Ugh, one awful part about this trip is the lack of shower opportunities. Sure, Walmart provides clean, well somewhat clean, safe facilities for restrooms between the hours of 7am and 10pm (except Sundays as we discovered), but they don’t come with showers. And after 4 days of no showering, Julie and I were starting to look pretty darn greasy. We were eager to hit Cape Breton because we were pretty positive we’d be able to find a nice lake in which we could take a swim, and a bath, but our clean dreams became reality much sooner than expected.
On our way out to Cape Breton from Halifax, we stopped off at a little provincial park called Salt Springs Provincial Park. We stopped there because we were hungry and there were picnic benches on the highway exit signs so we knew we’d be able to cook at this park. We chose the river picnic area, and came across an open field surrounded by trees and bushes. There were two little outhouses, a smattering of picnic benches, and a garbage can that allowed you to sort your garbage and be a good citizen by recycling.
Julie and I pulled out our camping stove and started to boil some water for lunch – mac and cheese and tuna, yum! We also set up our solar shower bag on the grass in the sun to encourage the water to heat up. We were going to wash our hair either way. As Julie tended the stove, I went walking around the area to see if there actually was a river, and to determine whether or not we’d be able to get down to it if there was one.
Well, obviously, there was a river. It was quite shallow and ran over a stone-cluttered bed right past our picnic area and beyond. There was even a second branch that joined it at a nearby junction. It looked brown and muddy from the ridge on which I stood, but I’d made up my mind – I was taking a bath in that water, no matter how cold. I figured that since it was shallow, it probably wouldn’t be too cold, not like swimming in the Atlantic anyway, which is what we were planning on doing if we couldn’t find a shower or a lake to use for bathing! The only other thing I worried about was leeches, but I figured the river was too quick to encourage their growth. Though I figured we’d be safe from those bloodsuckers, I didn’t tell Julie about my fears, in case it would prevent her from joining me.
After lunch, Julie and I donned our swimming gear, packed up our shampoos and scrubbie puffs, and slipped on our water shoes. Then we marched down to the river, and we waded in. Well I guess it wasn't exactly wading since the water only came up to our mid-calves! The water was definitely brisk, but it was as clear as glass as it sung over the rock-littered river bed. We bathed at the junction where the water wasn’t very deep. In order to get our heads in the water we had to lean down and dip our hair in. I totally felt as if we were in a Western movie, halting our horses for a short swim in the river to wash away the grime of the road.
Unlike cowboys and cowgirls though, Julie and I screeched about how cold the water was. It didn't stop us from continuing our little bath: it just felt so good to be clean again! We shampooed twice, just in case, as if that would ensure we could go another 4 days, then we scrubbed ourselves down. When we were done, we wrapped up in towels and went back to the van.
After bathing in the river, Julie and I decided the water was probably clean enough that we could wash our dishes in it. So down we went again, and we stationed ourselves by the river, but closer to the first branch as opposed to the junction – initially…because just as we started unpacking our dishes to wash them, I spotted a GIANT brown spider sitting less than 3 inches from Julie. I jumped back and grabbed my video camera, squealing about the giant spider beside Julie. Julie was surprisingly calm about it, though she told me later she was surprised she was so calm. The spider was a good inch in body length alone, 2-3 inches with the leg span included. I think it was a dock spider. This picture looks a lot like the one we saw, so I’m pretty sure it’s a dock spider. We didn’t have anything but the video camera so I only got some video of the thing. It was gross.
We promptly packed our dishes and moved a little further downriver. Hahaha, not really surprising huh? It’s a good thing we didn’t see that spider when we were bathing!
As we were washing our dishes, we were joined by a biker dude who lived just up the street from the park. He never introduced himself, but we did have a nice long chat about where we were from, our trip across Canada, and the Cape Breton area. He was pretty nice, although I have to admit, when he first came down to the river with his black chaps over his blue-jeans, I reverted to thinking about being in a Western, and I was positive the dude was going to shank us for our horsepower…especially when he asked us if we were alone!
Anyway, all said and done, the bathing really perked Julie and me up. We were much happier during the remaining drive to Cape Breton, and while we’d been snapping at each other a bit before, we were instead singing to the tunes and chit chatting merrily until we reached our destination!
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