El Verano

The summer has been good to us. We have yet to experience "typical" Oregon/Portland weather. The winter brought "Arctic Blast '08", and then this summer we were breaking heat records. It was above 100 degrees for a week in July and, at one point, was 107! Without air conditioning and humidity reminiscent of Ohio, we were uncomfortable. I actually resorted to putting the sheets in the freezer one day. People got creative around here! We are back to daytime temps of 75...love it. Needless to say, we have spent many weekends on the coast. Surfing. Every time we pull up in the parking lot and I look out at the ocean, I feel like I am on vacation....is this really where I live?? Here are some pictures of random weekend sights.

Exceptionally low tides a few weekends ago- hundreds of star fish and anemones
We have spent quite a few nights falling asleep with the comforts of the sand under our mats and the sound of the ocean lulling us to sleep. The picture directly above is the fruits of some architectural genius on the part of Chip and Josh we named "The Blue Room".

Fires on the beach have become one of the things I look forward to most.

NW berries are a sweet, plentiful summer treat we have come to love.

"If an (August) night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance. " - Bern Williams