The Laundromat

The Village Laundromat just down the street
The Village Laundromat just down the street

One of the trade-offs of living in an RV is that you don’t have all the amenities you find in most homes.  We no longer have a dishwasher.  There are RVs with dishwashers, but I wanted the two large storage drawers instead.  We also do not have a washer and dryer.  Again, there are RVs with washers and dryers, but we kept our RV smaller so that it would fit in most State and National Parks – that meant a maximum length of 35 feet.  So the choice was an electronics workroom (closet) for Tom or a stackable washer and dryer.  We chose the workroom for Tom and I can’t say that I have really missed the washer and dryer.

A row of washing machines waiting for me
A row of washing machines waiting for me

Consequently, yesterday I was at the laundromat.  I like doing laundry at the laundromat.  I always enjoyed it when we were on vacation, and I like it after four months of living in the RV.  Tom and I usually have three loads of laundry a week.  When I lived in the house, it would take me five to six hours to wash and dry all three loads.  Often I felt like I was doing laundry all day.  With the laundromat I am done in two hours – max.  And it doesn’t matter how many loads I do because I am still done in two hours.  One day I had five loads – still two hours.  All the laundry goes in the washing machines at the same time, washes in 30 minutes and goes into the dryers.  Things that dry quickly spend less time in the dryers – things that are thicker (heavy bath towels) can take up to 40 minutes in the dryer.  Then I load up, bring stuff home, put it away and – Voila! – done in two hours!

Stacks of dryers
Stacks of dryers

The laundromat in Akron is very clean and convenient – about a mile from the RV.  Most private campgrounds have laundry facilities in the park.  When we volunteer in the National Parks, they usually have laundry facilities for the on-site volunteers free.  I take my book and read or spend the time chatting with other people doing laundry.  I have found the laundromat is an interesting place to talk to other people.

So while you are still shifting loads from your single washer to the single dryer, I am in and out and done in no time.  Just one more fun thing about living this retired RV lifestyle.