Hot and sticky.

If you've been reading the headlines beyond Obama's healthcare reforms, Michael Jackson's kids, and further protests in Iran, you might have noticed that it's hot here in the Pacific Northwest. Really, really hot. These are the two weeks that happen every year just to make the residents of Western Washington wish that buying an air conditioning unit was justified by the rest of the year. People go swimming and shopping in record numbers at this time in July every year, but this year has been exceptional! We posted the hottest temperature ever in Bremerton yesterday (102 farenheit, I believe), and there are no fans to be had on the Kitsap Peninsula, either for love or money. We know. We've looked.

Now there are still ways to beat the heat, even in places like Bremerton where heat comes only once a year. One way is to sit in one's house wearing as little as possible. Boo Boo loves this. She would go around in her diaper all day in the dead of winter if we let her. Note the Broncos hat. She did that herself. This past weekend, Silverdale, the little commercial town to the north of us, celebrated Whaling Days. We hadn't been to Whaling Days yet, even though we've been here for four years, so we decided to take a shot at it. We braved the heat to catch the last part of the parade and some of the street festival.

These people are our Parks and Rec department. Aren't those cars the coolest?

This is the Mustang Club. I got a lecture from Seth about why the 1980s Mustangs are inferior to any other decade, and I'm inclined to agree. This is a classic Mustang, and as Seth says, it could go through a brick wall and look good doing it.

Chico Towing. And a little something for all my caffeine addicts out there. If you can't read it, the side of the ambulance says "Mocha Medics and the Caffeine Emergency Response Unit." Pretty neat.

Sunday evening, Seth and I decided that we couldn't stand being in a hot house anymore, so we packed up the Boo Boo and ventured down to Guillemot Cove Wildlife Preserve, one of my favorite places in the world. The cove itself was still easily 90 degrees, but to get to the cove one has to walk under nearly a mile of densely wooded wildlife refuge which was easily 15 degrees cooler. Plus the cove is one of the most beautful places I've ever seen, and Boo Boo had never been there. She loved it almost as much as I do.

She discovered fir cones.

Quick, name that movie.

Seth taught Boo Boo to throw rocks in such a way that they would go forward into the water.

But until the heat goes down again, we're just going to hang out indoors. So Boo Boo and I say a cheerful farewell.