A Visit from Mom

My mom left balmy Florida to visit the mister and I in Portland for a week. We'd been having a heatwave but with our dry heat vs, her humid, she didn't seem to mind. Since I moved here in 1997, I think it's her sixth time here and still there are new things to do.  We only see each other for a few days at a time every year so I'd been making a mental list of things to do...bake a fruit pie, see the Japanese garden, visit the Oregon Historical Museum store, get fresh fruit at Sauvie Island, go to the Ape Caves, and our favorite past time - shopping. 

On Saturday, we three took a drive to Ape Cave, just south of Mt St Helens in Washington. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and a mere 94 degrees ouside. Down a hole in the forest floor, we entered a pitch black, 42 degree F  tunnel carved out of lava and smoothed over with water.

Unprepared with poor lighting and inaproprate clothing on our part we climbed only a quater of a mile of the five miles. Stil fun tho.  Then to Swift Reservoir for a swim...

One afternoon we wandered up to the Japanese Gardens to have a mini camera lesson on the macro lense and other features of our cameras.

We did get to stop at a few food carts that Portland has become so famous for, the Perierra Creperie over on SE 12th and Hawthorne for nutella and banana crepe and a lavender and honey shake and also for chaat at the Indian Chaat House on 12th in SW.

Mom was sorely lacking in any type of walking shoe and so after repeatedly calling my Keen's "ugly" I dragged her to REI where she realized how comfortable ugly is. She bought Merril's size kid's 2:

Finally, a stop at Voodoo donut where she succombed...

There is so much that happens throughout the year, that packing it all in is pretty exhausting, but I think we managed to do a lot. Miss you mom already!