It has been a fun and a full day for Edward. Susan and Ted arrived at the camper in the morning and loaded it with groceries and some other items. Ted hooked the camper up to the truck and then it was time to say good bye to Eero, Eliza, Emmala, Elliot, and Isaac. They stopped at the Lummi store for diesel and then were on the road. For the first part of the drive, Edward recognized the landmarks because they were heading in the direction of Baker Lake. However, they didn’t take the Baker Lake turn off and headed on up into the mountains. It was pretty smoky and when they stopped for lunch at the North Cascades National Park visitor’s center in Newhalem, they found out about the fires burning in the park. The highway they wanted to take was open but it had special speed limits and there was a pilot car to direct traffic one way through the fire zone.

Edward had never driven through a fire zone before. There were lots and lots of fire fighters and equipment on the road and in one place they could see flames just a little ways off of the road. Lots of people were working to protect things that might burn, but the fire was big and bright and the air was filled with smoke.

Then, after they got down from the mountain pass and turned toward Chelan, there was a second fire burning close enough to the road that they could see the fire fighters working to contain it. That fire had a helicopter dropping huge buckets of water on it. The could see the helicopter dipping the bucket in the river and then flying over the fire to dump water on the flames.

Tonight they are camped on Lake Chelan. It is the third deepest lake in the United States. It was formed by receding glaciers after the last ice age. It is 50 miles long, and averages 1 and a half miles wide. The water is cold and clear. The campground is full and there are a lot of people enjoying the lake.

Edward found a mystery at their campsite. On the ground, right next to the picnic table, there were lots and lots of googol eyes. At first Edward suspected that it might be the scene of some crime. He checked Sam Salmon’s eyes and his own, but they were not the same color as the eyes on the ground. Edward wondered what type of creature the eyes came from. The real story probably is that someone was doing crafts at the picnic table and somehow their container of eyes for their crafts got spilled. At least that is what Edward hopes. He thinks it would be terrible to lose and eye, even if it is only pretend and sewed on like his and Sam’s eyes.

Edward has heard that there are more fires in Eastern Washington and that is the direction that they are traveling. He doesn't know if he will see more fires tomorrow, but he suspects that there will be more smoke. But tomorrow the plan is to drive out of Washington, across north Idaho and into Montana. It isn't very far in miles, but there are more mountain passes to cross, so there will be much to see. Edward will probably go to bed early tonight to be ready for tomorrow’s adventures.