A $5 Shower

July 19th, 2008 Friday

Lake Louise to Copper Center

I was wondering how I would do without showering, and removing that piece of luxury was something I wanted to do to myself, but dang it, I am hurting for a shower.

I rode in headwinds to Glenallen. I felt like the scourge of the earth riding to the grocery store. Is everyone looking at me, or what? There were lots of other folks there stocking up as the town is a central place before embarking to the Wrangells (which is the second largest state park-did not know that). After buying some cans of tuna, cookies and 3 packs of rice-a-roni, I headed straight for the drive-up Java station. Ahhh, a double latte. Nothing like roughing it in the backcountry.

A couple noticed my road beaten bicycle and the guy asked me if I was on a bike tour. Why, yes, I am. Alone? Yes, I am. Silence follows. They looked outdoorsy but you could clearly see this was his dream and he wasnt following it for some reason, probably his girlfriend/wife, which is why I say, do it alone. Dont get me wrong, I would love to do some adventures with my hubby: what a perfect opportunity to bond by battling the elements and sharing the little moments of discoveries together. But looking at this couple, I remembered the suffocating strain that comes from compromising and the ensuing battle of wills. I know Robert would never do this. I have some friends that wouldn't enjoy this either. Heck, I'm not even enjoying every moment of this, but I would rather spend my energy keeping myself going than having to motivate somebody else or look at their rain soaked visage and feel guilty.

It's my private hell so don't bug me!

Then there is the lack of hygiene, which was the topic I started with. I arrived at Copper Center with about 2 miles to go- again, 2 miles that felt like 200. My hands were numb, my neck was seizing and shooting pain down my back, my skin was a disaster, my hair was a greaseball and slicked to my head, my bike shorts could probably finish this tour by themselves and there was no shower at the RV park. But!- in the liquor store there were showers and I sprinted across the gravel to take one. I enthusiastically paid $5 without even thinking, he could have charged $15 and I probably would have paid that as well. Granted the hot water turned to cold in 30 seconds, but lordy, this was heaven on earth...

It was about this area that I noticed that people are completely obsessed with fishing in Alaska. This intensified as I travelled onwards to Valdez and reached a crescendo in the Kenai...