Scout Leader Phil got mad at Alex for going on a hike alone without  telling anyone.  Alex 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 can will blow up?  The wet wood still didn't burn, but one of our tents did.  Also some of our clothes. Phil is going to look weird until his hair grows back.

We will be home on Saturday if Scout  Leader Rich gets the car fixed. It wasn't his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked OK when we left. Scout Leader Rich said that with a car that old you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why he can't get insurance on it.  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 tailgate.  It gets pretty hot with 10 people in a car.  He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrolman stopped and talked to us.

Scout Leader Rich is a neat guy.  Don't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Tim how to drive.  But he only lets him drive on the mountain roads where there isn't any traffic.  All we ever see up there are logging  trucks.

This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out  in the lake. Scout Leader Phil wouldn't let me because I can't swim and Justin 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.  Scout Leader Phil isn't crabby like some scout leaders.  He didn't even get mad about the life jackets.

Scout Leader Rich 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 Daniel dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works.  Also Dylan and I threw up.  Scout leader Rich
said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken, he said they got sick that way with the food they ate in prison.  I'm so glad he got out and become a scout leader.  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 into town to mail our letters and buy some fireworks.  Don't worry about anything. Scout Leader  Phil said the weather is  going to be really hot and dry now. We are fine.

Love,