A wonderful Christmas morning - NO Alarm Clock set! Doc and I slept in a little, then did some laundry and putzed around the house.
Mid-morning we headed out for breakfast and PennyFinding. This was a great day to look in parking lots and drive through windows since many of them were deserted. We headed first for the row of fast food places on the busy street near our house. Doc found a penny in the KFC parking area and then I found one at Arby’s. The score was tied: 1 to 1. (Coins #1&2). Doc said he had driven through the Taco Bell parking stalls and did not spot any coins. I then proceeded to find two pennies at that location. (Pennies #3&4). There were three men sitting outside there at a table, so of course I had to Share the Penny Finders story with them and give them a card.
Doc looked briefly for coins at the self serve car wash, but came back empty handed. I looked and found one penny in a wash bay, then Doc found a penny and nickel by the vacuum pumps, then I found another penny as we departed. (Coins #5-8).
We quickly drove/walked through Johnny’s burgers and found zero coins there, so headed next for the 76 gas station. Doc tossed me out to search the gas pump area while he headed for the car wash zone. No coins by the gas pumps, but I found one penny to the right of the door into the convenience store. That led me to looking by the trash can to the left of the door and there was a penny there as well! (Coins #9&10). Doc found two pennies by the vacuum hose area about 3 ft. off the ground on the concrete support. Someone would have to intentionally place them up there. Score 2:2 at that stop. (Coins &11&12). We then spotted another set of vacuum canisters. I collected 7 pennies and two dimes at that spot! Wow. (Coins #13-21).
Next, we collected my mom in order to take her out for brunch at Coco’s. It looked like there might be a waiting line to be seated, so I did a quick walk at the Wendy’s next door. There was a nickel at the first window, two pennies at the second window, then three pennies in various cracks. Doc found one penny as Mom and he were entering the restaurant. (Coins #22-28).
Mom had brought along a copy of yesterday’s newspaper from her area - with an article about the Salvation Army gifting. She asked why I hadn’t told her about this event? Perhaps because she has not been much of a “believer” in my PennyFinding?
What to do after a Christmas brunch? Hmmm. .. Of course! Let’s go Penny Hunting. We’ll show mom just how much fun this is! It takes no preparation, no equipment and lasts as long as you want it to … So off we went!
Where could we search on a Christmas morning? The In-N-Out burger place was just across the parking lot and closed for the day. Very rare. Mom captured her first two pennies there! (Coins #29-30). Doc is a typical guy - he likes to cruise in his spiffy mini-van. So he cruises the parking lots at the breakneck speeds of 3-5 mph. He found the next coin in the Home Goods lot. A Sit-N-Find penny. (Coin #31)
Doc insisted upon driving through the Home Depot contractor’s loading area. He spotted three separate Sit-N-Find pennies and had us ladies fetch those for him. Then I found a penny and a dime under a bench by the entrance. (Coins #32-36).
At this point we began saying, “Quarter, quarter, quarter…” to get a Hit for the Cycle.
We were taking mom home, but could not resist pulling into a 7-11 store on the way. There was one penny on the sidewalk in front of the store and then another in a parking stall. (Coins #37&38). There was also a highway patrolman sitting in his car and mom was walking all around his car in search mode. Probably looked a little strange. There was a huge pickup truck in the stall immediately in front of the store. I had a mild nudge to look there, so I casually glanced that way, but did not pursue it. Doc looked more intently and spotted something shiny. Maybe … so when the truck pulled away, Doc sent Mom in for the kill - and got today’s Quarter! (Coin #39).
It had been one hour since breakfast and so after took Mom home, Doc needed more coffee. Starbucks stop. While he was using the bathroom and getting coffee, I walked. A rosy colored lens for sunglasses caught my eye. I stopped to look at it and saw two pennies next to it. How could I have missed those? I was walking away and shaking my head that I had not seen the pennies until I was literally standing over them. I glanced back in bewilderment - and there was another penny in that spot! Are there places where asphalt pennies just appear? How many times has that happened over this past year? (Coins #40-42).
Doc had Penny Fever pretty intensely this morning. (Plus he was avoiding the tasks we had planned. We were supposed to go straight home and clean up - Doc with his teaching notes from this past term and me with all the PennyFinders piles and projects which are all over the house right now).
Our next stop was the CVS store. Two pennies within the register area (Coins #43&44).
I walked around the shopping center and past a row of newspaper racks. I looked around the racks with the conscious thought, “Why do I bother looking here? Doc finds coins in the stands, but I don’t”. I spotted something shiny way in the corner behind the last stand. It was a quarter! Don’t you love how the Penny Angels like to make me eat my words? (Coin #45)
The In-N-Out diner was closed, so Doc drove up to it. He spotted another Sit-N-Find penny. (Coin #46). He spotted the two embedded pennies (which I had seen on numerous other walks), then a third semi-embedded penny. I planned to leave it. The great Penny Hunter could not. He got out my pocket knife saying “Just a few more cars running over this one and it too will be permanently entombed in the asphalt.” So Doc rescued that penny and brought it home for safe keeping. (Coin #47).
When we got home we took afternoon naps. The dogs loved the snuggle time. Then Doc finally did some cleaning of his office while I did household chores, checked emails, wrote Penny Tales, etc. Nice to have zero appointments today.
Today’s Total: 47 coins P (40), N (2), D (3), Q (2) = $1.30
A Double Hit for the Cycle
Lesson: Some coins are just waiting and ready to be found. They are easy to collect and can immediately be put into action. Others may be stuck in their ways and take some “encouragement” to set them free. Then, they might even take some cleaning with a strong solution before they are ready to be set forth again.
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