In the fall of 1962, Ray was transferred to Topeka, Kansas, to be in the engineering department of the Santa Fe at their headquarters there in Topeka. Although we were sorry to leave all the friends in Ft. Madison, we were happy that he would be home instead of "out on the road" so much. Then, when I went down and looked for houses and we found this, we were so thrilled to have a garage again! Can you imagine how we felt when he pulled the car in the garage the first time and went to put the door down? Funny, funny! When it came time to get a different car, Ray would first bring one home to see if it snuggled right in and have the door close behind it. That was a cool house. According to the abstract, it had been built by a bootlegger named Sam Williams who ended up in Leavenworth. Under the garage, he had a still. The makings were not there anymore, but there was a big concrete vat not unlike a bathtub. And a manhole went up into the garage where the hootch could be put into the car without being seen. I did find some old pop bottles and a "corn liquor jug" like Snuffy Smith in the comics used to drink from. The still was also a perfect storm shelter since there would have been two sources of egress - the basement or the manhole. In June of 1966, the four of us and our neighbors did go down and stay in the still when a tornado went through Topeka. Our neighborhood was unscathed, but a lot of Topeka was damaged badly. That was a scary night - I don't like storms!! (Click to enlarge)
That picture is so very funny. To finally get a garage and have the car too long to shelter in it. That night in the STILL must have been very scary, I'll bet you were happy that Ray was not on the road and was able to be with you and the kids.
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