When did 85 degrees seem so unbearable?

I can't believe that its already the end of July, where has all the time gone? It's been a much cooler summer than last summer, but it still feels unbearable in the house when it gets 85 degrees or higher outside. It took Mark weeks to convince me to spend the money and buy a portable air conditioner in the spring so that we can use it in our office but I had to eat my words when we actually bought it since I'm the one who is using it all the time. I really fear what it will be like when we go back to visit Hawaii after becoming used to the colder weather here in Portland. Its a good thing my sister has air conditioning in the room we stay in, otherwise I may have to rent a hotel just to be able to survive.

Mark's parent's came and visited us for 2 weeks, and we had a good time eating out and doing some touristy things in Oregon. We took Mark's parents to several yummy food places, such as Gustav's, I had class on both Saturdays that Mark's parents were here, so while I was in class, Mark's parents visited the under the bridge craft fair, Powell's books, and the Portland farmer's market.

Mark's dad messed up his knee a couple days before the trip, and they were unsure that they would be able to make it, but they decided to come anyways. Of course, on the trip that Ed hurts his knee is the same trip we plan to go on not one, but TWO walking tours. Luckily he was feeling better by the time we had our tours, and he did both without any complaint. Our first walking tour was an epicurean (read: food tour) walking tour on a Friday afternoon, and then on Sunday morning we went on a "Best of Portland" walking tour. The food tour was great, we tried 32 different foods. The "Best of portland" tour was informative, but my legs were sore afterward since we didn't get very many breaks from walking.

Mark and I took a few days off from work so we could go visit the Oregon coast with Mark's parents. We stayed at a cute little bed and breakfast for 2 nights. It was quite charming and very beautifully decorated. The innkeeper was on vacation, but we enjoyed getting to know her daughter and enjoying her cooking for breakfast. It was a relaxing time, and we spend the days driving around the coast. On our first day we went to the outlet mall in Lincoln City and Mark and I spent way too much at the Eddie Bauer outlet. We also spotted whales on the way to Newport, and we ate clam chowder at Mo's (which tasted better than our previous visit last year).

We ate dinners on the coast at my favorite restaurant, Pier 101. They have the most amazing steamed clams I have ever had, and even now my mouth salivates a bit thinking about it. The sauce it is cooked in is very different, with hints of soy sauce and sesame oil with a nice smoky flavor. After dinner we would retire to the B&B, where Mark's parents taught us to play Sequence.

After our trip to the coast, Mark's parents left for a week exploring Oregon on their own. They enjoyed a railroad trip near Mount Hood and a sand dune bus ride.

Besides the touristy stuff, Mark's dad was determined to help us with our untamed Japanese garden/yard. We've been so busy getting the inside of our house unpacked and straightened out that we've completely ignored the outside of the house, which by mid summer, has grown very wild. Ed knows a lot about gardening so he was happy to impart his knowledge to us poor ignorant new home owners. He trimmed all our bushes and some of our trees, and Jan who normally doesn't usually do yard work gracefully went out to help him. By the time they left, our yard looked so much neater. There is still a lot to do, but the most heinous examples of excess growth have been pruned down. In our neighborhood where most people hire landscape people to do all their yard work, we felt a bit relieved to finally have tamed a bit of the wildness.

It was a good trip, so now we have to go back to our boring normal lives =P Mark is getting ready for his first class in the fall as a faculty member, and I am busy with my Internet design classes. Work has been very busy for me since my boss has been on vacation the last two weeks. I'll get more into more normal life topics in my next post.