The Only Drive Through Car Wash in Virginia

We've been out of town many of the weekends since returning from the Best Coast for the holidays. Fine with me, as my distaste for DC has grown even more as I prepare for this to be my last year in DC. I guess knowing that you don't have to "make it work" since the days dwindle and the months pass, makes me try less when it comes to tolerating many of the aspects of living here. A perfect illustration of the frustrations (comically- I may add) and typical irritants that drive me up the wall was perfectly summed up last weekend. 

Since we have been out of town so much, I had a super long list of items I needed to take care of. Some hunting for storage boxes for my office (if any one has some ideas, let me know as I've totally struck out), a lamp for my desk, a new pair of jeans, and some random items from Target. A typical errand run, nothing to make me think the day would cause me to rip my hair out. Oh how wrong I was. 

We ended up going out to a mall further out in Virginia so we could return a Christmas gift the BF got. After having a VERY pleasant return experience, we headed out of the mall. Being unfamiliar with the area it was a bit outline our plan of attack, but we quickly found The Container Store where I proceeded to find NOTHING that had a lid, was the right size AND in a color I liked. So we left empty handed.

From all the snow in DC, Delores (the car) was filthy and I could barely see out the windows. We found a gas station were we scrubbed down the windows and filled up. It was also one of those stations where you could go through a drive through automatic car wash, so without hesitation I purchased a car wash. 

We finished filling up the car and went to go get in line. It was a line of like 26 cars! Lined up through the parking lot and even into the street! Just sitting there! We waited and timed a few cars and found that it was about 5-7 minutes for EACH car. 

Thinking we could beat the system we decided to push on with errands and come back later when the line would be shorted later in the day. We head off looking for Old Navy. Only to find that it was in the same mall we had just left after the exchange mission. Fail. 

Next option. Find a Target. New Targets are always hard. Especially if they have a foreign layout. It ruins the enjoyable Target experience for me. I find everything I need, and then realize I've lost the BF. So I marathon walk through the store, peeking down each isle, and no sight of him! I do another lap. Nothing. Thinking he got bored waiting for me while I lamented over lampshades, I decided to just check out. I then realize I left my phone in the car. Which has my cartwheel app on it. Which means I am going to miss out on all those coupons I saved in regards to my shopping list. Total frustration. With no choice, since I still can't find the BF. I just suck it up. Two seconds later. There he is. 

After the less than relaxing Target experience, we try the car wash again. We come around the corner and I kid you not...the line was LONGER!! I mean...is there only ONE automatic car wash in ALL of Virginia?!?

The BF has started getting hungry, so we decide to try one more detour to see if the line goes down. So we head back to the mall (oh yes, the mall that we are at for the return, that we then learned had the Old Navy in) and attempted to go Maggianos. It was like geriatric early and the restaurant didn't even look that busy, but we were told it would be a NINETY minute wait. HA! No. Nope. No way. Not for suburban chain Italian food. We end up at Legal Seafoods (as my sister pointed out "why is it called LEGAL Seafoods, as opposed to ILLEGAL?"), and luckily got some food, but my patience for the day was chaffed to the bare bones. We finish dinner and decide to give the car wash one more time.

We swing around the corner, and as I am sure you are predicting...the line was JUST AS LONG! I screamed, certainly threw in a swear word or two and decided we were just aborting the mission and driving back into the city. 

Needless to say, I am looking forward to NEVER having to deal with shit like this anymore. The day when I can drive to a car wash, and drive out in a sparkly car without a line of a million people will be much appreciated. 

Also, can I hear an amen for being able to have a driveway to wash your car in? Another luxury I can't wait to have. A driveway, any outdoor space to do any of the million things that outdoor space allows you to do. Sigh. The dream lives on.