Dear

Mom & 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 Adam when it

happened.

Oh yes, please call Adam'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 Adam in the dark if it hadn't been

for the lightning.

Scoutmaster Ted got mad at Adam

for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Adam said

he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably

didn't hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire,

the gas will blow up?

The wet wood didn't burn, but one

of the tents did and also some of our clothes. Matthew is

going to look weird until his hair grows back.

We will be

home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Ted gets the bus fixed.

It wasn't his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked okay

when we left. Scoutmaster Ted said that with a bus that

old, you have to expect something to break down; that's

probably why he can't get insurance.

We think it's a neat

bus. He doesn't care if we get it dirty, and if it's hot,

sometimes he lets us ride on the fenders. It gets pretty hot

with 45 people in a bus made for 24. He let us take turns

riding in the trailer until the highway patrol man stopped

and talked to us.

Scoutmaster Ted is a neat guy.

Don 't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching

Jessie how to drive on the mountain roads where there aren't

any cops. All we ever see up there are logging

trucks.

This morning all of the guys were diving off the

rocks and swimming out to the rapids. Scoutmaster Ted

wouldn't let me because I can't swim, and Adam was afraid he

would sink because of his cast (it's concrete because we

didn't have any plaster), so he let us take the canoe out.

It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the

water from the flood.

Scoutmaster Ted isn't crabby

like some scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about the

life jackets. He has to spend a lot of time working on the

bus so we are trying not to cause him any trouble.

Guess

what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When

Andrew dove into the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how

a tourniquet works.

Steven and I threw up, but

Scoutmaster Ted said it probably was just food

poisoning from the left-over chicken. He said they got sick

that way with food they ate in prison. I'm so glad he got

out and became our scoutmaster. He said he sure 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

&

buy

some more beer and ammo. Don 't worry about anything. We are

fine and tonight it's my turn to sleep in the Scoutmaster's

tent.

Love,

Jimmie

I got a kick out of if, maybe you will too  ;D

"By the way, what is a pedal-file?" - That's funy right there.  I don't care who you are!