Although weekend temperatures stayed in the 90s, with cloudy skies and warm breezes, it seemed as though summer knew it was time to make way for fall. Much of the grass, like most of the ground cover, has started to wither. The leaves have pushed out their last bit of green, and the air is accented with the scent of decay. The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let the dead things go.

We’re ready for cooler weather. We’ve spent more time than we care to admit enjoying Cloud 9’s air-conditioned comfort while watching TV (our Saturday night included a viewing of the terribly dull, bloated and overrated The DaVinci Code). During our Sunday morning walk, Jon commented on how the summer hadn’t been particularly hot, it just seemed long. The numbers support his observation.

While last summer had the hottest temperature ever recorded in Dallas (118), this summer’s high temperature hit only 103. So it wasn’t the hottest summer. And although the record for the most 100-plus degree days (71) was set in 2011, this year did have 18 (which is the yearly average). But what made summer seem so long was the fact that we experienced our first period of unusually hot weather (temperatures in the mid-90s rather than the average mid-80s) during the third week of May (more than a month before the start of summer), so we’ve dealt with summer temperatures for nearly five months.

During those five months, we’ve spent about 61 days camping, so we’ve had a bit more exposure to the heat than we would have had we stayed at home.

This fall, we’ll continue spending weekends at Loyd Park, and we’ll also camp with our Airstream club, visit Jon’s family in Illinois, and spend a few days along the Texas coast. We’ll also finalize plans for our big trip next year to Loveland, Colorado, where Cloud 9 will take its place among 700 other Airstreams at the 63rd annual Wally Byam Airstream Club International Rally.