 
Let's get right at it! The 4th graders are currently in
Tucumcari, New Mexico and the 5th graders
are in
Jericho, Texas. Both classes are doing very well.
Currently, the 4th graders are on pace to finish the Route
66 trek by the end of the school year. The 5th graders are
now behind the 4th grade class by 168 miles and need to put
in a stronger effort if they hope to complete this journey
before the school year ends in June.
This week the 4th grade class said goodbye to Texas and
hello to New Mexico! They're 62 miles past the halfway point
and are in their 6th state... but New Mexico will be a long
road. Route 66 extends for 392 miles across this state, so
the 4th graders will be running in New Mexico for several
weeks. New Mexico is one of
the four corner states. It
borders at the same point with Colorado, Utah and Arizona.
About 1/4 of New Mexico is forested, and the state has 7
National Forests - including the Nation's largest, the 3.3
million acre Gila National Forest which includes the Gila
Wilderness. However, much of the area that the 4th graders
are running through does not contain many trees. In fact,
they're mainly running on unpaved roads. Since New Mexico's
climate is so dry, 3/4 of the roads are left unpaved. The
roads don't wash away. Along the way through New Mexico the
4th graders may have some competition from the state's
official bird... the Roadrunner!
The 5th graders said goodbye to Oklahoma this week and hello
to Texas! They're only 106 miles from the halfway point and
should be able to reach that point before January is over.
While running through Texas the 5th graders will likely see
many deer, since Texas has the nation's largest herd of
whitetail deer. Texas is the 2nd largest state in the U.S.A.
(Alaska is the largest!), and is the state where the soda
"Dr Pepper" was invented. Texas is also home of the first
suspension bridge ever built in the U.S. and is also where
the first domed stadium was constructed. It is suggested
that the students avoid running at night on the country
roads of Texas... since nighttime is when bats like to fly
and Texas has more species of bats than any other location
in America.
We'll be preparing completion certificates for both classes
for their recent state crossings. If you've read this far
and don't mind taking another minute of your time here,
please
sign the guestbook to encourage the kids!
Thanks...
and we'll update again from a milepost further down the
road.
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5th Grade (39 students): Added
47½
miles this week. Their total
is 1,033
miles. They have 1,245 miles
left and are 45% done with the trek. They are only 106
miles from the halfway point! Way to go 5th grade!
