We’re heading to East Texas today, to among other things repair some broken plumbing lines in the bathroom at my parent’s house. 2020 certainly showed us how we have taken many things for granted, and while the Great Toilet Paper Shortage surely tops the list, we’ve decided that a restroom for the toilet paper is pretty important, too!
Preparing to go down and work on the plumbing, bathrooms have been high on our list of conversational topics lately. We even went as far as to have purchased a potty bucket, the Luggable Loo, at REI the other day, for using while there, and in our new Pop Up Camper. The potty bucket is inexpensive and convenient, and great with kids, until you realize at the end you still have a bag of poop.
In the same section as the potty bucket, REI also has a book, How To Poop In The Woods. It’s become a running joke in our family, and after a few margaritas last week at Book Club, I think I might have even tried to demonstrate the method of leveraging your back against a tree to my friends, and a debate with my friend Pam on how it compares to simply finding a nice rock.
A game changer for using the restroom in the woods for me has been the silly but effective new funnel-shaped urination devices for women. While they do take a little practice, they are pretty wonderful, especially when faced with a bug-covered latrine. I personally prefer the paper one, here’s my must-have from Amazon, https://amzn.to/3bDDtWa.
Finding restrooms with kids is always an opportunity for laughter when traveling! I’ll never forget giving my 6-year-old a gatorade bottle to use in the back seat when I was stuck in traffic in Dallas on I-30, but realizing too late that I forgot to tell him he needed to hold the bottle down when he pee’d!
Traveling around Texas, there are a few bathrooms that are just must sees! Austin, of course, has some pretty amazing ones! One of my favorites is the two-way glass restrooms on the Hopkin’s County Courthouse Square in Downtown Sulphur Springs! From outside they appear to just be mirrored boxes, but inside you can see everyone as they walk by, or stand in line waiting for you! For someone like me, with a shy bladder, it’s an impossibility to go, but fun to visit and better to mess with your kids and their friends who have never been! There are several really good restaurants and cute shops around the square, making for an easy excuse to need to visit!
In Texas, there’s little disputing that the BEST restrooms are at Buc-ee’s! These huge gas stations are known for their super clean restrooms, which usually have at least one person in there working non-stop to keep the over 40 stalls clean! The location in New Braunfels, which has over 80 stalls, and dubbed the Taj Ma-Stall of Texas by Buc-ee’s founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin, was named America’s Best Restroom in 2012 by Cintas, the Restroom Cleaning Supply Co., on their website www.Bestrestroom.com.
For years, retired plumber Barney Smith operated the Toilet Seat Art Museum in San Antonio, which may have never competed against the Alamo for the best tourist attraction in the city, but was definitely something to see. After 27 years, Barney decided to close his museum in 2019, but his toilet seat art was relocated to North Texas at the Texas Truck Yard, in the Colony. So now there’s another reason to visit the Truck Yard, besides their amazing Philly Cheesesteak!
Do you have a favorite Texas potty, or related story? I’d love to hear from you!
Keep Having Fun in the Texas Sun!
Michelle
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