Our 13 day journey ended last night as we took our suitcases out of our car just as the sun was setting shortly before 8 p.m. We had traveled just under 3000 miles (2994.6 to be exact), and our 2019 Prius, as usual, took each gallon of gasoline 61.6 miles. No complaints there, and I treated the car to the super-duper overpriced Flagship special car wash in gratitude.

Much of today was devoted to being tired, I must admit, although I faked being wake, if not woke, as I went through my first day back errands. For many, I had an 8 year old companion as my granddaughter Joan accompanied me on much of my sojourn.

First, we walked the laundry to Zips (a little less than a half mile away), and Joan engaged the clerk in a conversation about whether it was worth $39.99 to get your Uggs cleaned. “That why I only have rain boots”, she said, since you just need to get them wet to get them cleaned. And, having never been to a Zips before, she was amazed when the clerk said that everything would be ready tomorrow. “That doesn’t happen where my daddy takes the cleaning”, she said.

Next, we went next door to Bread Furst, our neighborhood bakery/cafe and while I just pointed to one of the pastries to take home for my breakfast (as well as a baguette, of course), Joan had other ideas. She pointed to the Messy Bacon and Egg Sandwich, and said “I’d like Messy Egg Sandwich”, she told the server, “but no bacon”. She also got me in a weak moment, when we were checking out, and she brought over a chocolate milk and said, “I think I’ll take this, too”. (Who am I to say “no”?)

She didn’t come with me to the car wash. “I only go to car washes where you can sit in the car and watch the water come at you”, she explained, “like they have in Massachusetts”. But she did come with me on my biggest purchase of the day, a dryer. Ours had conked out just before we left on our trip.

It was a last minute decision to come with me; at first she said she didn’t like picking our dryers. But she changed her mind. On the way to Bray and Scarff in Bethesda, Joan told me she was thirsty, and wondered if I had water in the car (which I didn’t).

It didn’t seem to be a big problem, and I admit I was surprised after we walked into the appliance store, and the sales clerk said “hello” to us, “how can I help you?”, and Joan responded with “Do you have any water?” The salesman didn’t miss a beat and said, “Sure, let me get you a bottle”, and I really he thought that is why we came into his store. Until, I said “I think we’d like a dryer, too.”

Now, those of you who really know me may know that I am anything but a careful shopper. I am a fast shopper. I had done no research. All I knew is that our old dryer, which lasted maybe 20 years, was a Whirlpool, and that Joan’s family had bought a Maytag about a year ago when their old dryer died.

So I asked the clerk if I should get a Maytag or a Whirlpool, or should I get something else. I knew I wanted large capacity, and I wanted something that would last. He told me I could get a Speed Queen, which would last about 25 years and cost me an arm and a leg. Or I could get something else.

Well, I still wondered about Maytag versus Whirlpool, and he told me they were now made by the same company; that it made no difference. He pointed out a model that he suggested. I asked him if there was any reason that I shouldn’t get it. He said there wasn’t. I asked him how long it would last. He said 8 to 12 years, and then he told me there was a one year warranty, but I could get another 5 years, for just an arm (not an arm and a leg), and that meant that if anything happened to it during that time period, they would fix or replace it. I said “well…….”, and he said “you know how things are made today, anything can happen”, and “most people do buy the five year warranty”. So, of course, I said “OK”.

While I was buying the dryer, Joan was busy looking at refrigerators. She told me that she found the one that had the bottles of water in it, and another that had an empty egg carton. Now, Joan likes to tell me that my jokes aren’t funny, so I wasn’t surprised when she told me that after I asked her whether she thought the carton came with the refrigerator or it was an egg-stra. But, in fact, she did me one better, telling me that she thought the egg carton was there so that customers might know what they might put in their new refrigerator. As she put it, “so they just put it in there as an egg-sample.” That’s Joan.

And that was pretty much my day. Tomorrow will be different – I might even unpack. I might also plan our next road trip, scheduled for July. And on Thursday, I think Joan and I will go on another adventure. “Where do you want to go?”, I asked her. “To Ikea”, she said. And if not that, “we can go get a treat”. Oh, it’s Spring vacation.