A family trip to the beach has been a feature of Arlo & Janis almost every year since it began. Like much that happens in the comic strip, the beach visits reflect the interests and experiences of yours truly. When I was a boy, the textile mill where my father worked as a machinist closed for seven days every July, “Vacation Week.” In the happy years when Daddy’s vacation wasn’t consumed by a major chore, like painting the house or clearing brush, our family would journey to the northern Gulf of Mexico, to the beach. I loved it. I still loved it after I grew up and was on my own, and a trip to the shore still was one of my favorite things to do. It seemed something interesting always was happening on the coast, and that has held true for the fictitious family of Arlo and Janis and son Gene. Arlo and Janis still haven’t made it to the beach to live, not yet, but Gene has! If you’ve made it this far, dear reader, you probably already know the impact these yearly excursions have had on the course of the comic strip itself. To be continued…