One of the funniest parts of our trip was a comment I made about trying out truck stop showers....which resulted in all kinds of conversation. One friend said her girls were dying to know what it was like, and then others joined in. There were requests for pictures even! So I thought it would be fun to go ahead and do it -- even though I was KIDDING! LOL!
On the morning of the third day, I woke up really, really early. And I was stinky. We were all stinky actually so the trailer was not a fresh smelling living space. Just sayin'.
We were also only 150 miles from my mother's house. And it was rather cold...in the 20's. So I chickened out. No shower. I grabbed my bathroom bag to go do the max you can get away with in a bathroom and headed inside.
A funny thing happened when I reached for a tube of toothpaste to buy before heading into the bathroom. I smelled myself.
Oh hell no! (Sorry young ears, but it was really that bad!)
So I also walked over and grabbed a sweat shirt and headed back to the shower area. Unprepared and without a camera -- so sorry, no pictures. (It was much too cold to track all the way back out to the trailer in the truck lot.)
** I just found pictures on the TA site for where we stopped.
I had to be walked through it. I went to the shower area first where the attendant tried to help me. I didn't have a ticket. Where do I get a ticket. At that point another girl came in and she took me to the ticket machine. Loyalty card? No? Okay. Cash or credit? Okay.
My friends. $12 to take a shower.
Of course at this point I was committed and I would have paid $20 to wash off the funk. So I paid. The good news is if we had half a clue all of us could have gone in and showered which would have made it $3 each and less of a sucker punch. LOL!
But back to the showers. I can't say if where we were - a TA - is average or what. I can tell you these showers were NICE! Marble walls, very clean, plenty of towels and a bath mat. And they are cleaned between each use so there can be a wait.
Still, don't forget your safety gear -- shower shoes. I used crocs. Thank goodness I was too lazy to put on shoes before coming in or I would have been showering in socks, which is gross.
These showers had two areas. Regular sink/toilet area and shower area. Plenty of room. There was soap. Since I had my bag I had my shampoo and razor and all that handy.
I only have two complaints.
1. The temperature fluctuates. It did get nice and hot and had a steady, nice pressure.
2. It has a huge mirror and I got a good look at myself after only having a medicine cabinet for 3 years. Shudder. Just, shudder.
Sorry I don't have my own picture, but hey, there will still be months before we are able to find a new home so all is not lost.....except my truck stop shower virginity. Which was painless.
Too bad the rest of the day went down hill from there.
Only about 150 miles to travel and in that time we had:
1 very large and scary spider running loose in the van which made Mouse scream in terror and cry for about an hour. Songbird tried to get it but we were packed to the hilt and it was IN THERE somewhere. Why didn't we stop? Because....
A 2 1/2 hour traffic jam. Only covered about 7 miles with a stupid detour. Never did figure out why it became such a parking lot so many times.
1 Chinese fire drill in the middle of the 2 1/2 hour traffic jam. Songbird and I had several cups of tea for breakfast so it was bound to catch up with us in the jam. Murphy's Law. So, since Songbird has her license, I told her to jump into the drivers seat when I jumped out. Then I jumped into the trailer and used the bathroom. Then we switched. Yes we did. And I'm sorry but that was the best thing EVER!!!!!!!!
Finally we made it to mom's in one piece.
But very shortly after arriving our plans went south. But that is another story for another day.
Today was all about the shower.
On the morning of the third day, I woke up really, really early. And I was stinky. We were all stinky actually so the trailer was not a fresh smelling living space. Just sayin'.
We were also only 150 miles from my mother's house. And it was rather cold...in the 20's. So I chickened out. No shower. I grabbed my bathroom bag to go do the max you can get away with in a bathroom and headed inside.
A funny thing happened when I reached for a tube of toothpaste to buy before heading into the bathroom. I smelled myself.
Oh hell no! (Sorry young ears, but it was really that bad!)
So I also walked over and grabbed a sweat shirt and headed back to the shower area. Unprepared and without a camera -- so sorry, no pictures. (It was much too cold to track all the way back out to the trailer in the truck lot.)
** I just found pictures on the TA site for where we stopped.
I had to be walked through it. I went to the shower area first where the attendant tried to help me. I didn't have a ticket. Where do I get a ticket. At that point another girl came in and she took me to the ticket machine. Loyalty card? No? Okay. Cash or credit? Okay.
My friends. $12 to take a shower.
Of course at this point I was committed and I would have paid $20 to wash off the funk. So I paid. The good news is if we had half a clue all of us could have gone in and showered which would have made it $3 each and less of a sucker punch. LOL!
But back to the showers. I can't say if where we were - a TA - is average or what. I can tell you these showers were NICE! Marble walls, very clean, plenty of towels and a bath mat. And they are cleaned between each use so there can be a wait.
Still, don't forget your safety gear -- shower shoes. I used crocs. Thank goodness I was too lazy to put on shoes before coming in or I would have been showering in socks, which is gross.
These showers had two areas. Regular sink/toilet area and shower area. Plenty of room. There was soap. Since I had my bag I had my shampoo and razor and all that handy.
I only have two complaints.
1. The temperature fluctuates. It did get nice and hot and had a steady, nice pressure.
2. It has a huge mirror and I got a good look at myself after only having a medicine cabinet for 3 years. Shudder. Just, shudder.
Sorry I don't have my own picture, but hey, there will still be months before we are able to find a new home so all is not lost.....except my truck stop shower virginity. Which was painless.
Too bad the rest of the day went down hill from there.
Only about 150 miles to travel and in that time we had:
1 very large and scary spider running loose in the van which made Mouse scream in terror and cry for about an hour. Songbird tried to get it but we were packed to the hilt and it was IN THERE somewhere. Why didn't we stop? Because....
A 2 1/2 hour traffic jam. Only covered about 7 miles with a stupid detour. Never did figure out why it became such a parking lot so many times.
1 Chinese fire drill in the middle of the 2 1/2 hour traffic jam. Songbird and I had several cups of tea for breakfast so it was bound to catch up with us in the jam. Murphy's Law. So, since Songbird has her license, I told her to jump into the drivers seat when I jumped out. Then I jumped into the trailer and used the bathroom. Then we switched. Yes we did. And I'm sorry but that was the best thing EVER!!!!!!!!
Finally we made it to mom's in one piece.
But very shortly after arriving our plans went south. But that is another story for another day.
Today was all about the shower.
You are an amazing lady. I would have ditched the car and let the spider have it! Thanks for sharing the journey...keeping you in my prayers!
ReplyDeleteLOL I'm so glad you went ahead with the shower, I would have done the same, I can't handle going without a shower for longer than a day LOL
ReplyDelete