Tom and I have been doing our laundry at Lils Coin Laundry in New Tazewell, Tennessee.  A couple of weeks ago, I was working at the desk when a call came through on the radio, “Maintenance, this is campground.  Maintenance, this is campground emergency.”  Maintenance responded they were on their way, and that was the end of the radio communication.

But it was an intriguing exchange.  What constitutes a maintenance emergency?  Did a building blow up?  It wasn’t a fire or they would have called the fire department.  It wasn’t a bear, because that is a law enforcement call.  Fortunately the ranger network is tight and we didn’t have long to wait to find out what had happened.

The campground store is getting ready for some renovations and updates.  As several people were inspecting the electrical box, it suddenly started sparking.  The call to maintenance was so they would come and turn off the power to the box.  Of course, turning off the power to the electrical box means that the campground store and the camp host site next to it don’t have any electricity.  This, during the hottest week of the year.  In addition, the washer and dryer the volunteers can use is in the maintenance area attached to the campground store.

After lots of discussion by the heads of departments and the park superintendent, some temporary solutions were found.  The campground hosts next door would run their generator for a few nights and then move to an electric only site in the campground (like Tom and I had to do two years ago).  Pat and Trish were hoping to stay in their current site because it is a pain to move, but the washer and dryer in their unit wouldn’t work without an electric hookup.  The generator was noisy and going through lots of gas.  After a couple of days, they decided moving was the better solution.

The campground store is getting a generator that can run the electricity while the store is open.  But there isn’t enough power for the washer and dryer as well.  The washer and dryer is the least of everyone’s concerns for now.  Except for those of us who depended on it to do our laundry.

Not having the washer and dryer available at the campground has actually been a little bit of a relief for Tom and me.  It was taking us four hours to do our laundry every week.  We would put a load in and then drive the six miles back to the RV to eat lunch.  Then drive back to advance the laundry and go grocery shopping.  After putting the groceries away, we would go back to the campground to put the last load in the dryer and usually visit with Pat and Trish or sit and read while waiting for it to be done.

But, ever since this happened, we have been going to Lils Coin Laundry in New Tazewell.  New Tazewell (just to the west of Tazewell) is about 13 miles away.  There are a couple of coin laundries closer, but they are in neighborhoods we don’t want to visit or most of the machines are broken.

Lils Coin Laundry is a bright and cheerful place that is always clean.  The coin machine is always full and the machines are all working.  There are also lots of machines, so I never have to wait to put the laundry in.  The washing machines take 36 minutes, as opposed to the 80 minutes the washer at the campground needed.  And the dryers get everything done in 30 minutes.  I am in and out with all the laundry done in 90 minutes, no matter how many loads I have.

Two additional benefits are that it is very close to the Walgreens where we get our medications.  And there is good cell service.  I can upload the pictures for my blog while I wait on the laundry.  Lils Coin Laundry even has comfortable chairs to sit in while we are waiting.

The park has offered to reimburse us for our laundry costs.  Laundry is supposed to be one of the perks of the volunteering job.  But Tom and I aren’t doing that.  We are enjoying the benefits of Lil’s Coin Laundry too much to quibble about $8 a week.