to spend it with the people I love most. I got to see my family twice during July and both times I had an absolute blast. I had the most fun over the extended Fourth of July weekend as I have had on that holiday in a very long time. July 5 will go down as probably the best day I had all summer and getting to spend the majority of it with my brother and dad was special. This month I had such an amazing time hanging with my family as we traveled, laughed, watched movies, BBQ’d, drank, and just enjoyed each other’s company.

I am ready for August but dang it, I am going to miss this month. Nothing beats summer. Don’t Blink.