There comes a time on every sojourn when mundane issues impinge on the travel arrangements. Where such issues are concerned they don't come much more mundane than the question of laundry, with specific reference to clean supplies of jocks, socks and other undergarments.
We had a relatively late checkout at eleven the morning after the final Costello concert, a coin laundry on the site and breakfast to slot in between the commencement of the laundry cycle and the check on whether things were dry enough.
As it turned out, they weren't. Quite. That was the result of a slightly later than optimum start and a phone call from The Sister that ran right up towards checkout time.
We managed to negotiate a little more drier time out of the front desk. That wouldn't have required any negotiation at all if the lift didn't demand a room key to operate, but it did, and the front desk obliged with continued access after we'd officially moved into ex-guest status.
Some things weren't quite dry, but the haul to Kyoto was relatively short, and we were able to check in immediately after we arrived at the hotel beside Kyoto station around one-fifteen.
There was one other task that needed to be attended to after the laundry was done, and that was the now routine matter of shipping The Red Suitcase back to The Mother.
With three days to go and a couple of layers of warm clothing in use, what we needed for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning could go into what amounted to carry on luggage, so The Red Suitcase was temporarily surplus to requirements.
We were in the process of packing Hughesy's gear into the blue bag when we found the gloves we'd thought we left behind in Bowen. Just in time, as it turned out, because conditions on the ground in Kyoto were bitterly cold. Not quite freezing, but cold enough to have you glad of an effective layer of pinkie protection.
There was a courier depot just around the corner from the hotel, so we resumed our peregrinations much lighter in the luggage department.