This lifestyle of ours has certainly humbled us in many different areas. I do things now that I never dreamed I would ever have to do. Yet in my arrogance, there are millions of people around the world that never get to have the luxuries that I have – even if I have to go look for them.
I am talking about the simple act of bathing. Okay I heard the gasp from here, “Yes I bathe”, however it is different than what I have had to do before.
A couple of weeks ago the shower fell apart in the holiday trailer, the pieces simply
came apart. You can still use the faucet and run a tub but no shower.
Warning: this might get a little personal…. If you dare, read on.
The first thing I tried was to have a bath in our little, I mean little, bathtub. I ran a bit of water and climbed in. As I sat down into the water, I felt the cold plastic sides of the tub kind of envelope my hips and buttocks as I lowered myself down. Upon reaching the bottom (lol literally) I was very aware that my body fully took up the space between the bathtub walls and if truth be told, I was wedged right in there. There was not a lot of movement that could happen as the sides of the tub holding me in prevented that. I did the best I could but even my arms were sandwiched to my sides and the word that comes to mind is “awkward.”
To say that was a 1-time event should not come as a surprise.
So, what to do?
I am at the laundromat in Dawson at least once to twice a week. There is a sign in there that says “shower”. I decided to give it a try. I loaded my stuff up and off I went. It cost me 4 loonies, but it was clean and looked reasonable. Oh, my stars! That shower was amazing, I think I could almost hear the angels singing. There was enough water pressure to tingle your skin all over, so much hot water that lobster red could easily be obtained! I even had a bit of time to simply stand there and let the water cascade down before my money ran out. I honestly do not think you will find a better shower anywhere, well at least not any where that I have been in the past 6 months.
Yes, it has been 6 months that we have lived in this holiday trailer – half a year, hard to believe, but true.
Needless to say, the laundromat shower is my favorite go to. I tried to tell Brian and convince him, but he was a slow learner. He took me to the UFA trucker shower, and we gave it a try.
I can honestly say the UFA shower pales in comparison to my laundromat shower. It was absolutely horrible. When we first entered the washroom, the water in the sink started to run. We noticed that it was automatic and obviously motion censored. There was only a wee bit of a counter on either side of the sink and we placed our towels onto it. On my side was the automatic hand dryer which started up when I moved near it, along with the sink that kept running the water. Brian put his towel on the other side of the sink and found out the hard way that the soap dispenser is also automatic. By the time he noticed it there was a mini mountain of hand foam soap plopped onto his towel.
I climbed into the shower and quickly yelled and jumped out as the water was obviously glacier fed! The water in the shower was also motion activated and unless you placed your hand over the censor the water turned off in about 3 seconds. Very difficult to wash your hair and keep your hand on the censor at the same time. It took about 10 minutes of waiting for the water to start to warm up. I got very good at “moving” or possibly “dancing” well maybe it could have looked like more of a duck and weave type of motion to keep the censor happy and keep the water running, it was a workout. Now I can honestly say the water pressure could use some work at the UFA, I think I can spit faster. It made getting all the shampoo out of my hair a bit of a chore. We have gone to the UFA twice and not one of those times did I hear the angels sing – and in all honesty it will probably never happen there as I find it a sad excuse for a shower. Brian says “its free” but you know I will lay my $4 down for that laundromat shower anytime!
Free is not always the way to go my friends. It is a noted fact that you get what you pay for and in this case I would rather pay for my shower.
But the choice is mine and some people do not have the choice of where to shower or even if they get to shower. In that respect I am blessed to have the choice of two showers.
Some days, or weeks it is good to be reminded of our many blessings.