The Pool Progression

I found the picture!  

I told you in yesterday's post that Doug had put canopies over the swamp coolers.  Here's what that looked like, and now I'll tell you why I'm mentioning it again.

When we first moved here, Keira kept wanting to go swimming, and I just didn't know where to take her.  

Many pools are men only, and the ones that allow women and children are scheduled for different times in different places.

So last summer, we bought a pool for the roof, and Doug scooted it next to the swamp cooler so she could use the canopy covering the swamp cooler to protect her from the brutality of the sun.

Our neighbors liked the idea, so they cleaned up the piles of chicken food and when their bird numbers were down, they also put a pool on their roof.

It was a great idea for a while, but with dust storms and quick evaporation, we couldn't keep water in the pool or the dirt out.  There is VERY LITTLE water pressure on the roof, so the small amount you see in her pool below probably took about 35 minutes or more to trickle in.

So, Keira and I went on the hunt for a hotel pool to use.  We toured 5 hotels, and we found one that worked for a little while.  It was in a basement and warm year-round, but after several months, we started having problems.

Men kept walking in on her in the women's bathroom while I was helping her change, or they would stand at the door and ask us to hurry because they thought theirs was too crowded, and they had a "right" to ours.  

Unfortunately, the hotel let them do this without correcting them.  Even when I said something, the reply to me was basically, "Men can do what they want."  Eventually, the hotel made the women's changing room a "men only," so that they had TWO right next to each other, and women had to go upstairs to change and go to the bathroom.

Then, they raised the prices (which were high already), and we decided that was it.

But she was happy for a while.  

Now, we have to find another hotel, especially since she can swim without floaties now!

"Fun" Fact: swim caps are required in all pools here