We disembarked groggily from our early ferry arrival in Heraklion around 6AM this morning. Thankfully there were no intensive searches as we left—we just wheeled away into town. It was very refreshing not being cold in the pre-dawn darkness!

Since it was far too early to begin looking for a hostel or a hotel, we sat on a park bench near the water and watched as daylight gradually appeared. As the skies lightened from dark black to blueish grey, we snacked and chatted, and were befriended by a boisterous, stray black lab puppy. Tyler tried to play catch with him but he didn't really get the concept, opting instead to run off in a frenzy with his newfound stick.

Around 8:30 AM when businesses were starting to open, Tyler had an inspired idea. When he saw several laundromats listed in our guidebook, he declared that today was laundry day. Normally we dread this long, drawn out affair (usually performed by hand in a tiny sink) that ends in a roomful of damp, drying clothes. Not today! All we had to do was hand over our dirty mess to someone else.

While we waited, we tried figure out the last time our clothes have seen the inside of a washing machine. We came up blank. It has been a long time. Just a little more than an hour later, we were holding a giant yellow plastic bag full of warm, folded, freshly-laundered clothes. Heaven.

Before we left, we decided to do one more load with what we had been wearing …and our sleeping bag. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but this was the first time we've cleaned it! Ever. It is filled with down and needs to air dry for a very long time after being washed. This is normally a problem since we need to sleep in it! Luckily, we'll be spending the next few days indoors so Tyler can catch up on a backlog of programming work.

While our sleeping bag received its much-needed cleaning, so did our bikes. Tyler went to town removing brown splatters of mud from our panniers and frames. When he was finished, our bikes were actually pretty presentable! Though just the other day I was singing about how my favorite thing is being wet and dirty, I have to admit it was all a lie. Heaven is being clean and dry!

Now we're off to find a place to settle down for a few days of work!