July 5, 2009

View of the day-Sitting under an almost full moon at the internet spot in Great Bend, KS...a nightly ritual.

Since we didn't get to sleep until almost 2am we had a good sleep-in this morning. We went for breakfast at a 'home cooking' restaurant for a pleasant change and although we didn't make it to church, we were there with the church crowd, so it was busy. It's so neat to find the local eateries...very colorful...although some of the local cuisine had us scratching our heads. Good thing there was a great variety of other things to choose from...we tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to veggies. It was a mostly cloudy day which kept the heat down...a really beautiful day.

We went to pick up a few parts to finish off the electrical repairs then it was laundry time again. Marilyn got the loads running while Al tried to do a bit of surfing from the truck...no luck there...so Marilyn took him back to the camper while she finished at the laundromat.

When laundry time comes, it is a matter of loading up the hamper and making sure you have the detergent, softener, dryer sheets, quarters, etc. The introduction of the 'downy ball'- the gizmo that lets you put the softener in the wash load so you don't have to hang around and wait to add the stuff, was great for laundry day...not that it takes time...it takes 'timing'. Marilyn purchased 6 downy balls so that when laundry time came around she could fill 6 washers at the same time then go read the 1987 issue of Better Homes and Gardens that is usually sitting in the laundromat. The problem comes when we get back to Canada, our washer has a dispenser in it, so there is no need for the balls...they get put away and unfortunately they stay there...Marilyn forgets to bring them the next year and needs to purchase more. This year a dozen of them came along for the ride...Marilyn was quite pleased with herself...but...in most of the laundromats, she uses the double or triple front loaders, so the balls are not needed. Still they get hauled around.

Here is a plug for something even greater than the downy ball...Purex Complete 3 in 1...talk about a great invention...Billy Mays would have loved it. No more jugs of detergent and softener, no downy balls and dryer sheets...this does it all. It's like a triple thick dryer sheet with detergent and softener embedded in it, so you toss one or two into the wash, it uses the soap, then the softener is activated after the spin cycle, then you toss your whole load of laundry into the dryer and it has an antistatic strip that is activated by the heat of the dryer. Is that brilliant?! And it actually gets the clothes clean...an extra bonus. I do hope it is available in Canada, or I might be importing a pile of it.

Enough of the infomercial...

While we were at Orschelns, looking for our wiring needs, we ran into a local custom harvester that we had met at the US Custom Harvesters meeting back in March. A faithful follower of the blog, she was there with her three children who were doing some shopping of their own while we got caught up on our respective harvest runs to date. We hope the kids win big with their 4-H efforts at the upcoming county fair, so they can purchase the emerald and sapphire John Deere belt that can't be lived without. Nice belt...not sure about the color...

Marilyn had to do another Walmart run...to return the shoes she bought for Al and get stocked up on the pop that was on sale for the holiday weekend...seems as we move further north, the prices get higher...won't see the 24 pks below $5 again.

We went out for supper to Montana Mikes with our farmers and their families...we've got to have steak before we leave a stop...and it was very tasty-as real meat usually is. Back at the camper we got settled up and then planned what to do tomorrow until 'time to leave' arrives at 2pm. Strategic weight scale timing for the border...not that we're overweight, we just don't want to stop...it cuts into the amount of daylight driving we can get done. Oh, well, shut up and drive...

And now it's time to find some internet...