Fire!

As most of your know, whenever we go on vacation we generally experience the Doehne curse. It usually results in someone becoming ill, however this year it did not come in the form of sickness, but rather fire.  A few weeks before our trip to Lake Chelan, a huge wildfire started near the town of Chelan.  For days before our trip, we debated whether we should go or not.  The air quality was varying from bad to unhealthy. We postponed our trip by a few days then decided to head out with the understanding that we might have to head back home if conditions were too bad.  Luckily, the roads in and out of Chelan were not affected; but the town of Chelan, which is normally a bustling summer town was somewhat of a ghost town which left a strange, and almost surreal feeling.  Instead of boats in the water, we watched firefighting aircraft most of the day and into the night. All in all, it turned out to be ok and we decided to stay for the remainder of the week. It was definitely a reminder for me and lesson for the kids of just how devastating a fire can be and how grateful we need to be for all the firefighters risking their lives each and every day. 

                                    

                        

We promised the kids a trip to Slidewaters with the Worsley family so we picked the day with the best forecast and crossed our fingers it would work out.  Surprising, it ended up being one of the better days in Lake Chelan that week and as a bonus, there were no crowds. Crazy to think less than a week before we were there, the fire was just feet from burning down the park.  Again, many props to those tireless firefighters!

We found some fun activities inside during the bad smoke days 

and took short trips to the pool when the air quality cleared up.

My Little Mermaid