A good ol’ Texas boy, Clay Walker’s idea of a great summer wouldn’t be complete without spending time in the great outdoors. "My favorite thing [to do] in the summer is always going to the lake," he tells Country Weekly. "Swimming, fishing, cooking out. More than anything it’s just being with family. I took it for granted back when I was younger. It was just your dad-gum family,” he says with a laugh. “Now it’s different.”

With his song "She Won't Be Lonely Long" sitting pretty inside the Billboard Top 10, Clay probably won't spend as much time hanging by the lake this summer as he does hanging on the tour bus. He says a heavy touring schedule has made his road crew a tightknit bunch. "Being on the road, I have my road family, too. You spend so much time together that you have no choice to become a family. There’s the good, the bad, the ugly with it. Sometimes we like each other, and sometimes we don’t like each other. But we all love each other."

Clay does say that spending so much time away from home makes it special for him when he gets home to Texas. "Getting back home for special events is great. I look forward to the holidays because I know how to enjoy it more and I know how important it is. I really do soak it in more now than I used to, which is fantastic."