Packing Hint

When I go on vacation, I like to take the LEAST amount of luggage possible. Wasn't always like this, but I discovered you only have a small amount of room in a 3/4 person tent (even less once you blow up the air mattress.) If I was sleeping on grass that's one thing, but the campground we stay at is all ROCKS and gravel. HAVE to have an air mat, but that's beside the point of this post.
Aw yes.. luggage.... As I was saying.... I usually take a double layered dufflebag.. (two compartments on top of each other. PERFECT), and a tote bag... Now the tote bag travels with me, while the duffle is in the camper. The tote holds everything from a notebook, pens, cd player, cds,portable dvd player, dvds, and of course a book or two. (Bet you can't guess what I do at 1 AM while every one's asleep. Ah the downfall of being the only night owl of the family. Another reason I insist on sleeping in my own tent.)
One of my biggest fears is rain.... If you've ever been in a tent while it's raining, you will know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. If you're not careful your air mat may become a floatation device. Not to mention your luggage being waterlogged. Before we go anywhere, I pull my air mat to the center of the tent and place my luggage on top. I've even slept (not very well) with my stuff on my feet during a storm. Which brings me to the title of this post.... HINT....
Lois and I were discussing traveling horror stories... She retired from the Air Force last April, and she's been EVERYWHERE.. Including serving in Desert Storm. She told me that she had to go fly out of the country.... Germany? London? Italy? Can't remember, after all like I said she's been EVERYWHERE...
She told me that when they landed, the group she was with had 2 or 3 hours to get ready for an important military dinner/meeting thing... They had to wear their dress uniforms (can't recall right off what they're called). When they landed ALL of their luggage was SOAKED.. So the girls went to their rooms, and all of them EXCEPT ONE had hair dryers trying to dry their uniforms. What about that one that didn't have a hair dryer? She opened her two gallon ziplock bag, pulled out her DRY uniform, shook it out, and was good to go. Lois told me that she was the envy of all those girls...
Here's a way to cut time and keep your clothes dry......
Go to the store and buy two gallon ziplock bags. When you pack, lay out each outfit together on the bed.... For example if you are packing for 3 days, lay out three outfits including socks and underclothes. Put each outfit in one ziplock bag. In other words if you're packing for three days, you should have 3 ziplock bags. It cuts time later since you don't have to dig through suitcases for socks, shirts, etc.. They are all together in one bag. You might have to shake some wrinkles out, but what's that compared to dry clothes and saving time? And I'm sure if you have kids, it will REALLY be a time saver. Just grab a bag and go.
Another great thing about this idea is when I'm camping I don't have to worry about dropping anything on the way to the showers. Not only that, but it's easier to know what's clean and what's been worn. Not to mention the assurance of dry clothes in the morning.