Tales from the Huffmans

There is an interstate highway¹ that is commonly referred to as the Main Street U.S.A.² because it stretches from New York, New York, and the Atlantic Ocean to San Francisco, California, and the Pacific Ocean³.  It is the busiest interstate in the nation.  Officially it is known as Interstate 80⁴.  It was built along what was once known as the Lincoln Highway⁵, in honor of President Abraham Lincoln⁶. 

 

As one travels across the U.S. on I-80, one gets a good cross section⁷ of the variety of Scenery one can find in the U.S⁸.  Starting in the heavily populated⁹ and congested¹⁰ area of New York and New Jersey, the traveler soon gets into the rolling hills¹¹ and mountains of Pennsylvania, with its big, well tended¹² Amish¹³ farms.  This type of scenery continues on through Ohio and Indiana, but the road becomes congested and busier as the traveler passes by Chicago in northern Illinois.  The truck traffic is especially heavy¹⁴ because Chicago is an important business hub¹⁵.

 

On west of Chicago one again enjoys the scenery of the rich agricultural lands¹⁶ and then crosses¹⁷ the majestic¹⁸ Mississippi River¹⁹ into Iowa.  Since Iowa is the number one corn producing state²⁰ in the nation, one sees vast²¹ fields of corn during the growing season.  This continues into Nebraska, but as one gets further west and the climate²² is drier, one sees cattle grazing²³ on the grasslands there.  As one leaves Nebraska and enters Wyoming, the beautiful Rocky Mountains²⁴ appear.  At one rest area²⁵ there is a huge statue²⁶ of Abraham Lincoln, reminding the traveler that this highway is also the Lincoln Highway.  From here on one sees mountains and desert as one travels through Utah, Nevada and into California with its pine forests.  One highlight²⁷ of the trip in Utah is the Great Salt Lake²⁸, the largest body of salt water on our continent²⁹.

 

As one leaves the forested mountains of California³⁰ and heads into the heavily populated areas, traffic becomes very heavy again, but when one arrives in San Francisco, one is rewarded by the sight of the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge and the blue water of the Pacific Ocean³¹.

 

This blog is being written from our vacation home³² in the mountains in Idaho.  We traveled on Interstate 80 from our area in Iowa to the Salt Lake City area before heading north into Idaho, and once again we were reminded of the varied beauty³³ of our country.  We recommend this road trip³⁴ to anyone who can take it.

 

Notes:

1. interstate highway: 美国州际公路

2. Mainstreet U.S.A.: the primary or busiest street (美国最重要最繁忙的道路).  Most cities have a mainstreet as a result of having been located on or near a highway.  Because this interstate highway passes completely across the U.S. it is thought of as a mainstreet of our country.

3. it stretches from New York, New York, and the Atlantic Ocean to San Francisco, California, and the Pacific Ocean: 它从纽约州的纽约市以及大西洋一直延伸到加利福尼亚的旧金山以及太平洋。

4. Interstate 80: 80号州际公路，常用I-80表示。In the U.S., most interstates which run East/West have even numbers, i.e. I-80, I-90 etc., and those going North/South are given odd numbers, ie. I 1 in California, I-35 from Minnesota to southern Texas etc.

5. Lincoln Highway: the name given initially to Highway #30 in honor of President Abraham Lincoln.  I-80 travels mostly on the same path as did highway #30.

6. Abraham Lincoln (亚伯拉罕•林肯): the 16th President of the United States who is honored as the leader of the country who opposed slavery and brought important social and physical changes in the U.S. He was from the state of Illinois, and he promoted construction of many highway and railroad projects in his attempt to develop the western part of the U.S.

7. cross section: a cut or view extending across a large area or object; a typical selection of the various aspects of that area or object (剖面，有代表性的人或物).

8. As one travels across the U.S. on I-80, one gets a good cross section of the variety of Scenery one can find in the U.S.：当人们在80号公路上横穿美国旅行时，就能看到很有代表性的美国景色变化的剖面。

9. populated: heavily represented by having many people in an area (人口稠密的).

10. congested: full of traffic (交通拥挤的).

11. rolling hills: a series of rounded, raised land forms, one after another (延绵起伏的山丘).

12. well tended: kept in excellent condition, appearing tidy and attractive (精心照料的).

13. Amish: of a group of people who live simply, particularly in rural areas; and who were immigrants from Germany, mostly in the 18th century (阿米什人，阿米什人的).

14. The truck traffic is especially heavy: 货车运输特别繁忙。.

15. business hub: the central and most important part of business in the area (商业中心).

16. rich agricultural lands: fertile soil, useful for growing crops on a commercial or individual basis.

17. crosses (横跨): In this case, the Mississippi River is crossed by a long bridge as a part of I-80.

18. majestic：雄伟的，壮丽的

19. the Mississippi River: the name of the river which originates in Minnesota and flows southward to the Gulf of Mexico.  It is the longest river in the U.S. (密西西比河，起源于明尼苏达州，向南流入墨西哥湾，是美国最长的河流。)

20. number one corn producing state: the state in the U.S. where the most corn is grown in a given year (生产玉米大州).

21. vast: great in size, extent or range; enormous.

22. climate：气候

23. grazing: (cattle or sheep) slowly eating grass in a pasture.

24. grasslands n. an extensive area where grasses are the primary plants growing naturally.

25. Rocky Mountains: the name of a high mountain range extending from Alaska south into Mexico (落基山脉，它北起阿拉斯加，南至墨西哥).

26. rest area: a facility located along a highway where passengers may stop to find restrooms, water and a safe place to rest from travel for shorter periods of time (高速公路上供过往旅客休息的服务区).

27. statue：塑像

28. highlight：最精彩、最难忘、最有趣的部分

29. Great Salt Lake：大盐湖，位于美国犹他州

30. continent：洲，大陆

31. forested mountains of California: tree covered high mountains; i.e. Rocky Mountains.

32. one is rewarded by the sight of the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge and the blue water of the Pacific Ocean：人们能看到美丽的金门桥和蓝色的太平洋。

33. vacation home:  a second home, usually located in a desirable area where it is possible to relax and engage in recreational activities (第二个家，通常位于自己喜欢的地方，是休闲度假的去处).

34. varied beauty: 各种不同的美景

35. road trip：驱车旅游

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 3:31 pm and is filed under Travel and Customs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.