I’m sure many of us have a similar stack of (or just a few) blankets in our vehicle during the winter months. Our children use them on especially chilly mornings when our Suburban isn’t warmed up enough. They are also there “in case of emergency” – breaking down on the road or worse.
This stack actually never leaves our vehicle. We don’t stash these blankets elsewhere for the summer months. Why? They get used – maybe more than during colder months. The obvious is to spread a blanket (or three) on the ground to sit on – picnics and watching fireworks are tops on our list.
A less obvious use is an “out-of-the-box” (or should I say “out-of-the-cooler”) use. When I get groceries, I am usually running numerous errands while we are out. Instead of a quick trip to the store, it is often our one trip to town that week. That makes for many hours out and about. I could use a cooler – but often run out of space. If I use both of our coolers, there is not room for other items. So I use these blankets. For most things, a doubled blanket (those thicker blue and grey ones) laid over the bags keeps things nice and cool until we return home hours later. For things I’m concerned about (meat, frozen items, milk, etc.), I use one of the smaller blankets around those items under the big blanket. It is easy to add things at each stop without uncovering the previous purchases – keeping more of the “cool” in.
This has worked well for us on even the hot days. I should also share that we don’t have working AC in this vehicle. There is not a cool down inside helping those groceries to stay cool. No, it can get pretty toasty in there. Yet, our cucumbers keep as cool as a. . . Well, you get the idea.
Do you have a great use for keeping purchases cold on errand day? Do you use things out of season for a creative purpose? I’d love to hear about it!