Today's Walk in the Park

Today I walked to Pacific Community Park, which is located about 1/2 mile from our house.  It's a new park and is known as a "dog park" because it has a large fenced off area for people to let their dogs off their leashes.  The weather was warm but the sky was cloudy.  I took my camera along on the walk.  Along the way I saw blossoms:

the path I took to get to the park:

Oregon's Mt. Hood hiding behind a cloud:

and the bell tower from Holy Redeemer Catholic Church:

Letter to the Editor

Dave's letter to the editor of the Columbian newspaper was published today.  Doesn't his idea make good sense?

Click here to read his letter.

C.S. Lewis Quote

I admire the writings of C.S. Lewis.  Here is a pithy but powerful quote from him:

“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.”

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Chapter 27

TuneGlue Music Map

Click here to try TuneGlue Music Map.  It shows relationships between musical artists or bands, allowing you to plug in the name of an artist you like at which point it will find some recommendations of others you may enjoy.

Type the name of the artist in the upper righthand corner.  When the name appears on the screen, click on it and hit "expand". 

I need this kind of utility to find new books and authors to read!

More Quotes from Of First Importance

More good quotes from Of First Importance: Living each day in the good of the gospel:

“Everything that a man leans upon but God—will be a dart which will certainly pierce his heart through and through. He who leans only upon Christ—lives the highest, choicest, safest and sweetest life.”

- Thomas Brooks

“When we are trusting Christ most authentically, we are not thinking about trusting, but about Christ. When we step out of the moment to examine it, we cease what we were doing, and therefore cannot see it. My counsel for strugglers therefore is relentlessly: Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus in his word. And pray for eyes to see.”


- John Piper, Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul

The Father cannot resist fellowship with His own dear children when they embrace Christ in all His offices as prophet, priest, and king.”


- C. John Miller, Repentance and 21st Century Man (Fort Washington, Pa.: CLC publications, 2003), 51.

“In order for the Christian gospel to be good news it must provide an all-satisfying and eternal gift that undeserving sinners can receive and enjoy. For that to be true, the gift must be three things. First, the gift must be purchased by the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Our sins must be covered, and the wrath of God against us must be removed, and Christ’s righteousness must be imputed to us. Second, the gift must be free and not earned. There would be no good news if we had to merit the gift of the gospel. Third, the gift must be God himself, above all his other gifts.”


- John Piper, God is the Gospel (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2005), 14.

Lacamas Lake Trail

We just got back from a walk along the trail at Lacamas Lake.  We walked for a little over an hour.  Here's a view along the trail:

And a view of the lake from the trail:

We parked at the east end of the three mile trail, at this park:

Another view of Camas Heritage Park:

Heart-Shaped Watermelon Pieces

Our younger son, Jonathan, age 20, has worked at a Fred Meyer store for the last year and a half while he finished his college B.A. degree and now while he's waiting to get hired by the Washington State Patrol.  He works in the produce department and one of his tasks is to cut up fruit and make fruit trays. Jonathan got the idea of using cookie cutters to cut heart shaped watermelon pieces for Valentines Day.  It was evidently a great success at his store, so his boss told corporate about the idea, and now all the Fred Meyer stores are going to start offering specially shaped fruit for each holiday.  Also, of the 21 stores in his region, Jonathan's store does 10% of all the produce sales.  Way to go, Jonathan!  This picture is from the internet, not Jonathan's store, but you get the idea:

Newspaper Crossword Puzzle

The delivery of our newspaper has been getting worse, so we decided to cancel the delivery service and receive the newspaper online.  We've been trying the free e-edition for the past 10 days.  It's sad not to have a hard copy of the newspaper to read during breakfast, but I was getting tired of having to call the office to tell them we didn't get our paper that day. 

Now we can read the newspaper even when we are traveling.  It takes longer to read, though, because we have to click on each and every article that we want to read.  One advantage of the online edition, though, is that I have resumed doing the crossword puzzle.  I didn't like doing it on newsprint and now I can print it out each day and it just fits on a piece of typing paper.  It's a pleasure to do the puzzle each day!  Here's today's puzzle.

Home Again

Our trip home from Port Townsend was uneventful.  We pulled into Vancouver around 3:45 pm.  We usually go to the Fred Meyer store to unhook the car and to get gas for the motorhome.  As soon as Dave unhooks the car, I usually go on the following three errands.  First, to the car wash because the car is always filthy after being towed.  We were so happy when they built a Kaady Car Wash only a few miles from our house.

Once the car is clean, I head to the post office to pick up our held mail.

Finally, I visit the library to pick up all the books that have been held for me during our trip. 

I have to go to the grocery store, too, but that can wait until tomorrow.

Fort Worden

Charlie and Pam left this morning and we are leaving tomorrow morning.  We had a great time despite the iffy weather.  We've seen several ships today, including an aircraft carrier.  It was too foggy to get a good picture of it, but here's a picture of the car carrier we saw:

This morning we went for a long walk at Fort Worden.  Here are some of the houses along Officer's row:

More Pictures from Port Townsend

I'll try this again and see if I can put some pictures on my blog.  Yesterday morning we saw a kiteboarder out our front window:

Dave wanted me to take a picture of our old RV (left) and our new RV (right) in adjacent sites at Point Hudson Marina and RV Park:

Signs at the entrance of Fort Flager:

Today we visited Fort Worden:

And finally, my favorite, Point Wilson Lighthouse at Fort Worden:

Fort Flagler State Park

This afternoon we drove to Fort Flagler State Park which is located on Marrowstone Island, about 18 miles from Port Townsend.  It's one of the triangle of forts which were built around 1896 in order to defend Admiralty Inlet which is at the head of Puget Sound.  The other two forts in the triangle are Fort Worden in Port Townsend and Fort Casey on Whidbey Island.  We visited with a couple of very friendly camp hosts who were running the gift shop/visitor center.  We watched an informational video about the park. 

We discovered that the Fort Flagler camping area had been improved and now has beachfront full hookup sites with 50 amp power.  We'll have to plan a camping trip there!

I wanted to show some pictures, but when we moved to this new site, the wifi got weaker, and the park is full now, so more people are using the wifi.  I'll try to load the pictures later.

Rainbow

It's raining today, but I am looking at a rainbow that is appearing underneath the clouds. The rainbow keeps fading in and out, but I was able to capture it at the same time a ship was passing by.  I've also seen two container ships and a tugboat pulling two other ships.   All the the ships have come from the west today which means they are heading for a port.

We just moved to our new site at the same park.  We had to leave the good site that has 50 amp.  It was already reserved for the weekend when we made our reservations.  Now we are in a 30 amp site until we leave on Tuesday.  The new site still has a good view of the strait.  Maybe it will be a little less windy in this site since it's not located on the point.  Charlie and Pam will arrive later today and park next to us.

The bad news is that Dave is sick today.  He felt very dizzy during the night and thought he was better this morning, but soon realized that he was still dizzy.  After going back to bed for a few hours he was able to summon up the energy to get us unhooked from the old site and moved and hooked up to the new site.  Now he's back in bed.

These pictures were taken from inside the motorhome.  Can you see the raindrops on our front window?

Ferry Boat

Today's journey was to visit Jonathan in Bellingham.  We took the ferry across San Juan de Fuca strait from Port Townsend to Keystone on Whidbey Island.  From there we drove to Bellingham.  It was very windy again today and we pulled in our bedroom slide while we were gone.  When we returned eight hours later, we put the slide back out and the satellite dish back up, but now, a couple of hours later, the wind is fierce again and the slide and satellite are both put away again.  We can function okay with the bedroom slide in, it just blocks off some of our drawers and we have to climb over the bed to get to the shower.  The funny thing is that that the ferry boat didn't rock much at all.  I guess it's big enough to handle the wind.  I forgot to take my camera, so here's a picture of the ferry boat that I took from the RV park a year ago. 

Port Townsend

We are in Port Townsend at our favorite site at Point Hudson Marina and RV Park.  It's very windy today, and also cloudy, so I didn't take any pictures yet, but I will post a picture that I took last February when we were here.  We were also here in early December, 2009, but I didn't have my camera with me that trip.  Our friends, Charlie and Pam, will be joining us on Friday for a few days.  We drove in rain the whole way, so after we got here we had to find a carwash to wash the car because it gets very dirty when we tow it behind the motorhome.  That's Mt. Baker in the background of the picture:

Nordic Walking

Our newspaper, The Columbian, had an article today about Nordic walking.  Using lightweight poles when you go for a walk can give you a better aerobic workout because your arms are moving, too.  The poles also help your posture and can help relieve back pain.  I plan to give these poles a try.  I'll let you know what I think.  Another article about using poles.  No, this isn't a picture of me:

Law and Gospel

From Of First Importance:

“The difference between the law and gospel does not at all consist in this, that the one requires perfect doing, the other only sincere doing, but in this, that the one requires doing, the other not doing but believing for life and salvation. Their terms are different, not only in degree, but in their whole nature."

Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification (Welwyn, 1981), 76.

(HT: Ray Ortlund)

A Walk in the Park

Yesterday was another beautiful day, so while Dave played golf, I went for a walk in a park that I hadn't had a chance to explore until now.  Haagen Park is only a few miles from our house.  The playground looks like a lot of fun.  The park also has soccer fields, a basketball area, a picnic area, and restrooms that aren't open in the winter, even if it's a nice day.  There are lots of wide paths to walk and ride bikes on, and even a path that leads to another, older playground. 

Concert

Tonight Dave and I went to a concert held at Fries Auditorium at the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver.  The highlight of the evening was the group Three Together featuring Grammy award winner Doug Smith.  He is a fingerstyle guitarist and his group was fabulous!  My favorite was when he performed "Stars and Stripes Forever" on his guitar.  What an amazing performance!
The other two groups that performed were a local trio called TwoRivers Music and the "Misty Mamas" quartet, Misty Mamas quartet who were also very good.  The concert raised $6000 for the Blind School and for the Fort Vancouver Lions Club.

I am a Christian

My friend, Judy, sent me this:

When I say that 'I am a Christian', I am not shouting that 'I am clean living./ 
I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and forgiven.'/
When I say 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride./
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide./  
When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong./
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on./
When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success./  
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess./ 
When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect./  
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it./  
When I say 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain./  
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name./  
When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,/
I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow!

Mt. Hood Village RV Park in Welches, Oregon

We had to leave this lovely park today.  We'll be back, especially since they gave us a couple of coupons for free nights.  The park isn't too busy during the winter and the rates are much lower than in summer.  The park also has a "Stay and Play" program where people can leave their RVs at the park (plugged in) during the winter and use them occasionally for a price not too much higher than at a storage place.  For those not lucky enough to have RV parking at their house, it's an interesting option.

This park is very family oriented and has a nice playground outside the buildings.  In addition, they offer activities all year long, especially during the summer.  I remember our boys playing "candy bar bingo" years ago, and I saw that fun activity on their schedule for this summer.  They have water activities, food and craft activities, music, etc.  It's one of the few private parks that has a campfire ring at each site.  It's a somewhat hilly park, but that doesn't stop children (and some of us adults) from riding bikes around the park. 

Besides all the RV sites, the park offers cabins for rent and for sale.  They have everything from yurts to KOA-style camping cabins, to deluxe cabins with all the amenities including fireplaces and hot tubs.  We took another walk before we left today and took some more pictures of the park and some of the cabins. 

Cross-Country Skiing

The sun came out this morning and the weather was beautiful.  We drove the fifteen miles to the ski path.  After we got our gear on, we set out.  The first part of the trip was slightly uphill, which was fine with us.  It was the return trip that caused me frustration.  I got going a little too fast on the slight downhill, and fell twice.  When I fell, I couldn't get back up unless I took my skis off.  But I couldn't easily get my skis off.  Since the boots and bindings were new, I'm not as familiar with how to release the boots.  Dave had to help me both times.  I also have a hard time getting back up again once I've fallen.  So the two falls weren't too much fun.

On the up side of the adventure, I didn't have any shortness of breath.  The scenery was beautiful with snow on the trees.  New snow fell last night, so there was a cleanness and freshness to the path.  On the down side, my body from the waist down is aching, probably from the falls as much as from the skiing.  We were on the path for two hours, but part of that time was trying to get back up again. 

We went for a walk around the RV park.  It's a beautiful setting with lots of trees and mountains in the background. 

The pool and fitness center:

The lodge with meeting room and recreation area:

Are We Skiing Yet?

No, not yet.  We are staying at Mt. Hood Village RV Resort in Welches, OR, for a few days.  When we arrived today around noon, our towed car, a Honda CRV, had a dead battery.  Dave got it charged by manuevering the motorhome to charge the car.  Then he sent me off to drive the car to build up a charge on the battery.  I decided to drive the 15 miles or so to Government Camp and check and see how much snow was there.  I scouted out a few places for cross-country skiing and decided that the trail that we used last time at Ski Bowl West is the best spot for us.  The rain that we had all morning was turning to snow in Government Camp, which is at about 4000 feet, and they had quite qa bit of snow on the ground. 

When I got back from the battery charging drive and scouting mission, Dave decided that we should go to Les Schwab in Sandy, OR (about fifteen miles back the direction we had just come) to buy a new battery.  Our battery was five years old and he didn't want to take any chances getting stranded in the cold weather.  By the time we got the new battery installed and had a late lunch, it was after 3, so no skiing for us today!

Instead we did a workout at the very nice fitness center at the park and then went for a swim in the very nice indoor pool, followed by a relaxing sit in the jacuzzi.  It is weird to be in the indoor pool and watch the rain come down outside.  Then we came back to the RV and washed our swimsuits and towels in the very nice Splendide washer-dryer in our rig.  Three hours later, they were washed and dried.  It takes a l..o..n..g time to wash and dry, but that's okay, because it's better than having to rig up a clothesline inside the RV, which we have done many times in the past.