A house of any size requires cleaning and maintenance, even my tiny RV. However, I did not leave it behind on this trip to get away from household chores. My current house, a large tent, also requires my time. Besides cleaning, bedding needs airing out and holes need repairing.
Today turned into a cleaning day, not for any reason other than yesterday was windy and the tent was full of leaves and grit. Of course, zipping the tent doors shut would have helped, but I am a slow learner. The tent was also quite lopsided because the wind pulled up the stakes at one point and I had to re-anchor it the best I could. So I started out by emptying the tent and pulling up the stakes. While the tension bars kept the tent upright, I pulled out all the corners and checked the interior floor to make sure it was smooth again. After a bit more careful pulling everything looked great and I hammered in the stakes again. Tent upright, neatly situated, and secure. Here is the Amazon photo of my tent:
My compact broom and dustpan
Next, I dug out my little dustpan and broom and swept, bending over for quite a while. As I swept up the last bit of gritty sand, the floor looked new. I repeated this effort in the tent’s front vestibule, where, when I was bent over, I noticed a few tears in the tent corners where the vestibule joins the main tent walls. Wind? Poor workmanship? I took some photos, which I plan to send to Coleman. I am in a bind because I can’t send it back to Amazon after 30 days and I really don’t want to risk getting any water inside, even in the outer screen porch/vestibule. It doesn’t’ make sense to ditch the tent and buy another at this point either. That would require me to retrace my steps and find a mid-size town, which is quite a trip for me at this point. I cross into BC in a few days and will soon be in Alaska.
I never want to bad mouth Coleman because I have loved their tents for over 40 years. I even discovered I was pregnant with Kerry in a Coleman tent much like the one I have now. Kerry’s Dad and I were camping on the northern CA coast for the 1985 Thanksgiving holiday weekend. On the day after Thanksgiving, I woke up with an intense urge to vomit and was not certain I could wait until I unzipped the openings. Zip, zip, zip, puke. I made it. I still don’t like turkey much but I never faulted Coleman and went on to buy many other models of the years, for myself and for Kerry.
Back to cleaning day. I shook out Tango’s bed and my sleeping bag/pad and draped them over a chair outside to air out. Next, I wiped off the picnic tablecloth and my stove, then washed breakfast dishes in my soft-sided, folding bucket. I picked up small pieces of trash from here and there and then bundled up the trash.
Perfect for our sponge baths
Tango next! I have found that he gets quite dusty and dirty when camping and that when he pees into a strong wind his urine splatters all over his legs, leaving a yellowish mess on his fur. I dug out my XL adult wipes and rubbed him down, which he loves. First his back and sides, then his neck and the top of his head. I get out a fresh wipe and clean off those pee-stained legs. Rub rub rub. Tango is clean and happy.
I started thinking about the laundry waiting in the car, a mesh bag stuffed full. I scooped up my pillowcase, the fleece blanket that I use as a sheet on my sleeping pad, and my eggplant colored walking shoes that were crusted with grime after traipsing around on rainy, windy, and/or cold days. I had passed a laundromat at an RV park every time I drove into town and knew where to head. I decided at that moment, as I drove away from the campsite, that on laundry days I would first stop at the Safeway (or wherever) for a muffin and coffee as a way of rewarding myself. With that accomplished, I took my treats back to the laundromat and started to sort. I was pleasantly surprised because, even though the RV park was shabby around the edges, the washer and dryers were clean and modern. The laundromat building also housed a shower ($1.50), bathrooms, and a potable water spigot (water is off for the winter at the campground). I had planned to look for water later so was jubilant to find it right here, without undertaking a wild goose chase. As the clothes agitated in the washers, I filled my 4 plastic, 1-gallon jugs.Then I plugged both of my computers into an outlet near the table. Anytime I see an outlet, I take advantage.
Done, done and done. Of course, I need a good cleaning too, but I know of another shower, which was a bit nicer, for only 50 cents and decided to wait. The car, also needs some interior cleaning, but that will have to wait also for the next cleaning day. It is now high noon and time to get serious about the day – next up some reading, writing and relaxing. Wine with dinner.
