Questions For Students

Dear Students,
I hope all is going well for you so far this school year. We are currently resting at Twentynine Palms, preparing for the trip across the desert. A good break for us, the weather has turned cooler, and is expected to stay that way for several more days. There are no water or other supplies for the next 90 or so miles thru the desert, so we have to prepare for that.

We have seen lots of cool stuff along the way. So many hummingbirds where we are staying that you almost have to get out of their way. Alan had never seen a hummingbird before, so he enjoyed that. Also, many lizards of all colors and sizes. We saw our first snake yesterday, a small rattler. Unfortunately for him, a car ended any chance of growing to a larger rattle. I hope we do get to see at least one going across the desert.

So, more questions for you, and maybe you can help with planning our route......first the questions:

What is the name of the desert we will be crossing?
There is a famous river the separates CA and AZ...what is its name?
Although that river is far from the coast of Southern California, it is still very important to people in that area. Why do you think?
What is an aqueduct?
There is a lake on this river that you probably see on TV....it's the show where cops patrol the boaters.....what is that lake?
In the town of the same name as the lake, there is a VERY famous bridge. I'll guess each of you has sung a song about that bridge.......what is that bridge, and how did it get here?

Now about the route planning....when we reach Parker, AZ, there are a couple of routes we can take to Phoenix, AZ........doesn't matter what part of Phoenix. Here are some things that are important when choosing a route for walking: we need roads to walk and they can't be interstate highways, so that eliminates I-10. We need supplies along the way, so going thru a town helps. We always try to find the shortest distance......sometimes we will take a longer route to avoid a mountain or bad road. And finally, we always want to be moving as much East as possible.

So, think that one over and send us your best route.....and tell us why you think so. No fair using a So, think that one over and send us your best route.....and tell us why you think so. No fair using a GPS, look at a map and figure it out. We still have about a week before we will reach Parker, so you have time to work on it. As always, thanks for your interest and help, and I will be talking to you soon......