The Becky Thatcher Quarter

Last week Marti joined me for a business trip to Iowa. On the way to Quad Cities, we stopped at Hannibal, Missouri, which was the childhood home of Mark Twain. As we went through all the building where he lived (Which by the way is one of the worst attractions we have EVER been to) I made one of my best finds of the year. One of the attractions was the house of girl that inspired Becky Thatcher. Upstairs there was a box where you could put in a quarter and hear the story of Becky Thatcher. As you can see from the picture below (click to make it larger), there was a quarter already half-way in the machine. Let's just say that this whole place was not worth even close to the $8 a head that it cost us, and they surely didn't deserve another quarter.

It wasn't easy getting the quarter out, as there was a lip around the place where the quarter is placed, so I couldn't pop it out. There was a small hole in the back on the coin slot, so I had to take a pen out of Marti's purse, break it apart, and use the tip to push the quarter out. In the end Marti was happy with the find, but I have to say that she was ready to give up half-way through. Shows that I have the true heart of the change searching champion!

Throughout the rest of the trip I found 1 penny at the World's Largest Truck Stop in Iowa, 1 penny at a gas station in Missouri and 1 dime in our apartment complex parking lot.

While in Hannibal, I did use one of their penny squishing machines. I know that some of you collect these, so first one to comment and ask for it, I will gladly send it out. I don't collect them, so I got it for you!


Finally, I leave you with some pictures of the flooding in Northern Missouri. Coming in the next days will be pictures of Grover, Field of Dreams, and some GREAT video from the Zoo.


Total since last post - $0.37
Total for the Race - $268.60