I feel like a short story that doesn't even qualify as mildly interesting is in order to express how cool this gift is.

I do a 7-12 day backpacking trip once a year, usually in a National Park. I've done Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier, all sorts of really great nature stuff. With really great nature stuff comes dirt, grime, sweat, and general stink. I think I smell even worse than most people do after a few days without a shower.

A couple years ago I finished my trip and was going to hit up a campground on my way out of the park. A cranky lady told me that she was cleaning and I couldn't use them. Clearly she has some sort of olfactory deficiency, or else she would have begged me to get in the shower. Willing the miasma emanating from my body to waft toward her, I asked if I could use the men's shower. "No. We'll kick you out and fine you." I don't know if she can do that, but I am a hopeless cheapskate and wasn't going to risk it.

One the twelve hour drive back toward home, my own smell recirculating in my car was pretty nasty. I swear that when I stopped to buy some food people were really careful not to get in line behind me. I get to a town where I'm supposed to meet some friends for a swimming event and am desperate to clean myself off. Park. Call my friends. The fussier, more "I want things in a specific way," of them meets me on foot.

"Well, you can shower in my hotel room."

Great.

"I don't want to leave my car downtown. I have to walk back to get it, I'll come back here, and you can follow me to the hotel."

How about I drive you back to your car? Now that I'm in civilization, I'm getting pretty desperate.

"No, it's on the wrong side of the road."

Huh?

"Yeah, you'd have to turn around and..."

Exhaustion and frustration made me a little unreasonable and hysterical at this point, and I exploded just a little bit. She didn't talk to me until the next day.

Fast forward to Arbitrary Day. I get a package. I open it up. Inside I find the answer to all my dirty problems. The sort of thing that I would look at in a store but it would never even occur to me to buy.

A portable camp shower.

Santa, this will go in my car with me on every trip. I will never again nearly ruin a friendship because of being dirty.