 
Both classes are now less than 250 miles from the finish
line! This week the 5th graders put in another strong effort
to close the gap even more between them and the 4th graders.
Right now, the 4th graders lead the 5th graders by only 40
miles.
Currently, the 4th grade class is a couple miles from
Ludlow, California. Ludlow is a town that refuses to die.
It's located along railroad tracks and it became a water
stop for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in 1882 (now the
Santa Fe Railroad). The discovery of ore in the nearby hills
assured the town of growth in the late 1880's. However, the
decline of mining and rail traffic in the 1940's lead to
Ludlow slowly becoming deserted. Today there's not much left
in Ludlow. Twenty people live there and there are two gas
stations, a Dairy Queen, an old cafe to eat at, and a little
motel.
The 5th graders are currently in Danby, California. The town
of Danby is a ghost town. The gas stations and cafes are
closed now. At Danby you will find an abandoned wood frame
and tin siding structure that looked to have been a garage
at one time. What makes this old building interesting is a
mural painted on the front of the building showing a scene
from the old west. It has mountains; a flowing river and
what looks to be mountain men involved in some small battle.
So, both classes are in places where there are few, if any,
people. They are in the desert areas of southern
California... yet the ocean is not far away. The 4th grade
class only has 204 miles left to go before they can dive
into the ocean waves. The 5th graders have 244 miles
remaining before they will hear the seagulls at the finish
line. This truly is a race for the finish. At this point,
either class could get there first.
In one week Paul Staso takes off on his 620-mile run across
Montana alone. He will aim to cover more than 30 miles per day from
the North Dakota border to the Idaho border. You can learn
all about his journey at
www.pacetrek.com. The students at Russell
Elementary will be virtually racing Paul across the state of
Montana. While this is happening, the Route 66 challenge
will be placed on hold until June 2. At that time
the 4th and 5th graders will continue their Route 66 trek to
see which class can finish it first. Stay tuned! It's going
to be exciting!
What a great job both the 4th and 5th grade kids are doing.
Please take just a moment to
sign the
guestbook and encourage them on!
Click Here To Read The Next
Journal Entry > >
|
5th Grade (42 students): Added
99
miles this week.
Their total is
2,033½
miles.
They have 244½
miles left and are 89% done with the trek.
