out on the road there's a routine to adhere to, both because peregrination demands it, and because a routine makes it easier to manage the many details of "stuff" that has to be tended to.
so.
for your amusement, i'll try to reconstruct my typical day for you, in handy list form:
waking
trying to figure out where i am (the better i have slept, the less likely i am to know my location or orientation.)
waking prayer (if i can conclude my prayer without lapsing back into sleep, i get up.)
move "downstairs" into the driver's seat, leaving bedding open and unfolded.
turn on car and check temperature. if there is frost or much condensation, the car is left running until these clear up.
put on shoes, which are located on driver's side floor.
move driver's seat to daytime position, suitable for driving.
remove various objects from top of closed computer and move them to day positions: unplug earbuds from ipod and roll them into their case, which goes in the front pocket of the blue bag, on the passenger's side floor. power cords not presently being used go into cord bag. food items not consumed during sleep replaced in their proper bags. wrappers from food items consumed in sleep put in trash bag. cell phone located (it's somewhere in the bed) and placed with ipod in center console. water bottles (2) put in daytime positions, one handy and one not. if a pizza box is present, it moves to the back seat awaiting final repositioning.
open and plug in computer, replacing appropriate power cords into appropriate outlets. be sure to wedge the door over the power converter open so it won't overheat and blow a fuse.
plug in ipod to charge.
emerge from driver's side door.
open driver's side rear door.
move green food bag and green kitchen bag to temporary location.
remove breakfast drink from cooler and place it in cupholder.
zip up cooler.
move cooler from the ground beside the car to its daytime position behind the driver's seat, on top of the map bag.
replace the green bags around the cooler.
open tailgate and other car doors.
previous day's laundry is sorted. outer layers clean enough to wear again are left on the left side of the cargo space. dirty laundry is put in the laundry bag.
at back of car, strip off any shirts worn during the night.
put on a clean bra and then put the bottom layer, short-sleeve shirt back on.
other shirts still clean enough for sleeping are buried in the rear of the cargo space, to the far right.
shirt(s) appropriate for the day's weather are selected and pulled on.
tights or other leggings worn in sleep are removed and put with sleeping shirts.
pants (and long johns, if cold enough) are selected and applied.
pocket items (lip balm, pens, folding money and such) taken from dash and put in pockets.
sleeping hat is removed and put in the pocket on the back of the passenger's seat.
daytime hat is recovered and put on.
change from soft shoes to today's hiking boots.
a jacket (raingear or standard geocaching jacket) may be put on at this or any other time, as needed.
stove disassembled and parts stowed in green kitchen bag.
computer turned on.
bedding folded up. pillows covered.
pizza box, if present, is moved to top of bedding just behind passenger's seat.
laundry and clothing bags are redistributed to daytime positions, spread across back of car.
towel(s) spread out over gear bags to dry.
drive or walk to nearest toilet. at any point where gas or groceries are purchased, also make use of available restroom. do not buy anything from businesses without public restrooms.
drive to nearest wifi access point, check emails. if no open network is nearby, this step may be skipped until one is available. this action may also be repeated as the day goes on.
select day's first destination.
while driving, drink breakfast.
geocache. or not, depending on availability of distractions. mostly geocache.
at 1000h, stop for morning prayer. if time of prayer arrives while driving, stop at nearest convenient place. if no place is available (interstate driving comes to mind) turn off radio or other distraction and have prayer while driving. if time and place permit, read a page or two of scripture.
if breakfast beverage bottle is empty, (i only drink half at a time) it goes to trash. if not empty, replace in cooler.
resume geocaching.
at some point in the day the radio s being used instead of the ipod, unplug ipod and use outlet to charge flashlight.
prayer at noon, followed by
lunch. if a cold pizza is present, two slices are eaten. if a pizza is not present, a bowl of cheerios is eaten.
if eating cheerios:
assemble spiffy origami cereal bowl.
pour cereal (two kinds) and milk.
find spork. not the usual kind, but the advanced kind, with spoon on one end and fork/knife combo on other.
when done eating, pour out leftover milk, unfold and rinse bowl and utensil, repacking the kitchen and food bags.
resume caching.
afternoon prayer at 1400.
resume caching.
evening prayer at 1700, followed by
dinner. if cold pizza is present, eat that. if pizza is not present, find a suitable place from which to buy ether another pizza, or other grocery items.
find nearest open network, and check email.
return to nearest available toilet. sometimes this is at the campsite, and sometimes it is several miles away.
return to campsite.
now comes the REAL fun:
if it is cold, turn on the heat.
if the campsite is empty, choose a podcast to listen to while preparing for bed. this minimizes the number of things you think you hear out in the darkness.
remove SD card from camera, and transfer photos to computer.
write today's caches (in chronological order) in black notebook.
shut down, close, and unplug computer.
plug cellphone charger into outlet previously used by computer.
if there is a pizza box present that still contains pizza, put it on top of the closed computer.
if an empty pizza box is present, place it and other paper waste in campsite fire ring and burn.
take out night items and arrange on top of either computer of pizza box (see above):
water bottles moved from daytime places
bible and other reading
ipod and earbuds
pretzels and granola bars from food bags.
open driver's side back door.
take stove and cook pot from kitchen bag and assemble stove, placing it on the ground in a suitably flat place left of car.
open tailgate on way to passenger side where both doors there are opened.
take out two water jugs (three if more water will be needed) and return to stove area.
unless the "WASH ONLY" jug is full (it nearly never is), fill the quart sized cookpot with water from one of the other jugs.
the lid to the wash jug goes on the rear door hadle so it can be found later.
light stove (lighter located driver's side rear door handle) and put water on to boil.
return to passenger side front and fill water bottles with potable water from jug(s).
replace potable jug(s) on passenger side rear floor.
brush teeth.
sort out meds. if the hour is close enough to bedtime, take all of them. if there remains a couple of hours before sleep, take only non-sedative meds, leaving sedatives in med cup, located in front passenger side door.
sort out sleeping clothes, being certain to choose a clean pair of socks suitable for tomorrow's shoes and weather.
take slip back clogs and put them on the ground near the driver's side rear door. move tomorrow's boots to outside position (alternate boots by day), leaving room for today's boots in inside position of driver's side rear floor, where shoes are kept.
empty pockets, putting items on dash.
take flashlight from front console and place in pants pocket.
check on the water to see if it's boiling or not. probably it isn't.
evening prayer. if appropriate to place and weather, light a candle.
keep watching to see when water boils. it's cold and dark out, and you don't want to waste gas. a watched pot does, in fact, boil.
when water boils, turn off stove.
put on heavy duty workgloves that serve as potholders. (kitchen bag)
carefully pour hot water into wash jug. since it already had some cold water in it, what results is water of a comfortable temperature with which to wash.
depending on the weather, these next steps may have to be executed very quickly or especially vigorously or they become excessively uncomfortable:
strip off all clothing above the waist. any clothing that is excessively dirty or that has been in contact with poison ivy is turned inside-out immediately.if there are people present nearby, a changing skirt may be used to protect their sensitive eyes.
working from top down:
pour heated water on head.
using a tiny bit of shampoo, wash hair (there's not very much hair to wash). if it is unbearably cold or rainy and/or i haven't broken a sweat during the day, this step may be omitted on alternate nights.
using only as much soap as sticks to my hand in one pass over the bar, wash face. on each step warm water is poured so that it flows over exposed body parts.
similarly wash arms, chest, pits, anything i can reach. pants and boots are left on so far in order to keep feet and soft shoes dry, as well as for warmth.
vigorously towel off.
put on first sleeping layer: lightweight short sleeve shirt. unless it's REALLY cold out, the hat does not go on yet in order to allow the hair to dry.
the flashlight is removed from the pants pocket and retuned to its place in the center console.
change from boots to soft shoes and remove pants and, if present, long johns. keep sock on; they will absorb nearly all of the stray water thereby keeping shoes dry.
wash squishy bits, then legs.
if it's saturday, shave legs. on saturday nights no portion of the washing-up may be skipped for any reason. to come to church sunday properly washed up is an offering.
one foot at a time (right first) remove dirty sock, wash and dry foot, put on clean sock.
put on all remaining bedclothes: one lightweight layer in warm weather, a light weight and a midweight layer in cool weather, and a lightweight, a midweight and a heavyweight layer including a hood in very cold weather.
all gear is removed from bedding and piled up in the cargo space, on the driver's side.
towel(s) are spread out over the gear bags.
the cooking pot is turned upside-down and put over the stove.
one last check is made to be certain that gear is appropriately stowed.
starting at the front passenger side, the doors are closed. the last door is never closed unless the driver's door is open, or unless the keys are IN MY HAND. voice of experience.
once inside car, lock doors.
push driver's seat all the way back and lean it as far flat as it will go. this makes it easier to get in and out of the back.
turn on car one last time to check temperature.
apply moisturizer to hands.
turn off all lights besides dome light.
unplug cell phone from charger, placing it in the outer folds of bedding. the phone is kept with me at night because it has on it the only clock i can see without my glasses.
remove power converter and other cords from console compartment and close compartment.
unplug ipod from car, plugging in earbuds.
conclude "downstairs" portion of the day, retiring "upstairs" to the "loft". the sleeping area is only nine inches higher than the driver's seat, but it still feels to me like going upstairs for the night.
if all meds have not been taken, take remaining ones.
settle comfortably into bedding.
if it's early enough, read. if not, choose an appropriate podcast to listen to while falling asleep.
have a few last words of prayer.
sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment