23 The Final Chapter

Chapter 23 THE FINAL CHAPTER The drive from Death Valley to San Francisco was one of the longest stretches of the whole trip. Several national forests sit right in the middle, so it's necessary to drive a big loop around them. They would pass through Red Rock Canyon State Park and Bakersfield before connecting up with I-5, which goes almost directly to San Francisco. The trip would be over 500 miles. Dr. McDonald was exhausted, but fortunately he didn't have to do the driving. Mrs. Higgins was happy to chauffeur, and the McDonalds insisted on paying for gas and tolls. One by one the family dropped off to sleep. It had been a long, hard day. Coke, Pep, and their parents slept the whole night until they were jostled awake at sunrise

第二十三章最后一章从死亡谷到旧金山的车程是整个旅程中最长的一段。 几个国家森林就在中间，所以有必要绕着它们开一个大圈。 他们会经过红岩峡谷州立公园和贝克斯菲尔德，然后上I-5，这条公路几乎直接通往旧金山。 这次旅行将超过500英里。 麦克唐纳医生已经筋疲力尽了，但幸运的是，他不必开车。 希金斯太太很乐意当司机，麦当劳夫妇坚持要付油钱和过路费。 一家人一个接一个地睡着了。 这是漫长而艰难的一天。 可口可乐、佩普和他们的父母睡了一整晚，直到日出时才被吵醒

when the minivan was bumping over the hills and streets of San Francisco. As they drove down the Embarcadero on the waterfront, they caught their first familiar glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge, six miles away. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful bridges in the world. "We're almost home!" Pep said, stretching. "Did you sleep well?" Mrs. Higgins asked. "You folks were out." "Like a baby," said Dr. McDonald. Mrs. McDonald noticed a California guidebook on the floor between the two front seats.

当那辆小货车在旧金山的山丘和街道上颠簸时。 当他们沿着海滨的Embarcadero大道行驶时，他们第一次看到了六英里外的金门大桥（Golden Gate Bridge）。 它被认为是世界上最美丽的桥梁之一。 “我们快到家了！”佩普伸伸懒腰说。 “你睡得好吗？”希金斯太太问。 “你们都出去了。”“像个婴儿。” 麦当劳。麦克唐纳太太注意到两个前排座位之间的地板上有一本加州旅游指南。

"May I look at this?" she asked. "Of course," Mrs. Higgins replied. "We're not stopping anywhere, Bridge," said Dr. McDonald sternly. "Don't even think about it. No more museums. No more halls of fame. No more roadside tourist traps. We're going straight home now." "I just want to see what it says about the Golden Gate," said Mrs. McDonald. "I've driven over this bridge so many times, but I really don't know much about it." In fact, the McDonalds had driven over the Golden Gate Bridge at the start of their trip five weeks earlier. Mrs. McDonald leafed through the guidebook until she found the section about the bridge. "Let's see. It says here that the Golden Gate opened on May 28, 1937 "Nobody cares, Mom," Pep shouted from the back. "Wait a minute," Coke said to his sister. "Did she say May 28, 1937? Open your notepad!"

“我可以看看这个吗？”她问。 “当然，”希金斯太太回答。 “我们不会在任何地方停下来，布里奇。” 麦当劳严厉。“想都别想。 不再有博物馆。不再有名人堂。 没有更多的路边旅游陷阱。 我们现在要直接回家了。” “我只是想看看金门是怎么说的，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “我开车经过这座桥很多次了，但我真的不太了解它。” 事实上，麦当劳一家在五周前开始他们的旅行时就开车经过了金门大桥。 麦克唐纳夫人翻了一遍旅游指南，直到找到了关于这座桥的那一部分。 “让我们看看。这里写着金门是1937年5月28日开放的。“没人在乎，妈妈，”佩普在后面喊道。 “等一下，”可口可乐对他妹妹说。 “她是说1937年5月28日吗？” 打开你的记事本！”

Pep pulled out her notepad and flipped to the page where she had written all the ciphers. "That's the first cipher!" Pep whispered excitedly to her brother. "Maybe May 28, 1937, doesn't have anything to do with Volkswagen at all! Maybe it's just a coincidence that the company started the same day the Golden Gate Bridge opened!" "What else does that guidebook say about the bridge, Mom?" Coke asked. "Let me see," Mrs. McDonald said. "Oh, this is interesting. It tells the exact longitude and latitude for the bridge. It's north 37 degrees, 49 minutes, and 8 seconds. And it's west 122 degrees, 28 minutes, and 40.5 seconds." "That is interesting," said Mrs. Higgins. Coke and Pep looked at each other. Then they looked at the notepad. "The second cipher!" Pep said. "The minutes and seconds didn't refer to a time! They referred to a location! The location of the Golden Gate Bridge!"

佩普拿出她的记事本，翻到她写下所有密码的那一页。 “这是第一个密码！”佩普兴奋地小声对她哥哥说。 “也许1937年5月28日与大众汽车根本没有任何关系！”也许这只是一个巧合，公司在金门大桥开通的同一天成立！”“妈妈，那本旅游指南还说了什么关于这座桥的事？”可口可乐问道。 “让我看看，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “哦，这很有趣。它告诉了桥的确切经纬度。 北纬37度49分8秒。 西经122度28分40.5秒。” “真有意思，”希金斯太太说。 可口可乐和佩普面面相觑。 然后他们看了看记事本。 “第二个密码！”Pep说。 “分和秒不是指时间！”他们提到了一个地点！金门大桥的位置！”

"Listen to this," Mrs. McDonald went on. "It says here that they are constantly repainting the bridge. The paint is supplied by Sherwin Williams." "I used their paint on the garage last year," Dr. McDonald said. "Does it mention what color they use? The bridge isn't gold. It's more like a reddish orange." "It says the color code is SW 6328," said Mrs. McDonald. "It's called 'Fireweed.'" The twins just about jumped out of their seats. "Fireweed?!" "That's what it says." "That's the third cipher!" Pep whispered to her brother. "Fireweed isn't the plant! It's the color of the Golden Gate Bridge!" "Here's something I bet you don't know," said Mrs. McDonald. "The hardhat was invented when they were building the bridge." "Hardhat?" asked Mrs. Higgins. "You mean those yellow helmets construction workers

“听着，”麦克唐纳太太接着说。 “这里说他们正在不断地重新粉刷这座桥。 油漆是由Sherwin Williams提供的。” “去年我用了他们的油漆来粉刷车库。” 麦克唐纳说。“有没有提到他们用的是什么颜色？” 这座桥不是金子做的。它更像是一种红橙色。” “它说颜色代码是SW 6328，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “这首歌叫《野草》。’”双胞胎几乎从座位上跳了起来。 “杂草? !”“上面就是这么说的。” “这是第三个密码！”佩普低声对她哥哥说。 “那不是杂草！”这是金门大桥的颜色！”“有些事我敢打赌你不知道，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “安全帽是在他们建桥的时候发明的。” “戴帽子？”希金斯太太问。 “你是说那些戴着黄色头盔的建筑工人

wear?" "Yeah," Mrs. McDonald said. "It says here that an American soldier came home after World War One and he designed a hardhat for miners based on the helmet he wore in the army. The guys who worked on bridges back then had stuff falling on them all the time, so this soldier designed a helmet just for them. It was used for the first time when they were building the Golden Gate Bridge." "What was the guy's name?" Coke asked. "E. W. Bullard," his mother replied. "Bullard?!" "That's the fourth cipher!" Pep whispered. "Mom, does it say anything about the number 8980?" Coke asked.

穿什么?”“是的，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “这里说，一名美国士兵在第一次世界大战后回家，他根据他在军队中戴的头盔为矿工设计了一顶安全帽。 当时在桥上工作的人总是有东西掉在他们身上，所以这个士兵专门为他们设计了一顶头盔。 当他们建造金门大桥时，它第一次被使用。” “那家伙叫什么名字？”可口可乐问道。 “e·w·布拉德，”他母亲回答。 “布拉德? !”“这是第四个密码！”Pep低声说。 “妈妈，上面提到8980这个号码了吗？”可口可乐问道。