Scrub-A-Dub-Dub .... 8,840 times!

Harleys are sold

Trailer too

Ford F150 traded in for a 4-door Jeep Wrangler Sport

Tow kit next on the “gettin’ road ready” list

Last volunteer week straight ahead

I’ve LOVED our stay but so ready for a vacation! 

I can hear ya all saying “WHAT????  But haven’t you been on vacation all winter soaking up the sunshine, hiking, biking and living an RV life of leisure?!!”

Let me clarify please….

Since October we’ve cleaned an array of 7 different bathrooms, 3 days a week, 4 of those are glorified out houses.  These include a total of 12 shower rooms.

For a total of 40 shower walls

Each wall must go through a 5-step cleaning process

1.      Scrub down

2.      Rinse

3.      Squeegee dry

4.      Hand dry with microfiber cloth

5.      Application of window cleaner and final wipe down

Here’s the math for each 3-day work week:

68 shower walls x going over each wall 5 times = 340 top to bottom washes, rinses & dries.

340 x the 26 weeks we’ve been here = 8,840 top to bottom shower wall washes, rinses and dries. 

Keep in mind there are also floors to sweep, scrub and mop, sinks, counters, toilets, doors, paper towel and soap dispensers and mirrors to clean, multiple trash baskets to empty, toilet paper, paper towel and soap dispensers to fill.

Actually a small price to pay for free space and utilities for 6 months!  But if I don’t see another public tile shower wall for another 6 months that’s A-OK with me!!  

We’ve shared these duties with 5 other couples and I must say each and every one of them are magnificent people.

We’ve become a family of road warriors who slip on latex gloves as expertly as world-renowned surgeons and get ‘er done one shower room and toilet stall at a time!

Other duties our crew tackles are gift shop clerks, ranger station attendants, hiking trail clean up & maintenance, trash picker-uppers, outdoor concert popcorn venders, landscaping, mowing, tree trimming and whatever else may come along.  

Our brave brigade includes former Hallmark store owners, a town administrator who also served in military intelligence, a self employed plumber and of course a firefighter.  I have no clue what the others did to pay the bills in their “working days”.  Past professional lives are rarely spoken of because it just doesn’t matter.  It’s “now” that counts and we all seem to agree on that. 

What I do know is each one is willing to donate 20 hours a week to a greater good, the Arizona State Parks System, which would not survive without its dedicated volunteers which includes a huge number of local Tucson folks. Like Stu, a feisty WWII vet who greets visitors 2-3 days a week at the park entrance or the 92 year-old little lady who also greets park-goers every Sunday morning, rain or shine. 

The lesson here has been a simple one. 

Hard work no matter how menial brings good folks together in ways no amount of money could and cultivates life-long bonds of friendship among people who most likely never would have otherwise met. 

And all our lives are richer for it.