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 OK.  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 Chad when it happened.

Oh, yes, please call Chad
The wet wood didn't burn, but one of the tents did.
Also, some of our clothes.  David is going to look funny
until his hair grows back.

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Walt gets the
car fixed.  It wasn't his fault about the wreck.
The brakes worked OK when we left.
Scoutmaster Walt said that with a car 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 car.  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 10 people in the car.
Scoutmaster Walt is a neat guy.  Don't worry,
he is a good driver.  In fact, he is teaching Terry
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 out in the lake.  Scoutmaster Walt wouldn't let me
because I can't swim and Chad 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 the water from the flood.

Scoutmaster Walt 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 car so we are
trying not to cause him any trouble.

Guess what?  We have all passed our first aid merit badges.
When David dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see
how a tourniquet works.

Wade and I threw up, but Scoutmaster Walt said it probably
was just food poisoning from the leftover 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..

I have to go now.  We are going to town to mail our letters.

Don't worry about anything.

We're fine.

Love,
Cole
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