O’Leno State Park, High Springs, Florida
The Shower.
Every so often, it becomes necessary for me to use the campground showers. Those would be the times when Blaine’s booked us a site for 10 days or more with no sewer hook-up.
I use quite a bit of water when I shower. Mostly it’s because of my hair. It’s pretty thick stuff and it takes a lot to get it wet and rinse it. Add in conditioner, and . . . well, it occasionally becomes necessary for me to go elsewhere.
Mostly the campground showers are fine. In this place, they are interesting. To say the least.
Granted, they’re very clean and well kept. That’s a good thing, because once, I refused to shower in one because the opposite was very true! Unidentified gunk on the floor and wall, globs of hair that could double as a nest for some creature, spider webs. Absolutely NO WAY!! I didn’t care if I stunk to high heaven and my hair got so greasy you could prep a cake pan with it! Blaine found a solution, which I am unable to share with you.
Here’s why the showers here at High Springs are so interesting.
First off, there’s a ceiling fan that runs on high constantly and there’s no way to turn it off. It’s strategically positioned right outside the shower stall doors and provides a wonderful cooling breeze. I suppose maybe that’d be nice in the summer? Not wonderful now.
All the walls and floor are tile. Not so bad usually, but there’s absolutely no heat in this place. That means, going into the stall is like walking into a freezer, and once you step out of your flip-flops, you’re standing on a block of ice. And don’t forget about that cool breeze!
The stalls are nice and long, so at least there’s plenty of room. Let me say it another way. The stalls are nice and long, so there’s not even a glimmer of hope of warming anything up, especially with that breeze.
Eventually, the water’s nice and hot and plentiful at least. The problem is, the adjustment is at least 10 feet away – beyond the curtain. So’s your towel. So’re your clothes. You have to jog back and forth like a speed skater until you get the temperature right. And then, heaven forbid someone comes in and flushes a toilet! YIKES! The first time I got caught. The second time I jumped out of the way of the ice water challenge just in the nick of time!
Oh! Did I mention that the floors are slanted towards the drain, and there’s no shelf? That means the shampoo bottle et al, fall over. Shaving your legs? Better have gymnastic talent for balancing!
When you’re showering, it’s sorta like being in an oven and a freezer at the same time – depending on which side is exposed to what – the water or the air. This is because the curtain doesn’t quite make it all the way across. By not quite, I mean it’s about 6″ too narrow, and a good foot off the floor. I’m not even mentioning the top.
Oh! Did I mention there’s a heat lamp? Yeah. Nice, huh? It’s at least 15’ above the dressing part of the stall. Way too high to do any good, but I turn it on anyway. Who knows? If it helps even a smidge, why not! Not! I think the fan blows away any bit of heat it might produce.
So now you’re done. Race to your towel and back under the spigot because at least the floor’s warm there for a minute. A minute. It’s good if you have the skills of a quick-change artist, otherwise, the memory of that hot shower vanishes rapidly.
Oh! And make sure you’re feet are dry before you leave, otherwise you’ll be bringing home enough sand to start a Grade-A sandbox. Everything here is sand. Everything.
Ok. Ok. I’ll admit. This post is a bit overdramatic. I couldn’t resist. Everything I wrote is true, just dramatized for effect. Now be honest. Who doesn’t enjoy a little drama now and then? 😊
The proof is in the pictures. : )
The running fan
The elevated heat lamp
The very distant controls
I’m actually quite happy to have the shower! Truly!