One chore on these trips I absolutely hate is having to do the laundry. It is time consuming, when I would rather be on the road. Of course, there are two alternatives for that: take more clothes and do laundry fewer times, but that adds more stuff to my to-take list and space and then requires more time to do the laundry when I do it, or just wear the same clothes longer, which I do, and only I suffer the consequences, but there are none since I never complain. So, this year I decided to upgrade my cotton laundry bag to a nylon one that would wear better on the trip, so I ordered four large nylon laundry bags, red, black, and two in yellow (the latter for reasons I do not understand) so I could pick ann choose. Well, they arrived two days ago and as it turns out, they are way too large. I did not measure them because I could not have imagined anyone ever needing a laundry bag as big as these are (as any single person would probably have though). Since they cost only $4.50 each, I decided to keep them instead of tossing them out or returning them (my time was more valuable than the cost of returning them). I was sure someday I would find a use for them.
Well, I found that use. As I was storing the four bags for some future need (as some people are wont to do these days), I was ready to walk away, but said, “Hold it. Wouldn’t they be good for another problem I have?” That other problem is washing Donner’s two beds which, as you might imagine, get rather dirty on these trips, not to mention other sensual manifestations besides the visual (think nose). The only thing I hate worse than doing the laundry is cleaning Donner’s dog beds. So, after cutting off an inch on all sides of the foam inside his two beds, now all if have to do is put his beds inside three of these laundry bags and Donner always has a clean bed and I only have to wash the laundry bags they are in. I ordered two more bags (on Amazon, and they arrived just now) so his two beds can be coordinated like those Matryoshka dolls: bed inside a yellow laundry bag, inside a red laundry bag, inside a black laundry bag, with Donner on top. My third goal on this trip will be to never to have to wash his real beds. By the way, he has two beds because I set one up for him in the passenger seat and he has one in the rear. He also has an elevated mesh training bed, which he just absolutely loves to rest in at a camp. It lets him feel at home. I have one bed, a thin camping mattress, which he always takes up residence on before I get into the tent.
Incidentally, some of you might be wondering why I take along stuff that takes up a nine-page To-Take list (see below)? The answer is: to have it there when I needed it; to know that I will have it there if I needed it; and I absolutely hate (as much as doing the laundry) having to stop somewhere to buy something I should have taken. It wastes time that I could be spending on the road and walking around a Walmart can be an eyesore when I am sued to seeing nature and healthy people (have you been in one lately?). I think over the nine trips so far, in addition to replacing supplies, I have bought very few items. Perhaps a camera once, maybe a few us and bolts and a new V-engine, which would have been tough for me to lug along.
Ed and Donner
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