Emphasis on the "Country"

I decided on a whim today to vacuum out my minivan. Two kids at school, the third asleep, and 33 balmy degrees outside? Sounds like vacuuming-the-van time to me!

I mean, I did just do it seven months ago, but it could stand another cleaning. Ahem.

As I was hauling out the vacuum and getting to work, I decided that I should just dispense with the "Town" part of my Town and Country minivan. This minivan ain't nothin' but country.

To start with, I had to go into the duck pen to unplug the extension cord from the heated water bucket so I could plug in the vacuum. That is not the way you start vacuuming out a vehicle in town.

Then I started sucking up alarming quantities of leaves, rocks, and mud. Nary a McDonald's french fry to be found. We live fifteen miles from the nearest McDonald's, so their food will not make its way into my minivan. (Also, I find their food revolting, but that's a separate issue.)

I found at least half a dozen of those pointy snail shells that the kids tend to collect on our beach, along with a screwdriver under one seat and a rusty screw under another.

Was the screwdriver used to take the screw out? Possibly. I just hope the screw didn't come off my minivan at some critical place.

I also had to vacuum up some flaked off rusted metal from the back door, because my van is decaying at an alarming rate thanks to the salt used on winter roads around here. I figure the body of this vehicle is going to give out before the engine. It's pretty bad.

It took me about half an hour to get the interior in a relatively clean state. Clean for a country minivan, anyway, which is all I can hope for.