Page 84 - Ninety Miles From Nowhere

In the spring of 1942, after a year without a bridge, the Highway Department began work on a new one. They used the two undamaged approaches of the old bridge, and built a temporary by-pass around the washed-out mid-section. Thus they could work unhampered by traffic. When the midsection was completed, the road was opened all the way through and the temporary by-pass was removed.
On December 7 of that first year, occurred the famous, or infamous, Pearl Harbor Day. It was on Sunday morning, as you remember, and Mr. Kennedy came over to my place to tell me about it. I thought at first that he was kidding me, but finally I was convinced that it was true and turned on my radio. All of us spent the rest of that day glued to the radio. Most of the broadcasts consisted of the Pearl Harbor story and various updates.
One weekend I caught a ride to Socorro to spend a few days with George and Sally. They had moved there in 1938 from Mountainair. George and his partner, Scotty, also from Mr. Blake’s store in Mountainair, had started the Socorro Hardware Company on Manzanares Street where Gambles store is now - on the north side between the old post office and a confectionery store.
I don’t remember how I got to Socorro, but well do I remember the ride back home with
Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy in their car! We drove the few miles north to Escondida and crossed the rickety bridge there with the water lapping up over it but somehow holding together. From there we went on over dirt roads, wandering around even where there were no roads - all in a blinding
rain. We saw that we couldn’t reach home that night, so when we came to a deserted, dilapidated house, we moved in for the night. We had a hard time finding dry spots where the rain was not pouring in through the roof. Mrs. Kennedy and I immediately set about gathering wood to burn in the fireplace which fortunately would still draw. We piled the wet wood high by the fireplace so the heat would help dry it out. We kept the fire going all night long - not only to give us warmth but also to dry out our clothes. We had no changes of clothing, no blankets and most importantly, no food. Mr. Kennedy curled up on the floor by the fire and blissfully snored away the night.
The next morning we drove on down to Highway 380 and east to Bingham, still cold and wet and as hungry as three bears.