13 Welcome to Texas

Chapter 13 WELCOME TO TEXAS Coke and Pep had been sure their troubles were over. But that was yesterday. It felt like a dark cloud was gathering up ahead. If the coast was clear, why would anyone be sending them a mysterious message? "I have a bad feeling about this," Pep said. And her feelings were pretty much on the mark. Maybe it was just a meaningless, random message, Coke tried to convince himself as he struggled to go to sleep. Maybe it was meant for somebody else. He tried desperately to remember the voice on the phone that told him to look under his pillow. He tried to connect it with someone he had met in his life. But there was nobody. It was a familiar voice, but not one that he had heard

可口可乐和佩普确信他们的麻烦已经过去了。 但那都是昨天的事了。感觉前面好像有一团乌云在聚集。 如果没有危险，为什么会有人给他们发神秘信息呢？ “我有一种不好的感觉，”佩普说。 她的感觉也很中肯。 也许这只是一条毫无意义的、随机的信息，在他挣扎着入睡时，科克试图说服自己。 也许是给别人的。 他拼命地回忆起电话里那个让他去枕头下面看看的声音。 他试图把它和他一生中遇到的一个人联系起来。 但是没有人。这是一个熟悉的声音，但他从来没有听到过

before. The twins awoke to the sound of USA Today being slipped under their hotel room door. It was July 15th. The usual wars, murders, and natural disasters were going on in the world. But when they looked out the window, all appeared calm in southern Oklahoma. Coke and Pep went downstairs to have breakfast with their parents, and then it was back on the road. Dr. McDonald merged onto Route 69 heading south. The first argument of the day had already begun. Mrs. McDonald said they needed to stop at a laundromat sometime during the day, because they didn't have a lot of clothing after the RV exploded in Memphis. Dr. McDonald said he didn't want to waste time doing laundry, insisting there was no reason why they couldn't wear the same clothes for two days. Mrs. McDonald, of course, found that idea repulsive. The argument didn't last long, because just a few minutes after they were on the road, they

之前。这对双胞胎被《今日美国》从他们酒店房间门缝里塞进来的声音吵醒了。 那天是7月15日。世界上经常发生战争、谋杀和自然灾害。 但当他们向窗外望去时，俄克拉何马州南部的一切似乎都很平静。 可口可乐和佩普下楼和父母一起吃早餐，然后又上路了。 麦克唐纳博士沿着69号公路向南走。 当天的第一次争论已经开始了。 麦克唐纳太太说，他们需要在白天的某个时候去自助洗衣店，因为房车在孟菲斯爆炸后，他们没有很多衣服。 麦克唐纳说，他不想把时间浪费在洗衣服上，坚持认为他们没有理由不能连续两天穿同样的衣服。 麦克唐纳太太当然觉得这种想法令人反感。 争论没持续多久，因为他们上路后几分钟，他们

crossed a bridge over a river and this sign came into view on the left side of the highway.... "Woo hoo!" Coke shouted at the top of his lungs, "The Lone Star State! Did you know that the Texas state mascot is the armadillo?" "I actually did know that," said Pep. "But did you know that armadillos always have four babies?" Coke was taken aback. He couldn't think of the last time his sister knew something that he didn't. He searched his memory bank. Never in his life had he heard anything about the number of babies armadillos had.

过了一座河上的桥，这个标志出现在高速公路的左边.... “呜呼!”科克扯着嗓子喊道：“孤星之州！你知道德州的吉祥物是犰狳吗？”“我确实知道，”佩普说。 “但是你知道犰狳总是有四个孩子吗？”可口可乐吓了一跳。 他想不起上次他妹妹知道一些他不知道的事情是什么时候了。 他搜索了他的记忆库。 他一生中从未听说过犰狳有多少个孩子。

"You just made that up," he said. "I did not," Pep told him. "I learned that when we went on a field trip to the natural history museum." "Well, nobody cares how many babies armadillos have," Coke insisted. "Armadillos care." Mrs. McDonald dropped her Arkansas guidebook into the trash and pulled Amazing Texas Monuments and Museums out of her purse. "They say everything is bigger in Texas, you know," she told the rest of the family. "The whole state stretches almost eight hundred miles each way." "I read somewhere that the world's largest parking lot is at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport," Dr. McDonald said. "That airport is larger than the whole island of Manhattan." "That's quite a claim to fame," remarked Coke. "They have the world's largest parking lot!"

“那是你瞎编的，”他说。 “我没有，”佩普告诉他。 “这是我们去自然历史博物馆实地考察时学到的。” “好吧，没人在乎犰狳生了多少孩子，”科克坚持说。 “犰狳照顾。”麦克唐纳太太把她的阿肯色州旅游指南扔进了垃圾桶，从钱包里拿出了令人惊叹的德克萨斯州纪念碑和博物馆。 “你知道，他们说德州的东西都更大，”她对家里的其他人说。 “整个州每条路延伸近800英里。” “我在什么地方读到过，世界上最大的停车场就在达拉斯/沃斯堡机场。” 麦克唐纳说。“那个机场比整个曼哈顿岛还大。” 可口可乐说：“这是一个相当出名的说法。” “他们有世界上最大的停车场！”

"It says here that you could fit two hundred and twenty Rhode Islands into Texas," said Mrs. McDonald. "They're always comparing the big states to Rhode Island," Pep said, rolling her eyes. "Why don't they leave poor little Rhode Island alone?" Coke turned around to see if any cars might be following them. The road was nearly empty. It would take a while to get through Texas, and both twins settled in for a long drive. But just moments past the state line, Dr. McDonald suddenly pulled off the road after seeing a sign for the town of Denison. It was uncharacteristic for him. In general, he didn't do things spontaneously. "What's the matter, Ben?" asked Mrs. McDonald. "Are you okay?" "Denison, Denison," Dr. McDonald repeated. "It rings a bell. I can't remember why." He maneuvered the Ferrari off the ramp. As soon as he saw a sign that said EISENHOWER PARKWAY, he remembered.

“这里说，你可以把220个罗德岛州塞进德克萨斯州，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “他们总是把大州和罗德岛比较，”佩普翻着白眼说。 “他们为什么不放过可怜的罗德岛呢？”寇克转过身去，想看看是否有汽车跟在他们后面。 路上几乎空无一人。 穿过德克萨斯州需要一段时间，双胞胎安顿下来，准备开很长一段路。 但刚过州界。 麦克唐纳看到丹尼森镇的标志后，突然把车停在路边。 这不是他的一贯作风。 总的来说，他不会自发地做事。 “怎么了，本？”麦克唐纳太太问。 “你还好吗？”“丹尼森，丹尼森。” 麦当劳重复。“这听起来很耳熟。 我不记得为什么了。”他操纵法拉利驶离斜坡。 当他看到一个写着艾森豪威尔公园路的牌子时，他想起来了。

"Of course!" he said. "Eisenhower lived here!" Mrs. McDonald pulled out her laptop and quickly confirmed that the thirty-fourth president of the United States was born in Denison, Texas. He only lived in the town for the first two years of his life, but there's a monument dedicated to him. She directed Dr. McDonald to take the exit for Loy Lake, and soon they found themselves on Loy Lake Road, at the entrance to Loy Lake Park. And there it was—a sixteen-foot cement head in the shape of Dwight David Eisenhower. The statue had a blank expression on its face. "That is one gigantic head," Coke said, stating the obvious. "It may be the biggest head I've ever seen." "What did Eisenhower do, Dad?" Pep asked. "Oh, nothing important," replied Dr. McDonald. "He just organized the D-day invasion in World War Two. He liberated Europe from the Nazis. Defeated Hitler. Won

“当然！”他说。“艾森豪威尔住在这里！”麦克唐纳夫人拿出笔记本电脑，迅速确认美国第34任总统出生在德克萨斯州丹尼森。 他只在镇上住了两年，但这里有一座纪念碑是为他而建的。 她指示麦克唐纳博士从出口去洛伊湖，很快他们就到了洛伊湖路，洛伊湖公园的入口。 那就是一个16英尺高的水泥头，形状是德怀特·大卫·艾森豪威尔。 雕像的脸上有一种茫然的表情。 “这是一个巨大的脑袋，”可口可乐说，这是显而易见的。 “这可能是我见过的最大的头。” “艾森豪威尔做了什么，爸爸？”Pep问道。 “哦，没什么大不了的。” 麦当劳。“他刚刚组织了第二次世界大战的诺曼底登陆。 他从纳粹手中解放了欧洲。 打败了希特勒。赢得了