11 On the Road

Chapter 11 On the Road Wake up!" Dr. McDonald shouted from the bottom of the stairs. "Today is the first day of the rest of your lives!" Coke rolled over for one more minute of precious sleep. In the back of his mind, he vaguely remembered the envelope he'd found under his pillow the night before. He had memorized the message that was inside it: KCAORE HTANAO EASUO HEAHT NIAUO AYTEA EMLLIAWI. But just because you're classified a genius with a photographic memory doesn't mean you're good at figuring out secret messages and codes. Coke considered himself a numbers guy, an action guy. Ace Fist. Before he'd fallen

第十一章在路上醒醒！”博士。 麦克唐纳在楼梯底下喊道。 “今天是你们余生的第一天！”可口可乐翻了个身，又多睡了一分钟。 在他的脑海深处，他模糊地想起了前一天晚上他在枕头下发现的那个信封。 他记住了里面的信息：KCAORE HTANAO EASUO HEAHT niao AYTEA EMLLIAWI。 但是，仅仅因为你被归类为拥有过目不忘的天才，并不意味着你擅长破译秘密信息和密码。 可口可乐认为自己是一个数字狂人，一个行动狂人。 Ace的拳头。在他堕落之前

asleep, he had slipped the envelope into his backpack so he could show it to his sister in the morning. She would be able to decipher it. She was good at that kind of stuff. "Who's ready to go coast to coast?" hollered Dr. McDonald as he bounded into the twins' room clapping his hands enthusiastically. "It's our manifest destiny!" "Not mine," Coke groaned. His dad opened the shades to let in some light and to try to wake up the kids. Then he went outside and finished packing the RV, carefully going through his checklist to make sure he didn't forget anything essential: extra water, flashlights, jumper cables, road flares, first aid kit, pens and paper, trash bags, camera, and so on. Mrs. McDonald busied herself with food, filling the little RV refrigerator and emptying the one at home. A carton of milk left in a fridge for two months would not be a pretty sight when they got back.

他睡着了，把信封塞进背包里，以便第二天早上拿给妹妹看。 她会破译的。 她很擅长这种事。 “谁准备好去东海岸到西海岸了？” 麦克唐纳一边蹦蹦跳跳地走进双胞胎的房间，一边热情地拍着手。 “这是我们的天定命运！”“不是我的，”可口可乐呻吟道。 他爸爸打开窗帘，让光线进来，试图唤醒孩子们。 然后他走出去，收拾好房车，仔细检查他的清单，以确保他没有忘记任何重要的东西：额外的水，手电筒，跨接电缆，道路照明弹，急救箱，笔和纸，垃圾袋，相机，等等。 麦克唐纳太太忙着做饭，把房车的小冰箱装满，把家里的冰箱倒空。 当他们回来时，一盒牛奶在冰箱里放了两个月，这可不是什么好看的景象。

Coke threw his iPod, cell phone charger, and a few books into his backpack. He was ready to go. Pep was a different story. In the last few months, she had started to care—for the first time—about her personal appearance. Suddenly, she was spending hours straightening her hair in the mirror and agonizing over what she should wear. Coke teased his sister as she smeared a mysterious substance she called "foundation" on her face to cover up a few pimples that nobody would ever notice in a million years. Some days she even put on nail polish or lip gloss. "You're still ugly," Coke remarked as his sister examined herself. "It's genetic." He liked teasing her about her looks, as they looked almost

科克把他的iPod、手机充电器和几本书扔进背包里。 他准备走了。佩普是另一个故事。 在过去的几个月里，她第一次开始在意自己的外表。 突然间，她花了几个小时对着镜子拉直头发，为自己该穿什么而苦恼。 当他的妹妹在脸上涂抹一种她称之为“粉底”的神秘物质来掩盖几颗一百万年后都不会有人注意到的丘疹时，可口可乐嘲笑她。 有时她甚至会涂指甲油或唇彩。 “你还是很丑，”当他妹妹审视自己时，科克说。 “这是遗传的。”他喜欢取笑她的长相，因为他们看起来差不多

exactly alike. "Let's go!" Dr. McDonald shouted urgently. "The open road awaits us! We've got to get through California today!" Pep stuffed her hair-straightening iron into her backpack. As an afterthought, Coke grabbed the Frisbee and deck of cards that Bones had given them. There would be time to kill on the road. Even if his sister couldn't throw a Frisbee, he might meet somebody who could. Mrs. McDonald had prepared bagels for the kids to eat on the road. She didn't want to wait another half hour for them to eat a proper breakfast at home. Finally, everyone piled into the RV, grown- ups in the front seats, kids in the back. "Take a deep breath, everybody," Dr. McDonald said, closing his eyes. "Can you smell it? Can you taste it?" "Taste what, Dad?" Coke asked. "Fresh air," his father replied. "If we were taking this trip by plane, we'd be breathing stale,

完全一样。“我们走吧!”博士。 麦克唐纳急切地喊道。 “大路在等着我们呢！”我们今天必须穿过加州！”佩普把直发棒塞进了背包。 事后，可口可乐抓起骨头给他们的飞盘和一副纸牌。 在路上就有时间打发了。 即使他的妹妹不会扔飞盘，他也可能遇到会扔飞盘的人。 麦当劳太太为孩子们准备了百吉饼，让他们在路上吃。 她不想再等半个小时让他们在家吃一顿像样的早餐。 最后，所有人都挤进了房车，大人坐在前排，孩子们坐在后排。 “大家深吸一口气。” 麦克唐纳闭上眼睛说。 “你能闻到吗？”你尝得到吗？”“尝什么，爸爸？”可口可乐问道。 “新鲜空气，”他父亲回答。 “如果我们乘飞机旅行，我们会呼吸不新鲜的空气，

recycled air." "We'd also be in Washington a few hours from now," Coke said. "I thought recycling was a good thing, Dad," Pep commented. "Not recycled air," her father replied. "You kids need to get back to nature. It used to be that children would explore, learn, and become part of their world. But now they just snap digital pictures of each other, Facebook their friends, text, and Twitter. You need to slow down, enjoy the moment. You're too impatient to get to the next thing." "Yeah, can we go now, Dad?" Coke asked. "This is boring." "You don't know how lucky you are," Dr. McDonald said. "Very few kids get to see this great country the way people used to: on the open road. It's soul lifting. You're going to see what makes America's heart beat. My family took a cross-country trip when I was a kid. Boy, those were some of the best memories of my

循环空气。”“再过几个小时，我们就能到华盛顿了，”科克说。 “我认为回收是件好事，爸爸，”佩普评论道。 “不是再生空气，”她父亲回答。 “你们这些孩子需要回归自然。 过去，孩子们会探索、学习，并成为他们世界的一部分。 但现在他们只是给彼此拍数码照片，在Facebook上发朋友圈，发短信，发推特。 你得慢下来，享受这一刻。 你太没耐心去做下一件事了。” “是啊，我们现在可以走了吗，爸爸？”可口可乐问道。 “这太无聊了。”“你不知道自己有多幸运。” 麦克唐纳说。“很少有孩子能像过去那样，在开阔的道路上看到这个伟大的国家。 这是灵魂的升华。你将看到是什么让美国的心脏跳动。 当我还是个孩子的时候，我们家进行了一次越野旅行。 那是我人生中最美好的回忆

life. "What happened?" Pep asked. "Uh... I... don't remember, actually," Dr. McDonald admitted. "It was a long time ago." "It must have made a huge impression on you, Dad," Coke remarked. "Well, it was a great trip," his father insisted. "I remember that much." "Can we go already?" Mrs. McDonald said impatiently. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we get to Kansas." "And why exactly are we going to Kansas?" Pep asked. "To see the largest ball of twine in the world!" Mrs. McDonald exclaimed. "Remember?" "Oh yeah," Coke muttered. Dr. McDonald rolled his eyes and turned the key. The RV rumbled to life. It didn't sound like a regular car. The whole thing vibrated. "Front and back doors locked?" he asked Mrs. McDonald, the copilot. "Check," Mrs. McDonald replied.

的生活。“发生什么事了?”Pep问道。 “嗯…我…实际上，我不记得了。 麦当劳承认。“那是很久以前的事了。” “这一定给你留下了深刻的印象，爸爸，”科克说。 “嗯，这是一次很棒的旅行，”他的父亲坚持说。 “我记得很清楚。”“我们可以走了吗？”麦克唐纳太太不耐烦地说。 “我们越早出发，就能越早到达堪萨斯。” “我们到底为什么要去堪萨斯呢？”Pep问道。 “去看看世界上最大的麻线球！”麦克唐纳太太叫道。 “记得吗?”“哦，是的，”可口可乐喃喃地说。 麦克唐纳医生翻了个白眼，转动了钥匙。 房车隆隆地开动了。听起来不像普通汽车。 整个东西都在震动。“前门和后门都锁上了吗？”他问副驾驶麦克唐纳夫人。 “检查过了，”麦克唐纳太太回答。