Hello internet-land. I don’t have a lot of information to impart to you this week, just a few rambling thoughts on how we’ve been getting ready for camping season.
This morning Lavon and I went down to the laundromat in downtown Silverdale to wash her sleeping bag. I’ve seen various recommendations regarding washing sleeping bags, ranging from be careful to it’s really not a good idea and breaks down the pile (fluffiness) of your bag. But even REI, who was in the latter camp, admits that if your sleeping bag is getting dirty and gross you’d be better off washing it and being clean.
Well, Lavon’s bag wasn’t gross, but it was dirty, and had lost a lot of its pile, so we packed it down to the laundromat where it could take a ride in one of the big front loading washers, since the absence of an agitator would be gentler on the fabric and stitching. While it was washing we popped next door to have breakfast at one of my favorite places to get camping rations: Pip’s Bagels. They make a nice variety of bagels there fresh every day, as well as their own flavored cream cheeses. My favorites include pesto bagels and sundried tomato bagels, and I love their spinach-artichoke cream cheese. If you like sweet bagels (I’m not a big fan myself), the orange cranberry poppy-seed are also quite good.
After breakfast it was back to the laundromat and about an hour in the dryer at low heat with some tennis balls (for the sleeping bag, not me–I don’t think the attendant would have liked it if I’d gotten in the dryer.) I don’t know how much good the tennis balls did as they didn’t have a lot of room to bounce around.
The sleeping bag is now a lot cleaner, and it looks a little fluffier, though it’s kind of hard to tell. I’m sure it will be nicer to sleep in now either way.
Welcome to Loop C 