Monday, September 16, 2013

Vacation Change

Finding change is one of my favorite things. You know this. Amplify this love by the how great it is to be on vacation and you've got my blog post. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I just got back from one vacation and I'm already going on another. That was either a dumb move or brilliant on my part, I'm not sure.

It was brilliant.

Anyhoozle, Dan and I went to the Pacific Northwest hitting British Columbia, Portland and Seattle. All told I found  between $0.20 and $0.22 depending on the exchange rate. Not too shabby!

The Dime
I didn't see it first, Dan did. I thought he was having a conniption of some sort. His eyes were bugged out and kept darting from me to the floor. So I followed his gaze and saw what I shall claim to be the shiniest dime of all time. A Canadian (eh) Dime. It was under the chair of the table next to me. Unoccupied, fortunately, I dove under the chair and grabbed my first foreign coin score.

The First Penny
A few days later we were in Portland heading off to breakfast when I caught sight of a rather unsightly penny on the sidewalk. I *almost* didn't want to put it in my pocket but Dan washed it in a puddle for me. True Love.  

The Second Penny AKA The Penny I Didn't Pick Up
Yes you read that right. I did NOT pick up this penny. It was clean, shiny even, but, I left it where it lay. I think it was heads down but even that isn't a deal breaker for me. The real reasons I didn't pick up Mr. Lincoln was that A) it was right by somebody's foot in a crowded Apple store and B) I saw it as a good luck sign, not a coin to pocket.

The day before my phone suffered minor water damage on a hike. It was functional, but, the flash was shorting out. The Apple store said it would continue to function for an untold amount of time and that replacing my phone would be $200. I saw the penny and knew I had luck on my side. 

My phone still hasn't died and, in fact, the light has turned off!

The Nickel
After a 8 mile hike through part of the Columbia River Gorge we headed to an overcrowded, tourist favorite: Maltnomoah Fall. The waterfall is stunning and so incredibly tall. I found the nickel on our way out.

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Penny
After buying the subway fair from the kiosk I notice a penny at my feet. And three of his friends off to the left. Cha-Ching!

I didn't come close to breaking even on what was spent on this vacation, but, I'm convinced I came out ahead(s up).