It was time to come down from the mountain. We arose early, finished the perishable foods from the fridge (i.e. leftovers), packed the car, and were on the road by 8:08 (the goal was 8 am). Two coins were found when we stopped for petrol (Coins #1&2)
Doc navigated us to an IHOP - Merril’s favorite restaurant for breakfast. We had only driven past this restaurant once, yet he was able to find it easily. He even managed to drive by a number of Starbucks without detouring. I had found my two pennies, but our guests had not found coins yet, so we wandered through the closed Wienerschnitzel drive thru and found a penny. (Coin #3) The manager, Jim, who was cleaning and tidying the areas surrounding the store noticed us. He approached saying, “people usually don’t take quite such an interest in my store, may I help you?” So we explained ourselves and gave him a Penny Card. Then we searched the Taco Bell drive thru where Merril found a barely visible vertical penny in a muddy crack. Yuck! (Coin #4). Meanwhile Doc was sitting inside the IHOP enjoying his coffee.
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The goal today was to conquer the Desert Hills Premium Outlet Center where Shirlee and Merril managed to visit 30-40 of the 130+ shops. I don’t know where they get the energy. Doc stayed near the coffee shop and I carried the bags. They went in stores with names I’d never heard of. There were shoes for $400 and handbags over $1000. This was definitely not the WalMart or thrift stores where I usually get my clothes. OK. I’ll confess. I splurged and bought two silk tops for $10 each and some $2 hand lotions for Doc.
We took a shopping break to have lunch with Doc then resumed shopping. Merril even purchased a new Samsonite suitcase to haul some of the goods. We left the complex around 5 p.m. with bags and bags of trinkets and lotions. (Gifts to ship home to Australia). Throughout our travels we also had collected seven pennies and one dime (Coins #5-12). The ladies had “shopped until they dropped”.
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Everyone was exhausted and glad to get home. The evening was spent washing many loads of laundry, catching up on Penny Pal emails, assessing the status of the construction project, reviewing details for the solar car reunion and fine tuning the itinerary for the remainder of the trip.
Total: 12 Coins P (11), N (0), D (1), Q (0) = $0.21
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