Back home. A short resumé

Awake early on Thursday morning, much too early, though we could almost see the airport runway from our Sheraton hotel, where we had been upgraded to a suite with club access. Had a quick breakfast in this lounge before we departed to return our rental car and to check in. All went quick and uncomplicated, PDX is a very convenient, not too big and crowded, modern airport (left photo). 

Have driven about  720 mi (1.150 km) in 12 days. Adding the 650 mi. in CA it's almost half the amount we drive in Germany in a whole year! Loved our first car, the hybrid Toyota Prius (photo below, right), after having figured out to switch off all the beeping and assistants. Our second, the Chrysler 300 (left photo), was a sturdy, heavy, old-fashioned, clumsy, gas-guzzler. But, not many choices at rental companies currently, and, rates are pretty high, too.

For a change it didn’t rain in Portland this morning (photo), but,,, it rained in San Francisco, where we changed planes. Our direct flight in the Dreamliner (B787) took off about 40 minutes late. Other than on the way over more seats were taken, but fortunately, still always one seat was kept empty in a 3-seat-row and therefore much more comfortable. Flight was smooth, meals sparse (photo belows shows "breakfast"), masks annoying. We arrived almost on-time, but luggage delivery took 45 min. in MUC!

It’s been an interesting trip, very diverse, first California, then Reno/NV and beautiful Oregon - one of our all-time favorite states - at the end. Some heat, in general cooler than we expected, and, more rain in Oregon.

COVID is still an issue, but mask mandates are slowly lifted everywhere in the U.S. – it started in NV. Other then in Germany, Americans still trust a lot in desinfection, wiping down surfaces etc., but don’t mind shaking hands or hugging in general. Many, or rather most, trust the light-weight surgery masks or other textile masks, KN 95 (FFP2) is not worn by the general public. I am not judging whether this is wrong or right, just noticing. Testing stations have become pretty rare, too.

With the exception of San Francisco at the very beginning of our trip, no vaccination passes were necessary to visit restaurants or attractions/museums. 

A negative effect of COVID is the change in service and the lack of personel everywhere! Probably a world-wide phenomenon, but since service was always so excellent in the U.S. more noticeable there. In hotels it’s common not to have daily housekeeping service anymore. Sometimes - which is fair - they tell you at check-in that you need to call if you want service, or, where you can get fresh towels and such. In other hotels they don't. Don't get me wrong, don't mind to make my bed, and fully understand the problem, but a basic service is expected, considering room rates stayed the same or are even higher. Hotels which formerly offered breakfast included in the rate, don’t do it anymore or in a minimalized form.

In restaurants – many times operating with reduced hours, e.g. only Thursday-Sunday or only till 8 or 9 pm – they can only serve so many people as two or three servers or few people in the kitchen can handle. That means, that sometimes a restaurant is half-empty but will tell you to wait for 15 minutes or so because the kitchen is not able to handle more orders. Museums and attractions also often operate shorter hours.

To us the U.S. isn’t quite ready yet for the sometimes over-critical, demanding and picky German/ European travelers. On the other hand, Germans aren't ready to travel overseas yet neither. Though the "high-risk status" of the U.S. was lifted recently (meaning that no extra health insurance is necessary anymore), the testing regulations (24 hours before departure) are still valid as well as the mask mandate on planes, which is pretty annoying on an 11-hour flight like we had to/from SFO. But, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and, hope that the situation with "normalize" soon again!