Campground Shower Mishaps
One of the questions I am asked frequently is “Where do you use the bathroom and take a shower?” First, I usually explain that we have a bathroom in our camper. It has a sink, toilet, and shower that even has a tub (not that any of us could comfortably “bathe” in it, but it’s there). I explain that we can definitely shower in it and that it’s not too bad, except that the hot water tank isn’t huge and we sometimes have to take military showers. Then, if there’s time, I will tell them some stories about my mishaps in campground bathrooms.
When we started full-time RV living, we had my youngest brother, Isaiah, and our nephew, Kawika, with us. So at the first campground we stayed at, Kawika took his shower necessities and went to check out the men’s bathroom. He came back and raved that the shower was awesome and it was so great to use a real shower. Naturally, I decided that I needed to see for myself.
Later that day, I get everything ready – my towel, my soap, my clothes, etc. I walk across the campground to the shower house and see that it’s actually a pretty neat setup. The stall has a separate area to keep your clothes in so you can change in a dry spot when you’re done. The shower portion of the stall has a shelf for my toiletries and it’s a decent sized shower. Nice!
I proceed to shower. Now, this is going to sound pretty dumb, but I started feeling like my feet were pretty wet. Yes, I know I’m in the shower and my feet are going to be wet, but I’m talking about an immersed in water kind of wet. I look down and… yay, my feet are immersed in water. In a shower that has been used by who knows how many people since it was last cleaned. On tile that I have no idea how well it’s been cleaned. Yuck. I start playing with the drain cover with my toe to see if I can get it to drain. No such luck. I finish up quickly and turn off the shower. After I changed, I glanced back to the shower and noticed it still hadn’t drained. I had effectively turned the shower into a shallow bath. Nothing I did seemed to fix it so I walked back to our camper and reported to the boys about my poor shower experience. They, of course, thought it was funny… and gross!
That shower catastrophe happened in Arizona. Our next stop was in Moab, Utah. Kawika again was our campground shower guinea pig. He came back and raved again about the awesome showers. The boys, again, all had good shower experiences. Then, again, it was my turn.
It’s 10:30 P.M. so there’s no one in there. I think, “Score!” The bathroom is huge and the shower stalls are large and have the separate changing area. Again, “score!” So, since no one was waiting and I didn’t have to take a military shower, I decided I would take the extra time to shave and wash my hair. I’m in the shower, with no water pooling at my feet, and that’s great. It’s nice and quiet in the bathroom, just me and my thoughts, and I’m lathering up my hair. That’s when the lights go out and now it’s not only quiet, it’s pitch dark, too. That’s alright, I’m calm. I walk into the changing section of my stall, hoping that would trip the sensor. Nope. I put my towel on and open the door and wave my arm around. That worked. Okay, whatever, back to the shower.
I’m back in the shower, alone with my thoughts again, when the lights turn off yet again. At this point, I’m still calm, but I can’t help thinking that this is totally the scene in the horror movie where the white girl is about to die. It makes me giggle, which is better than the frustration I’m feeling at having to wander back out of the stall to trip the sensor again. I finish up my shower and start changing into my clothes and the lights turn off again. I didn’t even bother trying to turn the light back on. I just finished changing and walked outside to Dave who had been patiently waiting for me and had no idea I was inside auditioning for a horror film.
I haven’t had any other shower experiences quite like that one, but I do tend to shower in our camper for the most part. It’s still more convenient than loading up the toiletries and clothes to change in to, walking to the campground bathroom, and then…walking right back because I forgot my towel. Oh well – it’s all part of the adventure!