Monday, June 20, 2005

Today I found $1.41. . . 1 nickel, 3 dimes, 3 quarters, and 31 pennies (the Alaskan change cycle).

I thought today was going to be a hard day to find change, and for the first part I was right. Today I was driving from Anchorage, AK to Fairbanks, AK. The drive is approximately 400 miles and there is nothing in between, except for mountains and scenery. Prior to leaving Anchorage, I found five cents (all pennies) at a KFC drive-thru.

I arrived in Fairbanks late in the evening. My gas was on empty and the first order of business was fixing that. I stopped at a Cheveron, where I paid $2.30 a gallon for regular gas, and found two cents by the gas pump. It was already late, but this is the land of the Midnight Sun and Alaskans don’t seem to sleep this time of year. Joining the fun I took a walk around Fairbanks and found four more cents while exploring the city.

Located just south of Fairbanks is the North Pole, well not really the North Pole, but the city of North Pole, AK. I wanted to go there to send some postcards. While looking for a post office I saw a McDonalds and checked the drive-thru. As I reached down to pick up the change a young employee, still in braces, opened the window and saw me collecting the coinage. He told me he had been meaning to pick it up all day but hadn’t gotten around to it. He seemed happy that I returned a few pennies to him. Still, even after returning the pennies I was left with 31 cents (one quarter, one nickel, one penny).

Two Fairbanks car washes provided my next finds. I found 22 cents (one dime & 12 pennies) at one and three cents at the other. It was at the first car wash where I found the three Canadian quarters and the two Canadian pennies. I was very excited when I saw the quarters, as I thought they were American. Sadly, they were not. However, all Canadian change will be welcomed into my “Not Change Cup.”

I swung into Safeway, a local grocery store in Alaska, to pick up some provisions for the next day. I found a penny in the parking lot and 20 cents (two dimes) in a change counting machine. I thought I had three dimes, but sadly one was Canadian. However, it was ok as one of the dimes was a 1950's silver dime.

Driving to my hotel for the evening I stopped at a scenic overlook and after taking some pictures I found one penny on the ground. At an Asian restaurant where I had a late dinner I found another penny on the ground. My final find of the day was 51 cents at my hotel. I found two quarters in the change return slot of a soda machine and one penny in the hallway by my room.

Totals for the day: $1.41
Race Totals: $90.74