Dear Mom and Dad,

Our Scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on
TV and are worried.  We are okay.  Only one of our tents and 2 sleeping bags
got washed away.  Luckily none of us got
drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Alan when it
happened.

Oh yes,  please call Alan's mother and tell her he is okay.  He can't write
because of the cast.

I got to ride in one of the search and rescue jeeps.  It was neat.  We never
would have found Alan in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning.

Scoutmaster Wayne got mad at Alan for going on a hike alone without telling
anybody.  Alan said he did tell him but it was during the fire so he
probably didn't hear him.

Mom, did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas will explode?  The
wet wood wouldn't burn but one of the tents did and some of our clothes.
Billy is going to look weird until his hair grows back.

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Wayne gets the car fixed.  It
wasn't his fault about the wreck.  The brakes worked okay when we left.
Scoutmaster Wayne said that with a car that old you have to expect something
to break down and that's probably why he can't get insurance.

We think it's a neat car.  He doesn't care if it gets dirty and if it gets
hot; sometimes he lets us ride on the fenders.  It gets pretty hot with 10
people in the car.

He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrol man
stopped and talked to him.  Scoutmaster Wayne is a neat guy.  Don't worry,
he is a good driver.

In fact, he is teaching Brian how to drive on the mountain roads where there
isn't any traffic.  All we ever see up there  are logging trucks.

This morning all the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming in the
lake.  Scoutmaster Wayne wouldn't let me because I can't swim, and Alan,
because he was afraid  he would sink because of his cast.  So he let us take
the canoe across the lake.  It was great.  You can still see some of the
trees under water from the flood.

Scoutmaster Wayne isn't crabby like some of the scoutmasters.  He didn't
even get mad because we forgot the life jackets.  He spends a lot of the
time working on the car so we are trying not to cause him any trouble.

Guess what?  We have all passed our First aid merit badges.

When Billy dived in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a Tourniquet
works.

Brian and I threw up, but Scoutmaster Wayne said it was probably food
poisoning from the leftover chicken.  He said he got sick the same way with
some food he ate in the prison.  I'm so glad he got out and is our
scoutmaster.

He said he figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his
time.  By the way, what is a pedal-file?

I have to go now.  We are going to town to mail our letters.  Don't worry
about anything, we are fine.

Love,  Jerry