Tonight Dave and I watched a Netflix DVD about Great National Park Lodges. We saw Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce National Parks. A few weeks ago we watched Mt. Rainier, Crater Lake, and Oregon Caves. This is a spectacular series (from around 2002) and better, we thought, than the new Ken Burns series about the history of national parks. Dave built a fire in our fireplace for the first time this season and it was so cozy on this very chilly evening to sit in front of the fire watching a DVD about the national parks that we've either been to or want to visit in 2010.

“If we are deeply moved by the sight of his love for us, it detaches our hearts from other would-be saviors. We stop trying to redeem ourselves through our pursuits and relationships, because we are already redeemed. We stop trying to make others into saviors, because we have a Savior.”
- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2009), 45.

We arrived home just in time for the cold weather. Temperatures are in the 20s and 30s and may get lower. Snow is possible. We could live in the motorhome in cold weather, but we would use up a lot of propane trying to stay warm.

Have you heard of the Manhattan Declaration? While I agree with what it is trying to protest, I'm not sure that it's an effective way to do it. I read this information today and now I know why I was hestitant about signing the Manhattan Declaration. Check this out: http://www.whitehorseinn.org/archives/250.html I respect Michael Horton and believe that he has a lot of wisdom about the Gospel.

Home again, home again. We arrived home safely after an uneventful trip. We're already looking forward to the next trip, which will be after Christmas.

Today is our last day in Port Townsend before heading home tomorrow. It's been a fun trip and a good chance to check out all the systems in the new motorhome. We have to get our electric water heater fixed. We smelled an electrical burning smell one night and the next morning our electric water heater didn't work. Dave thinks it's a circuit board malfunction. Other than that, everything has worked. Our heat pump has trouble heating the rig once the temperature dips into the lower 40s, but that's not a malfunction. Luckily our propane furnace and water heater work just fine, so we've been able to stay showered, warm, and cozy.

We took two walks today. This morning we drove to Fort Worden again and walked around the buildings. There are 95 buildings still remaining from the original 440 buildings. And there are 12 batteries with 2 guns each, of which we saw two. Today we walked around the "forest" campsites and yesterday we walked around the "ocean" campsites.

After lunch in the RV, we went for another walk, this time along the street with all the shops. It's nice to be staying in a park that's located in town rather than in the outskirts.

Out our window today we saw one inbound freighter ship, a couple of barges, and a ferry boat on its way from Seattle to Victoria.

We moved our motorhome from the best site at Point Hudson to the second best site. Someone had reserved the site we were in. Our new site is very close to our old site and we still have a magnificent view of the water. Today has been a busy day for ships. So far today, we've seen two navy ships going outbound (west), two car carrier ships going east (inbound), two inbound container ships and one outbound container ship, plus the usual ferry boat going back and forth.

We took our walk at Fort Worden today. It's a very nice state park and also a good place to camp, except that they usually turn off the water hookups in the winter. We visited the battery while we were there. It was built in 1902 to protect Admiralty Inlet and Puget Sound. It was operational until the 1950s. Two movies were filmed at the park, An Officer and a Gentleman and The Ring.

Point Hudson and Fort Worden are near each other. We can see Fort Worden and its lighthouse from our motorhome and when we walked at Fort Worden we spotted our motorhome. We always enjoy our stay at Port Townsend because there is much to see and do!

Yesterday, in the rain, we drove to Sequim and Port Angeles and had lunch at a place in the ferry building. In Port Townsend today the sun is out and the sky is blue.

"What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything else of that sort. Christians come together . . . because . . . they have all been loved by Jesus himself . . .. They are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake.”
- D.A. Carson, Love in Hard Places (Wheaton, Ill.; Crossway Books, 2002),61.