Fri. nite, 7/16/43
Dear Folks,
Well, I’m still in the same place I was last week when I wrote youns. It’s quite a story about our trip up beyond Eugene to the place that we were to finish surveying. We went up Sat. nite after work and spent the week-end in Eugene. That is: 4 of us did. One of the fellows went on to Salem to see a girl and 3 stayed here at camp, two of them to bring the trucks loaded with our equipment and the 3rd to stay here and watch what was left of this camp. Do you follow me? I was in the bunch that went to Eugene. Sat. night we slept in a hay field outside of town it was warm and clear and it was swell sleeping out. We slept till about 10:00. Al drove the Buick that is how we go there. Then when we got in motion Sunday we went back to Eugene to a fellow’s apartment that we all know. He is a CO that is working with a timber causier (?) in Eugene. He and his wife have an apartment. We ate breakfast with them about 11:00. They had already eaten tho. We went to a show in the afternoon. It was a good one too. “Random Harvest.” It didn’t looked so good Sunday night so 2 of us slept at the fellow’s apartment and another guy and I went to a couple’s home that had been down to Elkton to visit and invited anyone to come anytime. The camp boys drop in there all the time so they didn’t mind.
That is just the first half of the story. Mon. morning we started for Sweet Home which is where we were supposed to meet the boys with the supplies and equipment that stayed in camp. Al figured his gas up and thought we had enough to get up there and back to Eugene again. But the gauge was regulating wrong and we didn’t know it. Well, we got about half way there and ran out of gas. There we were out of gas and out of coupons too. We were sort of stumped for a while but decided to walk up the road and see what we could stir up. We walked about ½ mile and came to a sawmill. There was a log truck driver working on his truck there and we asked him if knew any way we could get gas. All we told him was that our gas gauge had gone bad and fooled us and we didn’t have enough to get where we were going. He thought a while then asked if we had a can. We didn’t have any so he walked over and picked up one and went back behind the mill and filled it up, 5 gal. and told us it was loan and if we ever came by again we could bring him some he wouldn’t sell it. Boy! did that stuff smell good!
Well, we got to Sweet Home. The place we were to camp was about 30 miles from there we got 10 of it and found a bridge out. It had been out since last winter. We were pretty well stopped till our boss was talking to the foreman of a big logging camp and he told him that the forest service had been after them to open the road we wanted to go up. The logging foreman said that they would send out a bulldozer and make a place for us [to] ford the river the next morning. They did that and we loaded up our camp the next morning and (tues) started out across the river. The ford they had made was soft and we got the first truck stuck in the middle of the river. The water was about 20” deep there. Well, the bulldozer was up the road a way cleaning out a place where a landslide had blocked the road. So the boss walked up to see when he would be done so he could pull us out of the river. While he was gone we all went swimming in the river, good too. He came back and told us that the bulldozer had broken down and we were really stuck. We got ahold of a cable and pulled the truck out with the other truck and came back to this township till they get that road fixed right. We got back to camp here around 7:30 tue night. Boy! did we have a trip! The engineer at the logging camp will write to us when the road is ready and we’ll go back there and finish that township. When we do our address will be: Gov’t. Survey Party, Sweet Home. I will tell you when to change. They will forward anything sent here anyway.
Oh yes, Al’s car is parked up at the logging camp 10 miles from Sweet Home. Since we will be back there we can get it when we do. I reckon that that gas stamp will be welcome that you mentioned sending.
I was glad to hear all about what is going on at home on the farm. It sound like Dad is working pretty hard tho, watch him. Life is too short, you know.
I hope you get a good preacher. I sort of hate to see John go but it will probably be better for him and the church too. Vergie (?) getting married was a surprise. I didn’t think we was that crazy about that guy. I think it was sort of a dumb thing to do tho and I’ll bet her folks do too. But it’s alright if it is love and if might be for all we know.
Well, it’s bed time.
Love,
Bernard
P.S. Thanks for the Drivers License.
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