 
Halloween occurred during the middle of the week and perhaps
running and walking Route 66 will help to keep that candy
from settling into the waistlines of the kids! It certainly
is a time of year when candy gets a lot of attention. Here's
some interesting Halloween facts which the U.S. Census
Bureau has put together:
There's about 41 million trick-or-treaters in the U.S. each
year.
Each year there are about 790 million pounds of Jack O'
Lanterns and Pies for Halloween in the U.S.
The
value of all pumpkins grown in America each year is $83
million dollars.
There are about 1,040 manufacturers of chocolate in the
United States.
There are several towns in the U.S. that have names
appropriate for Halloween, including: Transylvania, North
Carolina; Tombstone, Arizona; Pumpkin Center, North
Carolina; Cape Fear, North Carolina; and, Skull Creek,
Nebraska.
This week the 4th grade students slightly increased their
lead over the 5th graders and are now 9 miles ahead. When
you're talking about a journey of 2,278 miles... 9 miles is
not very much! The 4th graders ended this week 6 miles past
Rolla, Missouri
in a tiny town called
Doolittle,
which has a population of less than 700 people. The town of Doolittle is
named for former air-race winner
Jimmy Doolittle, who caught the attention of America
because he once coaxed a tiny
flight of 16 army B-25 bombers off the pitching deck of the
USS Hornet for a raid on Tokyo - just a few months after the
attack on Pearl Harbor. Before arriving in Doolittle, the
4th graders went through the town of Rolla... which is a
great place to stop for a soda and to see some wonderful
Route 66 memorabilia in local stores.
The 5th graders are in the area of
St. James, Missouri -
known for its quality grapes. In fact, there are typically
many grape stands around this area, so stopping for an
energy boost from grapes is highly recommended. Although the
grape stands are popular, the Missouri Department of
Transportation actually tried to close down the grape
stands... perhaps due to people slowing down too often to
pull over and buy grapes, which can cause a traffic hazard.
Anyway, their efforts did not succeed and the grape stands
are still standing!
This week both classes ran and walked through
Stanton, Missouri
- home to the famous
Meramec Caverns.
If some of the kids were going so fast that they missed the
caverns, they could have stopped at
Onondaga Cave, which is
just south of the town of Leasburg. Missouri is known as the
Cave State and has more than 5,500 caves.
We're truly hoping to post pictures of the kids on this
site in the next couple of weeks. We know that you've been
patiently waiting for those pictures and they are coming!
We've been waiting for the remaining parental permission
slips to be collected so we can post pictures
of the children on the Internet. So... be patient a bit
longer.
The kids continue to get their kicks on Route 66, and we
appreciate you stopping by to see their progress! Have you
written them an encouragement note?
You can here!
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