您能相信开车穿越美国只比步行穿越美国稍快一点而已吗？这是发生在美国陆军上校艾森豪身上的真实情况。1919年夏季，他自愿参加美军的横贯大陆车队 (U.S. Army Transcontinental Motor Convoy) ，旅程起自华盛顿特区，终于加州旧金山。这趟总共动员了近300人及几十台卡车、摩托车及拖拉机旅程的主要目的在于决定一机动化的军事考察队是否有可能穿越大陆。这并不是一项有把握的赌注，因为超过密西西比河以外的乡村道路变化很大，路面常会消失不见。1919年时，假如您想要到全国各地旅行，最好是搭乘火车！

Can you imagine driving across the United States only a little faster than you can walk? That's what Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower did in the summer of 1919, when he volunteered for the U.S. Army Transcontinental Motor Convoy from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco, California. A major purpose of this journey of nearly 300 men and several dozen trucks, motorcycles, and tractors was to determine whether it was possible for a motorized military expedition to cross the continent. It was no sure bet, because in rural areas beyond the Mississippi River, the roads varied from poor to nonexistent. If you wanted to get around the country in 1919, you took the railroad!

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