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California: From Rags to Dryer Sheets - or Gauze Pads?

We had made our way clear across the country in that nearly compact car. Inside, it was just us two, an aquarium full of fish, blocks of wood to level a trailer, a cooler full of thoroughly warmed drinks and tasteless snacks, a 50-pound bag of cheap dog food, and our five noisy, smelly, shedding, admittedly fully undisciplined dogs. Oh, and there was a small bag packed, too, which stole all the leg room out from underneath my feet and that contained everything (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, face cloths, and a few clean pairs of underwear) that we needed for quick hygiene checks at thoseuncomfortably busy, dirty truck- or rest stops along the way.

How did all that stuff fit in that little ten-year-old car, I wonder? Anyway, now, it comes as no surprise that this sad, somewhat abused piece of machinery needs new struts and a rack...

At the back of the car were not a few flimsy possessions, dragged in a rickety, old U-haul trailer that we had rented for the duration of the trip. The weight of this trailer caused the tail of the car to dip so far that we continually brushed the muffler dangerously in pot holes and on sidewalks, as we were leaving the countless gas stations and fast-food restaurants at which we stopped during the trip. Many of the sidewalks and entrances and exits to these places in the south were flood-proofed, as we later deduced, and that's why their inclines were so steep. The possessions in the U-Haul, at any rate, included clothes, toiletries, computers and their accessories, pots and pans, some dishes and silverware, 800 pounds of Mom's books, and a well-worn, upright, black-lacquered piano, one that someone had told us, once, had had a soul and needed to be with us always.

As Mom saw it, though, we took only what we needed for a fresh start...

Ahem.

That poor car! It pulled over 3,000 pounds worth of our junk, us, the fish and the dogs, and it managed to hold up pretty well through all we put it through even through that last, tough, mountainous terrain heading directly into California on the I-10, and even through that horrible snowstorm that strandedus on the way back but that's another story, entirely...

For the trip there, at any rate, it's a good thing we had sent the two horses ahead of us!

We didn't have any money to waste on hotels or any of the other, commonly sought-after creature comforts of today's middle class, as Mom puts it, so when she got tired, we'd just pull over to the

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