After spending all spring with Patra and Paul dressed as usual for the woods and school, why does Linda take such care in her preparations for the trip to Duluth?

Before Linda goes on the trip to Duluth with Patra's family, she spends a long time choosing her clothes, packing, and bathing. After spending all spring with Patra and Paul dressed as usual for the woods and school, why does Linda take such care in her preparations for this overnight trip? 

I think the presence of Patra's husband changed the dynamic for Linda and made her self-conscious; also, Duluth represented for her a rare venture into the "real world" beyond her isolated community and upbringing, and she wanted to be at her best for that outing, to step beyond her everyday life and fit into a new world.

Leo's presence has a definite effect on Linda's preparations for the trip to Duluth. She may not have been aware of that, but I believe some level of competition was going on here. Is she competing for his attention, for Patra's in his presence, or for Paul's with both of them there?

The trip is an adventure for this unappreciated, lonely, lost 15 yr old. She's being included into a family on a big trip she's never experienced before. Don't know about the competition but she certainly wants to fit in.

Linda is a fifteen year old girl who for the first time is being treated like a human being. She is going to "the city", staying in a hotel. She wants very much to fit in and to look her best. She has two pairs of jeans to select from, but to her it is important. She doesn't even own a pair of pajamas, but she does her best to find something she thinks is suitable. It is so sad the trip ended like it did. I don't think she is interested in Leo or any competition. I think she is intimidated by him, as is Patra. Deep down she feels that Leo is not a good person.

Linda is a teenager trying to grow up and to shine. She wants to be attractive, not to Leo, but as part of the family. She is doing her part to see that things are ok, which theyy aren’t. I agree that she does not trust Leo, but for Patra and Paul she wants him to be wonderful.

Linda worries as much about what to eat as she does about what to wear. I think the approval and acceptance of Paul and Patra is important to her. For the first time since she was a child in the commune, she belongs to something. Linda recognizes that a trip to Duluth is "fancier" than a day in the woods. I think she is trying to prove that she is a competent person and does not want to embarrass her new "family". The dynamic between all of them changes whenever Leo is around. It is more difficult for Patra and Linda to just be themselves. Dressing and eating differently (and the internal debates over the decision making process) symbolize the level of "discomfort" that is in the air when Leo is around. Maybe Linda knows things are a little less real/genuine/honest when Leo is involved.