Once again, our air conditioner stopped working this morning. After Dave got home from golf, he reset the breaker and it started working again. Now it is cool inside our house again. What will tomorrow bring? When we lived in Camas a few years ago, we didn't have air conditioning and we collected a supply of fans. Those fans are coming in handy during this heat wave.

Have any of you seen the new HBO series "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency"? I've only seen two episodes when HBO was running a preview weekend, but I have read most of the books and enjoyed seeing the characters and scenes of Botswana come alive on the screen. I just finished reading the newest book in this series by Alexander McCall Smith, which was Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. It was a quick, heart-warming read. I like books that give me a glimpse into another culture.

What can I say? It's hot, hot, hot. Last evening we quickly realized that our air conditioning (heat pump) had stopped putting out cold air. Dave solved the problem by removing the old air filter and then replacing it with a new one today. Now the air works great, in fact, I have been cold all day, as long as I stay inside.

The first of my 3 meetings got cancelled, so I'm using the time to catch up on laundry from our trip. That is a big job, but it always feels good to get the motorhome all ready for its next trip. We have two more short trips planned. In mid-August, a weekend trip to Yakima for Dave to go to a state football referee conference, and at the end of September, a 3-night mid-week stay at one of our favorite state parks, Cape Disappointment. Yes, a trip in September! That's unusual for us because it's prime football season. Dave was able to carve out a few free days in order for us to make one last fall trip to the beach.

It's 12:45 pm now, and our thermometer reads 100 degrees. It's humid, too. Way too hot! Dave got the lawn mowed this morning at 7:30 and we got our exercising done inside while watching House Hunters. It makes the time pass more quickly. Now that we have a treadmill AND an exercise bike, we can both exercise at the same time and then switch machines.

We got home from vacation just in time to experience a heat wave in Vancouver, 100+ degrees. The heat is supposed to last for a few days and may set a record last set 30 years ago. Of course, our air conditioning (heat pump) was not on while we were gone, so our house was very warm. We went out for dinner at Round Table Pizza (pizza for Dave, salad for me) because we didn't feel like cooking. This weather is way too hot for me! Dave needs to mow the lawn but he'll have to try and do it early tomorrow morning while it's still relatively cool. What a way to end our vacation! Reality is setting in--I have 3 back-to-back meetings tomorrow.

Tonight is the last night of our vacation and we are at a very nice RV park (Casey's) in Westfir, which is near Oakridge, which is on Highway 58 east of Eugene, OR. Our site looks out the fast-moving Willamette River. There are lots of flowers in each site, which make this park seem very special. They also have an outdoor swimming pool which we used. The temperature here is in the 90s, so the swim felt wonderful. The park is at an elevation of about 1200 feet and it's supposed to cool off during the night. This was my first swim since my surgery, in fact, it was my first swim in several years and it was great!

The stargazing here at Diamond Lake is just awesome! There are no city lights to get in the way of the night sky, and the sky was totally clear both last night and tonight. Also, being at 5200 feet makes for an even better view. God's creation is so magnificent! We take it all for granted so much of the time. We had a wonderful view of the Milky Way. We saw at least 8 satellites in the sky, including one irridium flare. We plan to come back here sometime to view the Perseids meteor shower which takes place in August. I'll bet the view of the night sky is even better from Crater Lake!

Dave and I decided to drive back up to Crater Lake today. First we went on another bike ride to Diamond Lake Lodge. Then we made the trip to Crater Lake. We had lunch at the historic Crater Lake Lodge. We had a lovely corner table with a good view of the lake. It was worth waiting 40 minutes to be called to our table (the food was good, too!). While we were eating we saw a deer outside our window. After lunch we attended a ranger talk outside the Lodge. Then we walked down to Sinott Observation area which we skipped yesterday. It was well worth it and more impressive than both visitor centers, we thought. After another trip to Mazama Campground (had to check out the gift shop and market there ;) we headed back to our home away from home at Diamond Lake.

Last night we saw some incredible stars. Tonight after our campfire, we are planning on going to one of the boat dock areas to spend some more time ogling the night sky. Mr. Astronomy (Dave) will be our guide during this adventure.