3 days later they drove into the teeny little town a few miles away for dinner in the bar and who should be sleeping behind the bar. They had wandered up to bar a couple hours earlier and the owner, recognizing them, had taken them in.
With the exception of being on the losing end of their battles with a skunk and porcupine, they were pretty much all right. Dad figures they probably lit out after a deer then became hopelessly lost.
Glad it had a happy ending.