Laundry while Traveling

How do you pack for 6 people for a 2-week roadtrip? And what do you do with all that laundry?

 

I packed enough shorts/skirts for half the days we planned to be gone, because really, you can wear those a second time.  I packed a little more than half the days shirts, anticipating getting to a laundry somewhere mid-point.  And enough underclothes for the duration, just in case we didn't.

 

Check your next hotel - especially if you are in a suite style hotel. There's most likely a laundry room that you've never paid attention to, and if you had, wondered "who does their laundry at a hotel?" That would be folks like me, a long long way from home.

 

And if you're lucky, it's just down the hall from the bar. Because if you've been on a long journey with the kids, you'll need this pitstop, too. 

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Sudsy Tuesdays

On an almost weekly basis, I sort the laundry for my family of 6 into several laundry baskets and bags. Then I load them all into the trunk of my car and drive over to this establishment I've found that has rows and rows of washing machines and dryers. Eight double and triple load machines are usually enough for the loads of whites, darks, towels, brights, athletic wear, and jeans that we accumulates between trips. While the machines are spinning, sudsing and rinsing our wardrobe, and with Spanish soap operas and game shows playing on the flat screen TVs overhead, I read a book, crochet, make some phone calls, or catch up on all those school forms and letters. When the buzzer goes off, I move all the wet clothes into the industrial sized dryers and return to my to-do list. Today I realized the holy grail of modern life - the laundromat now has WiFi. With Dunkin Donuts across the street and a papusa and taco truck outside, I could be here all day. I don't know why I didn't think of this years ago, it's quite an efficient and productive two hours for a busy mom.