Day 17: Back at San Francisco Bay

As announced yesterday, today was my last full day in the USA. And unfortunately, it was probably the least eventful one. Because today was only meant to cover the 315 kilometers from my hotel in Oakhurst on the edge of Yosemite National Park to my last hotel in Burlingame near San Francisco Airport.

I mean, if the breakfast consisting of hot potatoes, bacon, and coffee was one of the day's highlights, that doesn't speak very much for excitement, does it?

But it wouldn't be my highly creative travel diary if I hadn't come up with something anyway.

Hereby I present: The great Learts USA travel diary quiz.

There are 10 more or less difficult questions with 4 possible answers each, all based on information from the various blog posts of this trip. It's best to take a piece of paper and a pen and write down the letter of your chosen answer for each question. At the end of today's post, there will be the solutions. The only rule is that you naturally must not cheat by looking in the old posts. In addition, I would be very happy if you would write to me afterwards on WhatsApp, Instagram, or SchülerVZ how many questions you were able to answer correctly. Let's get started:

Question 1: Which music genre did the male group mainly play during the train journey from Bremen to Hamburg?

a) Schlager

b) Rock

c) Techno

d) Charts

Question 2: What temperature (in Celsius) did the big thermometer at the Visitor Center in Death Valley show?

a) 42 degrees

b) 44 degrees

c) 46 degrees

d) 48 degrees

Question 3: Which star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame did I NOT photograph?

a) Chuck Norris

b) Walt Disney

c) Harrison Ford

d) Michael Jackson

Question 4: In what order did I enter the 4 states on this trip for the first time?

a) Utah-Arizona-California-Nevada

b) California-Utah-Arizona-Nevada

c) California-Arizona-Nevada-Utah

d) California-Arizona-Utah-Nevada

Question 5: What did I collect on this trip?

a) Keychains

b) Caps

c) Card games

d) Stuffed animals

Question 6: What is the name of the Indian tribe whose reservation the Monument Valley is located in?

a) Sioux

b) Navajo

c) Iroquois

d) Cherokee

Question 7: What was NOT one of the reasons why my seat on the outbound flight was the worst in the entire plane?

a) Screaming child sitting next to me

b) couldn't properly observe Greenland from above

c) constantly heard the loud toilet flush

d) I was always the last stop for food/drinks trolley

Question 8: Which series did Alex and I watch being filmed in Hamburg?

a) Die Pfefferkörner

b) Notruf Hafenkante

c) Soko Hamburg

d) Game of Thrones

Question 9: In which of these cities did I NOT stay overnight on this trip?

a) Santa Barbara

b) Lake Havasu City

c) Big Water

d) Pahrump

Question 10: What was the name of the Uber driver who talked to me on the drive to Hollywood?

a) Karma

b) Khosrow

c) Pavlov

d) Abdel

As I said, the solutions will be revealed at the end. Now let's continue with the daily recap.

The last long drive today was quite uneventful and didn't have any real highlights to offer.

However, I was able to make use of a good rule again. Today, this is the topic of the very last edition of:

Driving in the USA *Intro-Music*

Today, it's about right turns on red lights. What is only allowed with a green arrow in Germany is generally always possible in America. The only conditions are that you stop at the red light beforehand and make sure that the way to the right is actually free. However, at some mostly large and complicated intersections, there is also a sign saying 'No Turn on Red'. Then it is also prohibited to turn right on red here. Overall, I really like the rule and it has sometimes saved me a lot of time. Of course, this only works with attentive drivers.

That was the last edition of Driving in the USA *Outro-Music*

Once arrived at the hotel, I was able to check in right away and the professional hotel review says this time: room large, moderately clean, and quite okay.

But now to the important question: Was there an ironing board and iron? And the answer is again yes! So the final score is 9/12 (75%). And that means we have a winner. With an incredible tip of 77%, the winner is: My friend and fellow student Marco!

As a prize, I just ordered this beautiful keychain for 8€. (Should arrive before the start of the trimester, Marco)

After that, I had to freshen up Engelbert for the emotional separation tomorrow. First, we went to the car wash, where he was mostly cleaned by hand by professional car washers. I don't think I had to do that, but I don't think it looks good to hand over the rental car dirty. But what I definitely had to do was refuel afterwards, because the rental agreement requires it to be returned with a full tank.

After that, the obligatory program of the day was done. Since I had hardly taken any photos until then, I took a little walk to the coast of the San Francisco Bay. From there, you had a nice view of the taking off and landing airplanes of the nearby airport.

That's it for today. Tomorrow at 2:10 p.m. local time, my plane (hopefully) will depart back to Germany. Of course, there will also be a report of the return trip, but it will be published half a day or a whole day later than usual, as I will write it at home. For the last time from America, I wish you a good night or a good morning. See you then.

Quiz solutions:

Question 1: c)

Question 2: b)

Question 3: d)

Question 4: d)

Question 5: a)

Question 6: b)

Question 7: c)

Question 8: b)

Question 9: d)

Question 10: b)

Leart