Excellent points. Once upon a time, along with countless cars as far as the eyes could see, a friend and I were stuck on I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge waiting for snow plows to clear an avalanche and lead us through. An hour or so into the wait, guys from several vehicles walked across the guardrail and eastbound lanes to the woods. We assumed the soda and coffee had caught up.

I'm not going to carry a porta-potty in the car. Either I'd look for safe natural cover nearby and count on my warm clothes, boots and gaiters to keep me warm. One could also drape a tarp over the doors on one side of the vehicle to provide a modicum of privacy. Would help to have friends or family in that case.

What to do with any solid wastes is another matter. Could be buried in the snow and left for snowplows. Or could be deposited in one of the garbage bags that many of us carry (perhaps that could be tied to my bike rack but it's not going in the car).

I carry a Kelly Kettle. Will it burn?

When is doo dung?

Might ruin one's appetite for tea.

Don't eat yellow snow.

When it comes right down to it, onlookers are not going to gawk, given the exigent circumstances. Big groups of runners can overload the facilities, particularly just before the start, and then a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Nobody cares.

Doo becomes dung in one month, seven days, and sixteen hours (approximately)

TP and a few paper towels/napkins are standard in my cars and portable kit. When you need them, boy do you need them. I also carry a poly tarp so I can create a bit of a shelter, workspace, or private potty corner out of the wind.

I carry hand sanitizer as well, which is multipurpose: hand cleanup, personal tidy up, infection control, firestarter, gas stink remover (use lots, then scrub hands with snow, repeat).

In rural areas, I wouldn't worry about the waste unless it would wash directly into a body of water. On a heavily travelled route, I would let solid waste freeze and scoop it into a doubled trash bag. Not really different from cleaning up after your dog.

Here's what the eastern seaboard has to look forward to next week. Early in the season for such temps. Glad we're not getting what the midwest will. I hope anyone who needs their winter car kit in this has erred on the side of too much...


* The cold will bleed toward the East Coast starting Sunday night, with the worst of it in arriving Tuesday and Tuesday night. Although the cold air will not be as potent as it had been in the Midwest, the entire I-95 corridor from D.C. northward will have sub-freezing highs and lows in the teens. The wind chills will make it feel much colder. Conservatively, it looks like sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts over 40 mph begin Monday and may not relent until late Wednesday (especially toward New England). Wind chills at night will dip near or below zero in all the big cities.

D.C. metro forecast:

Monday: High 29-33, wind chills in the teens

Monday night: Lows 12-20 (suburbs to city), wind chills from 5 to -5.

Tuesday: High 25-29, wind chills in the single digits and teens.

Tuesday night: Lows 10-18 (suburbs to city), wind chills -10 to 0.

Wednesday: High 27-31, wind chills in the teens.

thats why I carry an entrenching tool and a poncho, roll of paper towels....empty Gatorade bottle too...

Yikes! Reminiscent of what we recently had in the PNW. Stay safe everyone. Carry lots of cold weather gear if you have to be out and if you don't stay off the roads. I was lucky in our recent storm to watch it on TV as the roads were horrible and being stranded isn't any fun no matter how much preparation is in the vehicle.

Jeez, that wind chill just kills it.

get a big plastic snow shovel--my E-tool would have been a joke trying to dig out today.plus i had to move the car to the hospital parking lot so my street could be plowed curb to curb.walking back home just a few blocks that big plastic blade made a great wind shield for my face.also,if you have a charger for your cell phone that's made for use in the car---leave it in the car!..i left my phone in the car this AM when i made a run for snow blower gas and left it there,the battery was of course dead....10-20 below tonite they say..

That could be my street, CANOEDOGS. I'm right over the border in SD. It's 0 F right now, -30 wind chill. The interstate is closed from NE to ND.

Spare chargers are cheap. House one, one for the car, one for the suitcase...