On the road, getting showers is very important as nobody wants to be stinky or be around anyone in need of thorough hygiene. Yuck! Most fueling locations have showers for free if you get at least 50 or 60 gallons of fuel; and if you have had some miles on, this isn't a problem at all. Most of the time it is recommended to go to places you know and avoid the little places to prevent waiting around or getting a surprise of a nastily disgusting shower. I will say that I've been fortunate enough to have avoided many of the long waits and have figured out where the best places are to go. Albert Lea TA was always the best place to go in the nation in my opinion with no waits and clean, above the requirements showers. The whole facility is a pleasure to be in whether you drive a truck or traveling in a car. Yes there are some perks to traveling I-90 even though it is almost too close to home to stop at.

As I said, Albert Lea 'used' to be the ultimate place with TA of Walcott IA and Petro of Oak Grove battling for a more distant second. We update this today with a new ultimate truckstop that puts them all to shame! Today I stopped at Petro2 of Salina KS and it seemed like a really nice place, got my fuel and parked so I could get my shower in. Three letters come to mind O, M, and G! Although I don't use those terms, it's usually holy cow.... But let me tell you, I was met at the entrance and offered an additional towel by the attendant who asked if I'd been here before. I took up the offer of an additional towel and then he asked if I knew how to use the video mirror and shower heads. What? He said when I look next to the door lock upon entering, there is a control for cable tv that displays through the mirror, volume control is on the right of the selector and there is full cable. Also the shower head instructions for the overhead rain shower head and the wall shower heads were on the wall where they would stay dry, but to make sure I know which handle does what. He said if I needed anything else, let him know and he could probably get it in 20 minutes! Not sure what he meant but I didn't think I'd need anything else. I thanked him and went to my shower door and used my key. Opening the door was to provide a spectacular view of better than 5 star hotel accommodations (is there a 6 star?). There is a floor to ceiling mirror with a 20" or larger video tuned to CMT. High fidelity speakers built into the walls, really nice large tiles adorned the floor and walls while the ceiling had some acoustical tiles that appeared to be water proof. All of the fixtures were brushed nickel and the latest designs I'd seen in the catalogs of special order at the home improvement stores. WOW! What a way to start the day! Needless to say I had to update my list after such an experience. At the fuel desk upon departure, the cashier asked how the shower was, I said Great!!! She said usually there are large smiles on people's faces when the return from the showers. I asked if that was the new upgrades the Petro locations are going to. "Oh no" she replied, "We're privately owned." She said to come back again on my next trip through. I definitely will!

Showers in the forecast? Always in Salina!

That's all for today Folks! Be safe, Have Fun, And watch out for those crazy Drivers!