Welcome to Paradise: Terry and Peggy Go For A Ride

When the boys were young, we hit upon this method of packing that hs served us very, very well when traveling in the car. rather than each person pack their own bag, thus requiring us to unload 6 bags every night, we pack a bag for each night, with each bag holding 6 outfits (1 for each of us), plus another bag with the ‘every night’ stuff like toiletries, books to read and so on. That way, we only have to unload 2 bags a night. We stuff the dirty clothes back into the bag, and that way we know not to grab that bag the next night. A long time ago I bought a whole bunch of humongous canvas bags from Hobby Lobby, they had them marked down to $2, and that’s what we used. Now we use the $1 totes from Walmart, you know, the reusuable grocery bags. So they aren’t exactly Coach Luggage, but eh, when you’re staying at the Super Eight and not The W, they’re used to it and who cares anyway? They’re soft and squish down nicely into Carmina’s trunk. They hold 2 changes of clothes perfectly, and the toiletries go into a bright green bag that is easily identified.

Now, once upon a time I was watching this travel program on How To Pack. This professional person that people actually HIRE to come into their house and pack their clothes for a trip (can you imagine?) was showing how to pack clothes for a Wrinkle Free Trip. Well, this was assuming you could go to TravelSmithand lay out $100 for a blouse, but anyway…she recommended rolling your clothes instead of folding the. So, I started doing that. It was great for the kids, I would take a pair of jeans, and roll a t-shirt, underpants and socks all up in a log, so all they had to do was grab it and there they were, all they needed. Now I do that with our clothes, they aren’t exactly wrinkle free, but then we tend to wear all-cotton instead of the strange microfiber whatever that Travelsmith uses. Besides, most motels have an iron. Lacking that, a steamy shower will do, or, in my case, just wear wrinkles as a fashion statement. If Eva Longoria can do it, so can I.

Anyway, today is Packing Day. And Take The Trash to the Dump Day, And Mow The Grass Day. It is, essentially, a 42 hour day and I am trying to fill it. With packing and mowing and trash hauling. Plus a visit to Mistress Brittany for a back stretching session and some shoulder-pulling-hand-numbing stuff. I’ll probably have everything done by noon and there’s no new Netflix movies to watch.

I may regret it later, but I am packing linen for the trip. White linen tops, lovely for keeping the sun off my shoulders yet breezy and cool in the top-down summer heat. Cool and just about threadbare linen pants, flip flops to slip on and off in the car, and cool cotton sport bras that don’t exactly keep the girls looking lovely but are fantasticly designed for sweat issues.