Funniest questions asked by tourists

WASHINGTON – The opportunity to disengage your brain for some true relaxation is one of the greatest attributes of leisure travel.

A fringe benefit for travel industry employees is the comic relief that comes from serving people who sometimes have too much fun to think.

Just ask them about the questions travelers pose when they’re away from home.

The Travel Industry Association of America did ask, as part of the celebration of National Tourism Week.

And the questions are … ?

* Does the river come back to the same spot where we put in? (from a whitewater rafter)

* Does the sun set every night?

* Are the Amish in season?

* How long is a one-day pass good for?

* What time does the 9:00 ferry leave?

* How many miles of undiscovered cave are there?

* Why is the “Closed For Cleaning” sign on the rest room?

* When do they turn off the waterfalls? (at Yosemite National Park)

* How come all of the war battles were fought in National Parks?

* Why don’t you have better marking in the places where trails do not exist?

* Is that the same moon we see in Vermont?

* Does the bus tour go the same places that the boat tour does?

* Why don’t you have more signs saying to keep the area pristine?

* How much does it cost to mail a letter to the United States? (from an American tourist in Hawaii)

* Are you expecting any earthquakes?

* If it rains, will the fireworks be held inside?

* Will I need my passport when I get off the ferry on Nantucket?

* Do you serve breakfast? (at a bed and breakfast)

* Is the horse manure on the square real?

* When your fish die, do you flush them down the toilet like we do at home? (at an aquarium)

* When do the caribou turn into moose?

* What is the altitude? (on a boat passing through the fjords of Alaska’s Inside Passage)

* At what time of the year are the fewest Californians here?

* I’ve heard about the jazz funerals in New Orleans. When can I go to one?