28 A Drowsy Revelation

Chapter 28 A DROWSY REVELATION The twins and their mom had to wait for a while, but eventually a candy-apple-red Ferrari roared into the driveway of Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Art Museum. "You should have come with me to the Alamo," Dr. McDonald shouted out the window. "It was amazing." "The toilet seat art was cool too, Dad," Pep told him. The family had dinner at a pizza restaurant on San Antonio's River Walk and topped it off with ice cream sundaes. Their stomachs were full, and, after a quick stop on Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard, so was the gas tank. It was eight o'clock. Mrs. McDonald pulled out her guidebook to look up a nearby motel to spend

the night. "Y'know, I'm in a driving mood," Dr. McDonald announced. "Why don't you guys just relax and watch the scenery? When I see a decent motel, I'll pull in." In the backseat, Coke scanned a magazine and Pep organized her growing collection of refrigerator magnets. She liked to look at them, and she had taken to carrying her favorites around in her pocket. Maybe it was all the pizza and ice cream, but one by one Coke, Pep, and their mom dozed off. Dr. McDonald passed by several motels that had vacancy signs, but he didn't stop. It was so peaceful with the rest of the family sleeping. He didn't want to wake everybody up just so they could go back to sleep in a bed. Besides, it was nice to have a little quiet for a change. It gave him time to think about his next book. The biography of President Hoover didn't look like it was going to work out. Neither did the book about Elvis Presley. He had to come

up with another idea. Soon summer and their cross-country trip would be over. It would be back to work teaching yawning freshmen about the causes of the Revolutionary War for the tenth year in a row. He wasn't looking forward to it. As the road unspooled before him, Dr. McDonald was lost in his thoughts. Dreams of seeing his name on the bestseller list danced in his head. So he just kept driving west on I-10 from San Antonio. A detour at Comfort, Texas, forced him to take the smaller Route 87 North, which went through Brady, San Angelo, Big Spring, and Lamesa. In this part of western Texas, there are no big cities, and some of the small towns didn't even have a stop sign. Just miles and miles of road. It was pitch-dark out and there were no streetlights. The only thing illuminating the pavement was the Ferrari's headlights. There wasn't another car around for miles. "Don't mess with Texas, baby!" Dr.

mcdonald said to himself as the speedometer nosed past ninety miles per hour, the pur of the engine seemed to say, thank you. Signs warned of strong crosswinds, but the ferrari was designed to slice through the air like an arrow. It wasn't until two o'clock in the morning that doctor macdonald glanced at the odometer. He had driven nearly four hundred miles since leaving san antonio. That's a long way to go without a bathroom break. Missus mcdonald opened her eyes just in time to see a sign lubbock, two miles. Ben, have you been driving all night? She whispered, turning around to see that the twins were still asleep. That's crazy. I had a good time. Actually, he replied, no yapping from the peanut gallery back there, missus. Mcdonald opened her texas guidebook. Lubbock is located in yano estacado. She read softly, a region of the southwestern united

States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas...." In the backseat, both twins suddenly opened their eyes. "Did you say just say 'Estacado'?" Coke asked. "Yes," his mother replied. "Llano Estacado." The twins looked at each other with alarm. Llano Estacado. That was the first cipher! "What else does it say in there, Mom?" Pep asked. "Well, it says that Lubbock, Texas, is the economic, education, and health care hub of a multicounty region called the South Plain," she told them. "It's known as Hub City." Coke and Pep's eyes opened wider. "Lubbock is Hub City?" Coke asked. "It also says that Lubbock was named after Thomas S. Lubbock," continued Mrs. McDonald, "who was a former Texas Ranger and Confederate officer—" "He was a Texas Ranger?" Pep asked,

slapping her head. "What else does it say?" "Let's see," said Mrs. McDonald. "Lubbock was the birthplace of early rock and roll star Buddy Holly, who created such memorable tunes as 'That'll Be the Day' and 'Peggy Sue' with the group he led, the Crickets." "The Crickets?" shouted Coke. "He was the Cricket Master!" Pep said. "Hmm, this is interesting," Mrs. McDonald went on. "You'll never believe what they have on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock." "A piece of the Blarney Stone?" Coke and Pep asked simultaneously. "How did you know?" "It was a lucky guess," the twins replied. "Does it say anything about Lubbock being a Land of Joy?" asked Pep. "Land of Joy... Land of Joy...," Mrs. McDonald mumbled as she paged through her guidebook. "No, but there is an amusement park in Lubbock."