Night 1: San Diego to Santa Monica, via the LAX overhead, for dinner. Tower was closed for departure at 22:00, so self announced back over LAX. Minor emergency en-route when the paper lampshade my instructor had fashioned to reduce glare from the bare cabin bulb caught fire. Practiced spotting the beacons of the various civil and mil airfields we passed.
Night 2: Three dual circuits followed by five solo "full stop and go's". The runway was long enough to allow this without taxi or back-tracking.
Night3: Nav Ex over the mountains to Palm Springs. After landing we taxied straight back to the hold, following an Alaskan 737 that loomed out of the darkness ahead. Our initial guess from a few hundred metres behind was that it was a light twin! Climbing 10,000 ft from sea level over mountainous terrain in the dark certainly focusses the mind on accurate navigation.
Similar to Shunter, I had never realised how directional runway lights are.