Dear Mom and Dad,

All is fine here, except that the truck has given us quite a bit of trouble. No doubt the fact of its being eighteen years old has been the basic cause. We’ve finally decided not to use it as a safari car but to put it at the central location out of which I’ll work with the bike. I got the truck out to Olkitikiti this past week and it will mostly stay right there. The bike is running real well – it’s clear we made a good choice. In this country of rock, sand and heavy bush, it’s a ‘safe’ bike.

I’ve cashed a check for $500. That truck cost us quite a bit in repairs and so forth – $500 for new tires alone. We were down to almost nothing.

Love,

Ned