12 Ups and Downs

Chapter 12 Ups and Downs I WILL MEET YOU IN THE HOUSE ON THE ROCK What the heck was that supposed to mean? Pep looked at the words she had written. "I never heard of a house on a rock," she whispered to her brother. "There are probably thousands of houses that are built on rocks," Coke replied. "Maybe it's another secret message that means something completely different." "These Genius Files people are so annoying," Pep complained. "Why don't they just tell us what's going on? Why do they have to make us figure it out?" "The message didn't necessarily come from

第十二章起起落落我会在岩石上的房子里和你见面那到底是什么意思？ 佩普看着她写的字。 “我从没听说过岩石上有房子，”她低声对哥哥说。 “可能有成千上万的房子建在岩石上，”科克回答说。 “也许这是另一条意义完全不同的秘密信息。” “这些天才档案的人太烦人了，”佩普抱怨道。 “他们为什么不直接告诉我们发生了什么？” 他们为什么一定要让我们弄明白？”“这个信息不一定来自

them, y'know," Coke said. "It could have come from anybody." Want to follow the McDonalds on their cross- country trip? Get on the internet and go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com), Mapquest (www.mapquest.com), Rand McNally (www.randmcnally.com), or whatever navigation website you like best. Go ahead, I'll wait. Okay, now type in Burlingame, California (where the Museum of Pez Memorabilia is located), and click SEARCH MAPS. Click the little + or sign on the screen to zoom in or out until you get a sense of where the twins are. Now you can follow them on their journey. "Then who are we supposed to meet in the house on the rock?" Pep asked, knowing she wasn't going to get an answer. "And when? This message doesn't tell us anything." "We'll just have to keep our eyes open," Coke said, ending the discussion.

他们，你知道，”科克说。“它可能来自任何人。” 想跟随麦当劳夫妇的越野旅行吗？ 上网访问谷歌Maps （http://maps.google.com）、Mapquest （www.mapquest.com）、Rand McNally （www.randmcnally.com）或任何你最喜欢的导航网站。 去吧，我等你。好了，现在输入加州伯林盖姆（Pez纪念品博物馆所在的地方），点击搜索地图。 点击屏幕上的小+或符号来放大或缩小，直到你知道双胞胎在哪里。 现在你可以跟随他们的旅程了。 “那我们在岩石上的房子里要见谁呢？”佩普问，他知道她不会得到答案。 “当?这条信息没有告诉我们任何事情。” “我们只能睁大眼睛了，”科克说，结束了讨论。

Dr. McDonald hopped on Route 101 North through the city and picked up Interstate 80 East as the RV crossed over the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. They were on their way now. If they wanted to, they could just stay on I-80 all the way across the country. "Just fifteen hundred and forty-seven miles until we get to the largest ball of twine in the world!" Mrs. McDonald said excitedly after punching the data into her laptop. "And twenty- seven hundred and sixty-two miles to Washington." Go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/). Click Get Directions. In the A box, type Burlingame CA. In the B box, type Chico CA.

麦克唐纳博士跳上101号北公路穿过城市，在房车穿过旧金山-奥克兰海湾大桥时，又上了80号东州际公路。 他们已经上路了。 如果他们愿意，他们可以一直沿着80号州际公路横穿全国。 “还有一千四百四十七英里，我们就能看到世界上最大的麻线球了！”麦克唐纳夫人把数据输入笔记本电脑后兴奋地说。 “到华盛顿还有两千七百六十二英里。” 进入谷歌Maps （http://maps.google.com/）。 点击“获取路线”。在A框中，输入Burlingame CA。 在B框中，输入Chico CA。

Click Get Directions. Pep did a quick mental calculation. If they averaged sixty-five miles per hour, it would take them more than forty-two hours to drive to Washington. That would be without stopping, of course. Once you add in sleeping, eating, stopping for gas, and just getting out to stretch their legs, it would be closer to... Oh, she didn't want to think about it. And then, after they got to Washington and went to the wedding, they would have to drive that whole way back home, too. It was going to be a long summer. Pep was already bored, and the trip had just begun. Coke turned on his iPod and got lost in the music as he mindlessly shuffled the deck of playing cards Bones had given them. The McDonalds were cruising along I-80 for a little more than fifty miles when they started to see signs for Leisure Town and Nut Tree Airport. Dr. McDonald pulled onto Interstate 505 North.

点击“获取路线”。佩普在心里快速计算了一下。 如果他们平均每小时行驶65英里，他们要花42个多小时才能开车到华盛顿。 当然，这是不间断的。 如果再加上睡觉、吃饭、停车加油和出去活动活动，那就更接近…… 哦，她不想去想这件事。 然后，在他们到达华盛顿参加婚礼后，他们还得开车回家。 这将是一个漫长的夏天。 佩普已经厌倦了，而他的旅程才刚刚开始。 科克打开iPod，沉浸在音乐中，漫不经心地洗着骨头给他们的那副扑克牌。 麦当劳一家沿着80号州际公路行驶了50多英里，这时他们开始看到休闲小镇和坚果树机场的标志。 麦克唐纳医生把车开到505北州际公路上。

"Where are you going, Dad?" Coke asked. "Why did you get off I-80?" "Ask your mother," Dr. McDonald grumbled. "We're going to the National Yo-Yo Museum!" Mrs. McDonald exclaimed. "It's only about two hours from here!" "We're driving two hours out of our way to look at some yo-yos?" Coke asked, slapping himself on the forehead. Not just some yo-yos. Hundreds of yo-yos. Glow-in-the-dark yo-yos. See-through yo-yos. Flintstone yo-yos and Star Wars yo-yos. The National Yo-Yo Museum has everything from antique 1920s yo-yos to today's metal alloy yoyos with a centrifugal clutch transaxle, whatever that is. Mrs. McDonald gasped as the family walked inside The Bird in Hand, an educational toy store in Chico, California, where the National Yo-Yo Museum is located. This was her kind of place. "Feast your eyes, kids," Mrs. McDonald said,

“爸爸，你要去哪儿？”可口可乐问道。 “你为什么要下80号州际公路？”“问问你妈妈吧。” 麦当劳咕哝道。“我们要去国家溜溜球博物馆！”麦克唐纳太太叫道。 “离这儿只有两个小时的路程！”“我们开了两个小时的车，就为了看溜溜球？”科克拍了拍自己的额头，问道。 不只是一些溜溜球。几百个溜溜球。 在黑暗中可以发光的溜溜球。透明的溜溜球。 燧石族溜溜球和星球大战溜溜球。 国家溜溜球博物馆收藏了从20世纪20年代的古董溜溜球到今天带离心式离合器驱动桥的金属合金溜溜球，不管那是什么。 当一家人走进位于加州奇科的教育玩具商店“手里的鸟”（the Bird in Hand）时，麦克唐纳夫人倒吸了一口凉气。 这是她喜欢的地方。 “尽情享受吧，孩子们，”麦克唐纳太太说，

pulling out her camera to document the majesty of it all. "You're standing in front of the world's largest wooden yo-yo!" It was a monster of a thing. 256 pounds. The string, unrolled, was seventy-five feet long. A little plaque on the floor said that "Big-Yo" was only used a few times. Once it was dropped off a crane over San Francisco Bay. "The world's largest Pez dispenser is bigger," Coke said, unimpressed. He knew all about yo-yos, of course, having

拿出相机记录下这一切的壮观。 “你正站在世界上最大的木制溜溜球面前！”那是一个怪物。 256磅。绳子展开后有75英尺长。 地板上的一块小匾上写着“Big-Yo”只被使用过几次。 有一次是从旧金山湾的起重机上卸下来的。 “世界上最大的Pez自动售货机更大了，”可口可乐不以为然地说。 当然，他知道溜溜球的一切，他有