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

双胞胎和他们的妈妈不得不等了一会儿，但最终一辆糖果苹果红色的法拉利呼啸着驶入巴尼·史密斯的马马桶座艺术博物馆的车道。 “你应该和我一起去阿拉莫的。” 麦克唐纳朝窗外喊道。 “太神奇了。”“马桶盖的艺术也很酷，爸爸，”佩普告诉他。 一家人在圣安东尼奥河畔步道的一家披萨店吃了晚餐，最后吃了冰淇淋圣代。 他们的胃已经吃饱了，在塞萨尔·E。 查维斯大道，油箱也是。 现在是8点钟。麦克唐纳太太拿出旅游指南，在附近找一家汽车旅馆消费

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

深夜。“你知道，我现在心情很好。” 麦当劳宣布。“你们为什么不放松一下，看看风景呢？” 当我看到一家像样的汽车旅馆时，我会停车的。” 在汽车后座上，可口可乐浏览着一本杂志，佩普整理着她越来越多的冰箱贴。 她喜欢看它们，而且她已经习惯了把她最喜欢的放在口袋里。 也许是披萨和冰淇淋的缘故，但一个接一个的可乐、Pep和他们的妈妈都睡着了。 麦克唐纳医生经过了几家有空置标志的汽车旅馆，但他没有停下来。 全家人都在睡觉，一切都很平静。 他不想把所有人都吵醒，这样他们就可以回到床上睡觉了。 再说，能安静一下也挺好的。 这给了他时间思考他的下一本书。 胡佛总统的传记看起来不太可能成功。 关于埃尔维斯·普雷斯利的书也没有。 他必须来

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.

提出另一个想法。很快夏天和他们的越野旅行就要结束了。 他将重新开始工作，连续十年向打着哈欠的新生讲授革命战争的起因。 他并不期待。 路在他面前展开。 麦克唐纳陷入了沉思。 看到自己的名字出现在畅销书排行榜上的梦想在他的脑海里飞舞。 所以他就一直从圣安东尼奥沿10号州际公路往西开。 在德克萨斯州的康福特绕路，迫使他选择了较小的87号北公路，这条公路经过布雷迪、圣安吉洛、大泉和拉梅萨。 在德克萨斯州西部的这个地区，没有大城市，有些小镇甚至没有停车标志。 只有数英里的路。 外面一片漆黑，没有路灯。 唯一照亮人行道的是法拉利的前灯。 附近几英里内没有别的车。 “别惹德州，宝贝！”博士。

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

麦克唐纳自言自语地说，当速度计的速度超过每小时90英里时，引擎的声音似乎在说，谢谢你。 标志警告有强烈的侧风，但法拉利被设计成像箭一样划过空气。 直到凌晨两点钟，麦克唐纳医生才看了看里程表。 自从离开圣安东尼奥以来，他已经开了将近400英里的车。 要走这么长的路还不上厕所呢。 麦克唐纳太太睁开眼睛，正好看到一个标志，路巴克，两英里。 本，你整晚都在开车吗？ 她低声说，转过身来，看到双胞胎还在睡觉。 这太疯狂了。我玩得很开心。 “事实上，”他回答说，“夫人，后面的花生画廊里没有人在叽哩咕噜。” 麦克唐纳打开了她的德州旅游指南。 Lubbock位于yano estacado。 她轻声念着，一个地区的西南统一了

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,

包括新墨西哥州东部和德克萨斯州西北部的部分州....” 在后座上，双胞胎突然睁开了眼睛。 “你刚才说的是‘Estacado’吗？”可口可乐问道。 “是的，”他妈妈回答。 “大草原Estacado。”这对双胞胎惊恐地面面相觑。 大草原Estacado。这是第一个密码！“那上面还写了什么，妈妈？”Pep问道。 “嗯，上面说德克萨斯州的拉伯克是一个叫做南平原的多县地区的经济、教育和卫生保健中心，”她告诉他们。 “它被称为枢纽城。”可口可乐和佩普的眼睛睁得更大了。 “拉伯克是枢纽城？”可口可乐问道。 书中还说，拉伯克是以托马斯？ “拉伯克，”麦克唐纳太太继续说，“他以前是德州游骑兵，也是南部联盟的军官——”“他是德州游骑兵？”Pep问道:

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."

拍着她的头。“上面还说了什么？”“让我看看，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “拉伯克是早期摇滚明星巴迪·霍利（Buddy Holly）的诞生地，他和他领导的乐队‘Crickets’创作了《That’ll Be the Day》和《Peggy Sue》等令人难忘的歌曲。” “蟋蟀？”可乐喊道。 “他是板球大师！”Pep说。 “嗯，这很有趣，”麦克唐纳太太接着说。 “你永远不会相信他们在拉伯克的德克萨斯理工大学校园里有什么。” “一块巧言石？”可口可乐和佩普同时问道。 “你怎么知道的？”“这是一个幸运的猜测，”双胞胎回答。 “上面有没有说拉伯克是一片欢乐之地？”佩普问。 “欢乐之地……欢乐之地……麦克唐纳太太一边翻看旅行指南，一边喃喃自语。 “没有，但是拉伯克有一个游乐园。”