Visiting A Car Wash

I don't remember what year it was that I last went through a car wash, but I think I remember what decade it was.  I'm pretty sure our kids were little so it had to be in the 90's.  I went to the car wash so the kids could enjoy going through it, not really for the car to get cleaned.

I know, going through a car wash is a very normal thing that some people do all the time.  I've even seen signs that say something like, "Unlimited Car Washes for $30."  I also remember thinking, how do you spend $30 a month on washing the car? I don't think I've spent that much for a "real" car wash in my entire life.

Since the 90's I've been on the road driving a lot, so I guess my car somehow gets dirty.  For me, the car is dirty in three stages.  Stage one is that it's kind of dirty and I really don't even notice it.  Stage two is it's dirty and I'm wondering when the rain will come and clean it.  Stage three is that I'm thinking something has to happen soon, because it's starting to look bad.

I would clean my car in two ways.  One, the old fashioned way-with a hose, bucket of water and some soap(if I can find it) and I spend a good twenty minutes getting it semi-clean.  Two, I would go to the self-cleaning car wash and put 8-10 quarters in and spend a few minutes soaping it and rinsing it off and it looks pretty good.  I probably did each of these 3-7 times a year, but I never counted either of them.

Down here in South Carolina we're renting a condo and we don't have a hose or a bucket.( I admit I have cleaned off some dirt on the car with a paper towel a couple times)  Rain has helped occasionally, but my car was in stage 3 of dirty this past week.

I could not find a self-cleaning car wash yet, so I finally decided yesterday to find a reasonable priced car wash and get it cleaned.  I drove past and through several places until I found one advertising $5 and I pulled in.  I noticed there were no cars in line like the other places, but I wasn't concerned.  When I pulled up, one lane said it was closed and the other one had a rope in front of it, but I wasn't concerned.  I almost put the $5 in the machine, but decided to check inside the convenience store in the same lot.  It was all closed, now I was concerned.

I drove a little further and found what I was looking for.  A group of 5-6 people were washing and drying cars for $5 at a gas station and I paid and came out with a clean car.

It doesn't really qualify as a car wash, but it was very close.  I'm really happy I went yesterday, because they wouldn't have been out there today in the rain.  I'll be looking for those self cleaning places or I can wait to get a hose and a bucket when our house is done in 7 weeks.