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Week of April 14, 2024 | View the Map
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Sunday
Holy Idaho! We are in Boston, Massachusetts. Geo and I have been learning a lot about Boston. It is both the capital and the largest city in the state. Boston is one of the oldest cities in the entire country! And it is the largest city in New England. Have you ever heard of New England? It is a region in the northeastern section of the United States. It is so different from Phoenix! In Phoenix it takes us nearly an hour to drive from one side of the city to the other. In many parts of New England, you can actually drive to another state in an hour! The states are much smaller. Compare the size of New England states with western states on a map!
We have gotten to see many famous colleges and universities. Geo thinks that he might apply to one or two of these schools. He really likes Boston. It is beautiful. The universities and colleges have a huge impact on the economy of the city. Students alone contribute nearly $5 billion to the city's economy each year (or maybe their parents do).
In the northern area of Boston there is a humid subtropical climate, while the southern area has a humid continental climate zone. This is because the city is coastal (fronts on the ocean) and has a large cape that extends out from the mainland south of here (Cape Cod). Summers are warm and humid. Winters are cold, windy, and snowy. Spring and fall can be warm or cool, depending on the many variables affecting the weather. Sometimes the weather is very different on the water and ten miles inland.
We hope that our clues last week made Louie realize that he should head to Boston. Hopefully the Massachusetts state quarter made him realize where he should be going AND that he could trust us (and Uncle GT). Remember he is avid coin collector. That state quarter has a picture of a minuteman. Do you know what minutemen are? They were the colonists who were the first people to fight against the British in the American Revolution. The men were typically between 16 and 30 years of age. The minutemen were chosen for not only their strength, but also their passion, enthusiasm, and political reliability. Minutemen were well equipped and prepared to march (and fight) at a very short notice.
Boston is full of culture and history. I just hope it is also full of Louie! Uncle GT is with us now, and we are getting ready for the big day tomorrow.
We have gotten to see many famous colleges and universities. Geo thinks that he might apply to one or two of these schools. He really likes Boston. It is beautiful. The universities and colleges have a huge impact on the economy of the city. Students alone contribute nearly $5 billion to the city's economy each year (or maybe their parents do).
In the northern area of Boston there is a humid subtropical climate, while the southern area has a humid continental climate zone. This is because the city is coastal (fronts on the ocean) and has a large cape that extends out from the mainland south of here (Cape Cod). Summers are warm and humid. Winters are cold, windy, and snowy. Spring and fall can be warm or cool, depending on the many variables affecting the weather. Sometimes the weather is very different on the water and ten miles inland.
We hope that our clues last week made Louie realize that he should head to Boston. Hopefully the Massachusetts state quarter made him realize where he should be going AND that he could trust us (and Uncle GT). Remember he is avid coin collector. That state quarter has a picture of a minuteman. Do you know what minutemen are? They were the colonists who were the first people to fight against the British in the American Revolution. The men were typically between 16 and 30 years of age. The minutemen were chosen for not only their strength, but also their passion, enthusiasm, and political reliability. Minutemen were well equipped and prepared to march (and fight) at a very short notice.
Boston is full of culture and history. I just hope it is also full of Louie! Uncle GT is with us now, and we are getting ready for the big day tomorrow.
- Meri
Boston at night
The Atlantic Ocean
Another shot of the ocean
Map of the United States
Compare the size of the New England states with the states on the west coast.
Monday
Today is a very important annual event in Boston. It is the Boston Marathon! This marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon. It is a 26-mile race for very fit runners. This year it is on April 15. We sent a text to Louie telling him to meet us at the Minuteman statue after the race. However, he insisted that he would see us at the Boston Marathon finish line. We hope he shows up for once. We will have to wait and see.
Last night Meri learned about Lexington and Concord. Can you believe she wasn't already familiar with it? We learned about it many years ago in school, but Meri must not have been "there" that day. The battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements (fights) of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were the beginning of the actual fighting in the Revolutionary War. The first shots of the war were fired just as the sun was rising on April 19, 1775. The legend says that the first shot fired was "the shot heard 'round the world."
Last night Meri learned about Lexington and Concord. Can you believe she wasn't already familiar with it? We learned about it many years ago in school, but Meri must not have been "there" that day. The battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements (fights) of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were the beginning of the actual fighting in the Revolutionary War. The first shots of the war were fired just as the sun was rising on April 19, 1775. The legend says that the first shot fired was "the shot heard 'round the world."
- Geo
Look at all of the traffic in Boston!
Another picture of the coin we gave to Louie.
Monday Night
Holy Idaho! What a race! The Boston Marathon was amazing! We had to get near the finish line VERY early to get our spot! And guess who we finally saw... LOUIE! He has quite a sense of humor. We waited and waited at the finish line. We saw many marathon runners cross the finish line. About 5 minutes after the winner crossed the finish line, up popped a surprising name on the scoreboard: Louie Tollemy! Louie had decided to RUN the marathon. He must have been training all during his travels (minus the time of his head injury). We still are not sure WHY he was traveling to all those places, but we'll find out soon. As soon as Louie grabbed some water and warm-up clothes from the runner's tent, we were on our way together.
Uncle GT had his company jet fueled up and ready to go. We all jumped in a cab and rushed to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, we noticed those two mysterious people (a man and a woman) were getting out of the cab behind us! Before we could protect him, they stopped Louie. We were about to call for help, and they flashed badges, explaining that they had been following Louie for the CIA all this time. Uncle GT checked out their badges and made a few calls. Holy Idaho! I can't believe it. They weren't bad guys; the CIA wanted the help of Louie's famous map skills to create some updated maps for them. The agents were ordered to follow Louie until they could talk to him safely. Their mission was even more secret than ours! They just didn't want anyone to know they were CIA agents.
Anyway, next thing you know, we were all on Uncle GT's jet: Geo, me, Louie, Dakota (one of the CIA agents), and Rose (the other CIA agent). We flew back to Washington, D.C., and Louie finally met with the people who wanted him to create the new maps--at BOTH agencies! So this mission has come to an end. Geo and I are flying back to Phoenix tomorrow. Can you figure out what cardinal direction we flew to Washington and which cardinal direction we have to go to get home? About how far is it for us to get home?
Don't worry, we will be updating our blog next week and hopefully answering some questions that you might have. We will probably have some final questions for YOU soon, too.
Uncle GT had his company jet fueled up and ready to go. We all jumped in a cab and rushed to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, we noticed those two mysterious people (a man and a woman) were getting out of the cab behind us! Before we could protect him, they stopped Louie. We were about to call for help, and they flashed badges, explaining that they had been following Louie for the CIA all this time. Uncle GT checked out their badges and made a few calls. Holy Idaho! I can't believe it. They weren't bad guys; the CIA wanted the help of Louie's famous map skills to create some updated maps for them. The agents were ordered to follow Louie until they could talk to him safely. Their mission was even more secret than ours! They just didn't want anyone to know they were CIA agents.
Anyway, next thing you know, we were all on Uncle GT's jet: Geo, me, Louie, Dakota (one of the CIA agents), and Rose (the other CIA agent). We flew back to Washington, D.C., and Louie finally met with the people who wanted him to create the new maps--at BOTH agencies! So this mission has come to an end. Geo and I are flying back to Phoenix tomorrow. Can you figure out what cardinal direction we flew to Washington and which cardinal direction we have to go to get home? About how far is it for us to get home?
Don't worry, we will be updating our blog next week and hopefully answering some questions that you might have. We will probably have some final questions for YOU soon, too.
- Meri
Photos from the Boston Marathon.
Look at the marathon runners!
The CIA agents: Rose and Dakota. This is the only photo we saw of those mysterious people who followed Louie for so long.
Map of United States
Take a look at this map. Can you figure out what cardinal direction we flew going from Boston to Washington, D.C.? Which cardinal direction will we be traveling from Washington, D.C. to Phoenix, Arizona? Look at the map scale. Approximately how many miles will we be traveling going from Washington, D.C. back home to Phoenix?
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