First - I moved the wiper blades to their furthest up position.  This made it very easy to see the plug grommet.  I took a long screw driver and poked it through the firewall.  It didn't want to move out of the way - so I decided on pulling it back through towards the windshield.  Very easy.  Next I used a 15" screw driver that has a bent tip on it - kind of like a crow bar.  I placed it on the latch and pushed down an pop the hood was open.  Boy was I relieved. 

What I found was the cable was intact on both ends.  what was broken was the driver side cable housing hold down. I wish I knew how to put the photo links in like Chip did - I took pics so you could see the steps I took.  I found a square firm washer and placed it between the hold down screw and the cable housing.  Then tightened it against the remaining bracket.  Works great! - I believe it will hold me until I get to Carlisle.

Someone - tell me how I can share my pics!