Right before we left for Alaska, I took the van to the car wash. Alden loves the car wash. She tells me, “We’re giving the car a bath, Papa.”

The van was really dirty. I splurged for the $9 Super Wash.

Two kinds of soap.

Deluge

Rinse

Done

I’m not sure what inspired me to wash the car right before we left town for a month. Perhaps it’s the same sort of self-defeating impulse that compels us to clean up the house only when company is due to arrive.