Thought you knew geography, right?

Could you find your way around the United States? Will Satnav help?

Complicated answers to simple questions.

1. If you're in Portland and facing the ocean, which way are you looking, west or east?
   It depends. If you're in Portland, Maine, you'd be facing east. If it's Portland, Oregon, west. If you're in Portland, Kentucky, we'd like to know what you're doing there.
2. How long will it take you to drive from Bangor, Maine, to St Augustine, Florida?
   Depends on how often you stop for gas. Oh, okay. Google claims it will take 20 hours 38 minutes, but personally, plan some bathroom breaks. That's over 1400 miles, folks.
3. Is it true that developers are planning to build a megamall in the Grand Canyon?
   No. For once, the rumours of commercial tastelessness are exaggerated. There is a dispute involving developers, the Navajo Nation, and the National Park Service about who's going to do what near the sacred confluence, but nobody's planning to put a Walmart in the canyon. Snopes.com says it's not true, and that's good enough for us.
4. What can you see if you stand at the base of Ruby Falls, besides water?
   Er, rocks. The falls are inside Lookout Mountain in Tennessee. The 145-foot waterfall is at the end of a stream 1120 feet underground.
5. How many countries border the United States?
   Two if by land… Of course, there's a border situation with Russia, since we can shout 'Your mother wears army shoes!' across the Bering Strait. And then there are all those guano islands…let's stick to land borders.
6. What is the highest point in the US?
   Mt McKinley. Before you ask, it's 20,237 feet, it's in Alaska (which means it once belonged to Russia), and it's a granitic pluton. Aren't you impressed?
7. What's the deepest lake?
   Crater Lake, in Oregon. 1,943 feet deep, and very clear. Created by a collapsing volcano. How cool is that?
8. If you're boating on the Mississippi, what state are you in, technically?
   Bliss or alarm, depending on the current. But the Mississippi River passes through ten states, so it sort of…depends. Yeah, that's it.
9. Which land border is longer, the US/Canada or the US/Mexico?
   A no-brainer, this. Canada's border is much longer. Canada/US=5,525 miles. Mexico/US=1,989 miles, according to Homeland Security. And they should know: they parol every ever-lovin' inch of it.
10. If you travel to the Texas Hill Country, should you go armed?
    Well, that's up to you, but they might not appreciate it at the B&B. At 31,000 square miles, the scenic area is MUCH bigger than Yorkshire, Prof. But then, everything in Texas is. It's a unique environment, culturally quirky and full of native German speakers (and German cuisine), and yes, bristling with hostelries.

Now, you knew all that, right? Simple. After all, it's not as if it's a large country or anything…

Try these titbits out on the know-alls in the pub. And for next week, will some kind Canadian volunteer to stump us all with their home knowledge? We'd appreciate it.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

20.07.15 Front Page

Back Issue Page