Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere) > Recent Status Updates

The Bureau of Roads guy: "the Panamanians thought the idea of a road through the Darien was the next thing to insanity. Rumors were circulated that there were dart blowing headhunters who, led by a mysterious white goddess, guarded fabulous gold mines and treasures from the outside world. Unfortunately we didn't find any white goddess or treasure."
And the headhunters were friendly, and had a fee for guide service.

Friendly employees with the US Bureau of Public Roads are happy to offer you a free plane ride to Colombia when the road runs out Because the Pan American Highway isn't finished yet, but Mr. Morrow somehow thought they'd just make do over these parts of the continent where there is no road and only jungle. (They ship their truck by boat.)

HP Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness in 5 parts is up for listening for the next few days. It's one of the more sloooow moving (and long) stories, so having someone else read it to you is perhaps the best way to take this one.

He lied. Mr. Morrow has been talking the last few pages:
"Even atomic bombs could not close the canal for more than a few weeks."

At the Panama Canal: "That's a good question, but why talk about it? We're here now: we can see for ourselves."
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Obviously aliens have captured the real Mr. Morrow and left a duplicate.

They make it through a jungle type area of Costa Rica (the road hasn't made it here yet) - but then stop to watch when they come upon....some bulldozers. Building a road. And the boys are fascinated.

"...maybe it was the sense of accomplishment that Randy felt in the job that was going on, the highway engineers working around the clock to unplug the road between the Americas."
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Ok at this point someone really needs to explain to the kid that if you're feeling accomplishment in a job that you're watching and have no part in completing, you don't really understand the word.

"They lay in their bunks, gazing out the back of El Carreton at the fantastic shadows cast by the construction machines."
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So these Americans pull up, ask the workers all kinds of questions, stay for lunch, stay ALL day, and then sleep in their truck in the construction zone. If I worked there all of that would worry me.

"The energy of the Guatemalans seemed infinite. Garcia, especially, was a human dynamo, working, shouting orders, running from one machine to the next.
"It certainly belies the myth about Latin Americans being lazy," Mr. Morrow said to Randy and Sam as they made camp in their truck for the night.
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Yes, he said that. Also they just spent all day watching others work and are now camping on the spot.

And do the kids get to go along now that a part of the rock needs to be blasted away? With dynamite charges? No problem! And again, it's ok to ask everyone lots of questions! (At this point I'm wondering about the author's sanity.) Also on this page one character has "faltering English" - but Mr Morrow has never attempted any Spanish besides the naming of their truck on pg 14.

The engineers let the kids ride in the earth scraper while they work. Then:
"After a few more hours of scraping and draglining, the workers broke for lunch, generously sharing their tortillas and beans with the Morrows."
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Just imagine me making indignant sputtering noises at this point.

Because I know you're all dying to know the response:
"Please senor, the least we can do after delaying your drive is to answer your sons' questions. And besides, this world needs more curiosity in the young."
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I should note here that they did have to stop because rocks were blocking the road. But I'm pretty sure they would have stopped anyway since Engineering Was Occurring and Questions Needed To Be Asked.

OMG FINALLY, SOME MANNERS!:
"What's the other machine for?" Sam asked, encouraged by his brother's question.
"Maybe we shouldn't bother the man," Mr. Morrow started to say.
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Although why he should suddenly start worrying about this NOW is amazing. He's already driven across multiple countries teaching his children to pester strangers with questions, sometimes for hours.

They drive to see an "infamous" area of the road in Guatemala where rockfall often blocks the highway. And they park in the middle of the road there, since there's no other place to pull off. Why did they have to stop? To question engineers of course! And of course there is one who speaks "in his ultrapolite Latin way."

Mr. Morrow on the crosses beside the highway: "These crosses...stand as memorials to travelers killed in automobile accidents. I guess the Mexican highway officials feel they help to make motorists more cautious."
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Or they could have nothing to do with officials anywhere and were placed there by grieving families.

I have the sense that the reason we only spent a page and 1/4 in Mexico city was because that was all the facts the author felt necessary to share. And those dealt mostly with its elevation above sea level.

I have now decided that this book doesn't exist in a reality in which I can give it stars to rate it. So that's one less thing to worry about.

Mr. Morrow, after babbling about what classes to take in high school to prepare to be an engineer then says: "You can get a list of the nation's good engineering schools and their curricula by writing to the engineers' Council for Professional Development, 28 West 39th St, New York 18, NY, and enclosing 25 cents."
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Because he has memorized that address in advance. Wow. And Randy writes it down anyway.

Oops there are 7 kinds of engineers. How I could miss counting highway engineers is beyond me.

Oh and in case you were worrying, Mr. Morrow assures us that civil engineers get paid very well (and then quotes various numbers). Because children reading this book will be very concerned by the thought of their future earnings as adults.

I'm not going to list the 6 kinds of civil engineers. But I am waiting for his dad to give Randy a pop quiz in a few pages.

They pass a stone aqueduct near Hidalgo - and don't mention its name - but it reminds Randy to ask questions about building dams and skyscrapers. Which leads his dad into another lecture on civil engineers: "Suppose you write down the answers as I explain." - Yes, his dad just told him to take notes. Again, this is a vacation roadtrip.

And the whole concept that a highway can bring countries together has blown Randy's 15 year old brain: "That sort of makes the civil engineer a statesman, Randy thought with some pleasure. ...It seemed like an exciting job, and one with an important mission."
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Or it could be an early sign of sunstroke.

Mr. Morrow: "A lot of tourists from the United States came to Mexico when the road was first built and probably treated the people who lived here like animals in a zoo. The Mexicans resented it and found they could get back at the tourists by taking their money. But don't blame the highways; blame the people who use them."
--He says this is the process of integration: "getting along together."

I was waiting for something like this next bit:
"The first town they came to was Bacum and they stopped for lunch. Afterwards they were surprised to find a dozen or so children flocking around their truck asking for money.
"Quite a contrast," Mr. Morrow said to Randy and Sam... "The men and the boy who helped us refused to take our money. And those kids in the street wanted something for nothing."

3 paragraphs later they are saved from being stuck in the mud by "a lone boy in a wagon pulled by a team of mules... Without a word, he stopped, unhitched the animals from his vehicle and attached them to the bumper of El Carreton. Then he smiled and said "I pull you." "

"...Randy said "That was kind of a definition of Pan-American."
"It certainly was," Mr. Morrow agreed. "In any of these southern countries, I've yet to see a Latin American pass someone who might be in trouble without offering to help. It's part of their way of life."

(The Morrows helped with the building btw. I went back to double check, thinking that Mr. Morrows might have been babbling about the wonder of the truss system while the Mexicans did all the work for him.)

The Morrows stop at a rickety looking bridge, afraid to cross, but luckily "a trio of Mexicans came along the road in a horse-drawn wagon." They see the trouble and start using posts to build a truss to strengthen the bridge. Granted its made clear the Mexicans don't speak much English, but still its annoying to have Mr. Morrow lecturing again. Because it was the Mexicans that started the truss building.

"But at the fish-smelling town of Guaymas, the Morrows realized they were in a foreign country. ...Finally, at the town of Empalme, all semblance of highway ended."

I will say one thing for Mr. Morrow, he's wildly optimistic about how the Pan American Highway will change the world:
"When this road is finished, it will be the single greatest factor in bringing about a real unity of these peoples."
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And in case you have no idea about this road, check out the map. And think about how unified we all are.