Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 ï>¿Carla Finds Nude Travel Tricky! by LuckyDave1066

   Carla Finds Nude Travel Tricky!  Pt.  01

   Her detour to enjoy the great outdoors gets to be risky...

   A week after Thanksgiving, Carla found herself wrestling a cube van full
of all her belongings along a winding 2 lane highway, late in the afternoon
of the fourth day of her planned three-day trip.  She had planned to cover
the 1,350 miles between Ardmer, Oklahoma, and her hometown of Homestead,
Pennsylvania in three days, a bit of a stretch for someone who didn't like
long days of driving but doable.

   She hadn't figured on her own preference for sleeping in, which cost her
much of the morning on day number one, and definitely hadn't planned on the
iffy condition of the truck she was traveling in.  A good part of day
number two was spent waiting for a tow after one front tire blew and two of
the four rear tires developed serious leaks, followed by a few hours
waiting for the repair shop in a one-stoplight town to track down some
replacements.

   By day number three she was kicking herself for taking the deal offered
by the only rental place in Ardmer even willing to discuss a one-way
rental. The deal was not for a rental, exactly; she paid the exorbitant
one-way rental price, but actually was buying the truck, getting to keep
whatever she could sell it for at the end of her trip.  If she had any
doubts left, the burst radiator around lunchtime on day number three
confirmed her suspicion that she'd been stuck with a truck the owner at
Eddie's E-Z rent was happy to be rid of.

   Day number four was going surprisingly well.  Carla got going early, by
her standards, hitting the road by 8:00 AM.  The truck was performing well,
by its standards, with nothing malfunctioning or falling off.  After the
various mechanical issues she'd had to deal with already, as well as not
liking at all the way the truck handled at Interstate speeds, she had
decided to stick to two lane routes.  Even on the slower roads, with the
inevitable slowdown at each small town, she had made good time for a
change, covering as many miles in one day as she had in the previous three.

   Coming upon a local park with what looked like a fairly decent restroom,
Carla pulled in and parked, her truck joining two cars in the small parking
area.  Getting out of the truck and walking the twenty yards to the
restroom reminded her how long she'd been behind the wheel without a break;
every part of her from her neck down to her ankles was stiff and ached as
she walked.  After the much needed pit stop, she looked around the park,
surprised to see nobody despite the other vehicles in the parking lot,
thinking, "must be hiking trails or something beyond the empty open field."

   Doing a few stretches outside the bathroom building, Carla noticed a
sign near the Men's room door which she guessed probably explained the
whereabouts of the park's other visitors; the sign had a list of rules for
visitors to several natural hot spring pools further into the park, and a
crude map showing the layout of the dozen or so pools.  "Man, would that
feel good right now!" she said to herself, "I've covered a lot of miles
today, and with a little time relaxing here I might be able to do more
after dinner." It didn't take long for her to decide a visit to the springs
would be time well spent, and she went back to the truck to look for the
box with her bathing suits.  She hadn't been expecting to need a bathing
suit in December but was pretty sure she remembered where they had ended
up.

   The sight greeting Carla when she lifted the truck's back door was just
plain ugly.  Whether the jumble of tumbled-down boxes and loose items
formerly in boxes was a result of her haphazard stacking, the swerve the
truck had made when the front tire blew out or, more likely, some
combination of factors, the end result was the same.  Unless it happened to
be somewhere near the top layer of loose items, finding any particular
thing in the mess would take a lot of time.  Beyond her possessions being
messed up, she saw bits of broken glass scattered through the debris field,
either remnants of her kitchen goods or worse yet the bottles from her
liquor cabinet, whose contents were now spreading through the piles of
whatever.

   Carla slammed the door shut and locked it, though she thought anyone
stealing something from the back of the truck would probably be doing her a
favor.  She expected to not lift that door again until she reached her
parents' house; she'd just have to pick up anything she needed over the
next few days somewhere along the way.  With no swimsuit shop close by, the
hot soak she'd been looking forward to was canceled before she'd even
dipped a single toe in.  She saw a trio of middle-aged women emerge from a
trail across the field and suddenly felt jealous.  As they made their way
to one of the cars parked nearby, Carla realized there was now only one
other vehicle left beside hers.  "Maybe if I can find out where they are I
could steer clear of them and not worry about having a suit!" she said to
herself, "Or not having one!"

   Telling herself she was just going to have a look at what the pools were
like, and that if she ran into anyone using a pool she'd steer clear; if
she couldn't be sure of privacy her clothes were definitely staying on.  It
occurred to her that even a suit-free dip in a spring-fed pool in the woods
was way, way tamer than what she'd done back in Ardmer on Thanksgiving just
over a week ago.  "That night was a one-off for sure," she told herself,
"just too much alcohol intersecting with too much emotional turmoil." Even
though she knew she'd never have a night like that again, she couldn't help
smiling each time she thought about it.

   Walking along the trail she'd seen the women come out from, Carla
noticed smaller side trails branching off, and turned onto the third one
she found.  No more than 60 yards down the narrower trail she found a neat
little pool, about the size of a twin bed, three feet or so deep and lined
with stones.  Hot water poured out from a gap between a couple of stones at
the top row and continued down a stone-lined gully towards a river which
she'd spotted from the road she'd been driving on.  She slipped her right
foot out of her pink Croc and dipped her toes into the water.  "Just like a
warm bath, perfect!" she said.  She put her shoe back on and headed back to
the main trail, now really hoping to figure out where the occupants of that
last remaining car were; her small test of a single pool left her wanting
to have a good soak more than ever.

   Carla had intended to walk along the main trail until she could figure
out where the other visitors to the hot spring part of the park were, but
when she reached the main trail she saw a couple walking hand in hand,
headed away towards the parking lot.  As far as she could tell, she now had
the park all to herself!  Now that she was probably safe from being
observed, she felt a little bit of a letdown, like it was less of an
adventure now.  The odd excitement she had been feeling ever since she
began seriously thinking about getting undressed out in the open came
roaring back as she realized that once she was off the main trail,
presumably naked, she'd have no way to know if someone might be headed her
way.  With so many pools available to her theoretical intruder, the odds
seemed to favor her remaining unseen, but she knew there was always a
chance for a different outcome.

   Carla hung around the intersection of the main trail and the small trail
leading to the pool she'd already visited for nearly ten minutes, thinking
if there were any new arrivals to the park they'd be bound to pass this
way. Without a hint of anyone else coming to join her, she figured she was
safe.  She took a few halting steps towards the pool, then stopped.  After
one more look back towards the main trail she unbuttoned her cutoff denim
shorts, unzipped them, and let them drop to her feet.  Though it was
unseasonably warm for the first week in December, she shivered as she
pulled her t-shirt over her head.  She took the elastic keychain with the
key to her truck from a front pocket of her shorts and slipped it onto her
right wrist, then remembered to retrieve her phone from a rear pocket.  She
hung the shorts and top on a tree branch next to the trail.  She thought
that in the unlikely event someone else came this way, her clothes hanging
in plain sight might make them move on to another, more private pool.  She
tried not to think too much about what message someone not looking for
privacy might take from the display of her clothing.

   A minute or two after leaving half of her clothing behind, Carla was
back at the pool she'd tested.  She kicked off her Crocs and set them on a
stone bench.  After another minute straining to see or hear any sign she
wasn't alone, she was about as comfortable as she expected to get about
stripping out of her plain white bra and pink cotton panties.  With nobody
around to put on a show for, she was going for whatever got her out of her
lingerie and into the warm water as quickly as possible.  She unhooked her
bra and quickly slid it off her arms, then slipped her panties down over
her butt and let them drop to the ground.  She set the bra and panties next
to her shoes and slipped into the water.

   As soon as she sat down in the pool, immersed in the warm water up to
her shoulders, any worries about other visitors to the park faded away.  In
just a few minutes she could feel her legs and back beginning to loosen up;
she closed her eyes and listened to the water splashing down the hill and
felt like she could have a pleasant nap if she kept her eyes closed for
more than a couple of minutes.  "Nap?  No, no, no!  It sounds lovely but
can't be a good idea," she said as she reluctantly opened her eyes.  She
wondered how long her eyes had been closed.  When she studied her
surroundings she thought the position of the sun, though still high, had
changed enough for its rays to be streaming into her little clearing at a
slightly lower angle.

   The change in lighting led Carla to notice a sign she'd overlooked, with
arrows pointing to three trails; she had been so focused on the pool she
was in and so nervous about being naked before settling in that she hadn't
noticed the other trails at all.  Curious now, she stood up and climbed out
of the pool to have a closer look at the sign.  It clearly showed the trail
she'd taken, leading to the main trail connecting all the pools.  Also
shown were three shorter trails, apparently shortcuts linking the pools to
each other without backtracking to the main trail.  The names shown for the
pools at the ends of the shorter trails intrigued her enough to make her
put her Crocs back on and head for the pool named "Summery", saving the
other two to be visited in the order the paths led to "Lookout", then
finally "Fiery".

   "Summery" was a short walk from the first pool she visited, which she
belatedly learned was named "Balmy"; she wondered if there was really much
difference between the pools, or if she should just pick one and stay
there. She wasted no time easing into "Summery" as soon as she reached it.
The latest stop on her tour of the park's pools was a bit hotter, but the
big difference was its depth; standing on the bottom Carla was submerged to
a point part way up the lower curve of her boobs.

   She propped her phone up on a stone at the edge of the pool and took a
few shots of herself in the pool, first with her knees bent enough to leave
just her head and shoulders above the water, then a couple more standing
straight, with her nipples just above the surface!  "Not sure who I'd show
these last shots to, but I definitely want to remember this experience,"
she whispered to herself, still slightly nervous to be enjoying a public
park while naked.  After a few minutes floating she got out of the pool,
collected her phone and shoes, and headed for the next spot on her tour,
the pool named "Lookout".

   During her walk to Lookout she wondered how her next destination came by
its name, "Fiery is kind of obvious," she said to herself, "but Lookout? 
The trees are pretty dense, I'm only getting glimpses of the river." She
almost walked past the pool, barely noticing a set of stone stairs leading
down to the spot she was looking for.  She headed cautiously down the rough
stairs, finally understanding the name of this spot; someone had gone to
the trouble of cutting down a dozen or more trees, apparently to give
anyone visiting the spot a good view of the river and its opposite bank, no
more than 60 yards away.

   Carla lingered back where she could stay hidden from view, checking to
see if there was anyone on the opposite river bank close enough to see her
if she dared venture out where the trees had been cleared away.  Most of
the opposite bank was farmland, corn fields well after harvest from the
look of it.  "Okay, good, no sign of people there," she said.  One
property, just upstream from her spot was more worrisome.  What looked to
Carla like a warehouse was on it, fortunately for her with no windows
facing the river, but unfortunately with a parking lot between the building
and the edge of the river, and a few picnic tables right at the edge of the
river.  It was way too late for anyone to be having lunch, but she saw
three men and a couple of women sitting at the tables having a smoke break.

   "Okay, now at least I know," Carla thought glumly, "The parking lot
itself doesn't scare me that much, I'm guessing the drivers would be
focused on their driving.  The smokers are a whole other story.  They're
there for 5 or ten minutes with nothing to do but look around." Without
being conceited about it she was pretty sure a tall shapely naked blonde
woman, as near to them as she already was, had a good chance of getting
their attention once there wasn't anything blocking their view.

   Despite her every instinct telling her to leave RIGHT NOW, Carla at
least wanted a better look at the pool before deciding whether or not it
was unique enough to be worth risking being seen in the nude.  She stepped
away from her shelter behind a large tree trunk twenty feet away from the
clearing and trotted down to a spot behind a considerably thinner tree
right at the edge of the clearing.  Somehow her new choice of cover had
seemed more useful for hiding behind when she had been some distance away,
but once she was actually trying to hide behind it she realized it wasn't
quite up to the job.

   Despite the less than complete cover her new location provided, she gave
herself a minute to have a closer look at how this pool was fitted out
before retreating back up to the trail.  She took a step or two closer to
be able to study the design of the pool, moving slightly into the
cleared-out space surrounding it.  Seeing it up close, she needed far less
than a minute to see this spot was completely different than the pools
she'd already enjoyed.  Unlike the other pools she'd soaked in, instead of
being deep enough for a bather to completely submerge themselves with water
pouring in from below, this pool was more of a platform, with only one
shallow layer of stone at its edge and hot water pouring down from a
cast-iron pipe sticking out from the hill above.  What looked like a
homemade fitting at the end of the pipe spread the water out like a
waterfall "Lookout?" Carla laughed, "Looks like more like a public outdoor
shower!"

   She was about to heed her sensible side, skip this location and head up
the stairs when she paused to look around; there was no denying it was a
scenic spot, and definitely different from the other pools she'd been to.
She had to believe the heavy stream of hot water pouring out from the pipe
like a thick sheet would feel fantastic.  The people across the river were
definitely a problem for her, a big one.  They likely as not would notice
her, and as well as she could see them, well, they could be getting a
really good look at her if she let herself go further into the clearing! 
But with the river between them, it wasn't like they were any kind of
threat to her.  She told herself that she would just be a pleasant memory
to her small, semi-distant audience, her appearance something to talk about
during the rest of their shift.

   Carla was stunned to realize she was now looking for ways to justify
intentionally allowing herself to be seen naked!  Somehow, risking being
seen naked by a bunch of strangers had become something she not only felt
like she could do, but it had also become what she wanted to happen! 
Besides, she thought, "I've spent the last few minutes standing here
basically in full view already, I might as well enjoy the shower!" She set
her phone up again, this time to record a video.  She hit the record
button, careful to be sure the platform and its steamy waterfall were in
the frame; a few seconds later she showed up on the screen herself, walking
toward the platform!

   Carla stepped onto the stone platform; once she had made her decision it
couldn't have been simpler, at least physically.  There were no knobs or
levers to control the rushing water, nor any soap, shampoo, or even a
washcloth.  All this spot had going on was unlimited steamy water flowing
over a beautiful naked young woman.  The beautiful naked young woman in
question was, despite the gallons of hot water splashing over her,
shivering almost violently.  As much as she wanted this, thinking about the
likelihood that a cluster of strangers was watching and enjoying her
exposure was still nerve-wracking, more and more the longer her show went
on.

   With no washcloth available, Carla made do with her hands, sliding them
slowly over every inch of her body.  At first she faced away from the
opposite river bank, still hesitant to show her audience all of herself. 
When she finally turned to face the river she kept her eyes closed, trying
to decide whether she wanted to know for certain whether or not she had
acquired an audience.

   She finally stepped forward far enough to get her face clear of the
stream of water and looked across the river, smiling when she saw all five
smokers standing as close as they could to the edge of the river and
looking straight at her!  She almost turned away again, but seeing the
strangers staring at her, she just said, "Fuck it...let them watch!" and
kept caressing herself!  After a solid ten minutes of the hot stream of
water splashing over her, she stepped off of the stone platform, faced her
audience, now at least 13 strong, took a bow, and blew them a kiss.  As she
finally turned away from her audience she noticed that somewhere along the
way while she was busy showing off her naked body, her shivering had
vanished.

   Carla could hardly believe she had gone so far, but in fact had barely
avoided giving in to a strong urge to put on an even more graphic show, not
quite able to let her audience see her masturbating on her tiny stage.  She
shook her head and laughed as she picked up her phone and slipped on her
shoes.  When she reached the trail at the top of the steps she paused a
minute or two to review her newest video.

   Seeing herself on the phone's screen, clearly enjoying performing for
her audience, confirmed how shameless she was becoming about exposing
herself.  She thought about ending her adventure, heading back the way
she'd come, thinking she'd had more than enough excitement for one day. 
"Maybe enough for one month, or one year!" she said.  Still, the thought of
a more relaxing, more secluded soak in a really hot pool was still
appealing, so she moved on as planned, walking one more segment of the
trail to give "Fiery" a try as the final stop on her tour before strapping
herself into her much-hated truck and moving on.

   Reaching her destination a few minutes later, Carla thought Fiery looked
fairly similar to the first pool she'd visited, at least as far as the pool
itself was concerned; roughly twin bed sized and deep enough for the water
to come up to the upper slope of her boobs when she sat down.  The unique
feature of this pool was a series of mirrors arrayed around three sides of
the pool.  The mirrors varied in size, height, and angle, and all were
mounted on steel poles in fixed positions.  "What exactly was whoever
installed these trying to accomplish?" she wondered.

   Carla shifted her position in the pool, checking to see if she could see
herself in any of the mirrors as she changed location.  After much trial
and error, she found a spot where at least some of her head and shoulders
showed up in each mirror.  All the mirror image Carlas she saw surrounding
her were a little too low, so she got off her butt and knelt in the same
spot, sitting on her heels, raising herself just enough to see a little bit
more of herself in each mirror.  One final adjustment, leaning very
slightly forward with her hands resting lightly on her thighs, altered the
view at three of the mirrors to include her boobs, which her latest
adjustment in position had raised just above the surface of the water.

   One final change brought about by Carla's new position wasn't visible to
the naked eye, but was immediately noticed by the naked Carla.  What felt
like the main source of hot water for the pool, pouring out from a narrow
gap between two stones on the wall behind Carla had previously been
providing her with a vigorous lower back massage.  The powerful stream of
hot water was now passing between her feet, performing a similar service
for her pussy!

   "Oh my God, I've wandered into some kind of weird-ass porno art
installation!" Carla thought, "I wonder if whoever came up with this has a
camera set up somewhere around here?" She looked all around but didn't see
any sign the area was being monitored, eventually deciding she was just
being paranoid.  She relaxed and enjoyed the jet of water rushing over her
pussy, experimenting with small adjustments in her posture to maximize the
effect it was having on her.  She looked around at the various mirrors,
becoming even more aroused as she saw her reflections gazing back at her,
mouths hanging open and boobs rising and falling as she began panting.

   Watching in the mirror directly in front of her as her right hand groped
her breasts and pulled on her swollen nipples, she groaned as she thought
about how the people across the river had watched her.  "What would they
think if they could see me now," she wondered, shocking herself by wishing
they could!  The sensations added by shifting her left hand to gently rub
her clit finally sent her over the edge, falling happily into an intense
orgasm.  She watched herself come, then closed her eyes as she felt a
second wave building.  She kept her eyes closed through her second orgasm
and for several more minutes, smiling as she slowly came down to earth.

   Carla was still lingering in a daydream about roaming naked in a forest
until the sound of a woman's voice asking, "Are you okay?" snapped her out
of her dream and back to her current reality, being naked in a pool of hot
water in a forest.  Her reality was different from her dream in another
significant way; as she awakened, she realized she was still kneeling in a
pool of hot water, still naked, but was no longer alone!  A stout
grey-haired woman and a skinny man, both wearing bathing suits, were
standing on the trail a few yards away.

   "Yeah, um, I must have nodded off for a few minutes," Carla finally
answered.  Their smiles and the knowing looks they traded made Carla think
the couple had seen or heard more than they were letting on.  She belatedly
remembered that her boobs were still in clear view and dropped down so only
her head and shoulders were above the surface of the water.  "Really, I'm
fine, I was just a little disoriented for a minute." she told them, hoping
they'd move on.

   "Okay, then, we'll be off," said the man, standing still and focused on
Carla despite his wife already starting to move, "Unless you're done with
this pool."

   "For goodness sake, Dennis, give the girl a bit of privacy!" the woman
scolded her companion, we can go to another pool!  But Miss, If that cargo
truck in the parking area is yours, you don't want to linger too long.  The
sign warning about vehicles being towed after sunset isn't kidding, the
county is pretty strict about it."

   "Thanks for the warning," Carla replied, "but aren't you worried about
getting towed too?"

   "Nope," the woman answered, smiling, "We live just down the road, and
they don't bother looking for people back here as long as they're quiet and
don't have campfires.  More interested in the income from towing and
collecting fees, I suppose."

   "Thanks again!" Carla said, watching the couple head off on the trail
she had taken from Lookout.  "Damn, I'd better get going, the sun is
already pretty low," she thought, and with those two on the trail I took to
get here I'll need to find another route back to where I left my clothes!"
She reluctantly climbed out of the pool, picked up her phone, put on her
shoes and headed down the trail they had come from, assuming it would lead
her to the main trail, and then back to her clothing.

   Reaching the main trail in just a few minutes, Carla didn't doubt she'd
be able to get back to where she'd left her clothes in plenty of time to
get dressed and reach her truck well before sunset.  When she'd walked for
over fifteen minutes without seeing anything familiar her confidence began
to waver.  Another ten minutes of walking didn't get her to where she
needed to be, but when she started paying attention to the location of the
rapidly setting sun she eventually realized she had been walking in a loop.

   With little time left before sunset, she took a risk and left the trail
behind entirely, setting out through the woods in what she was pretty sure
was the direction of the road she'd been driving on, hoping to reach the
open field between the parking area and the trail she needed to take to
retrieve her clothes.

   The sound of vehicles on a road somewhere ahead confirmed her current
approach, but the sky was darkening quickly.  When she reached the open
field and could see the restroom building and parking area beyond, Carla
was beyond relieved to at least know where she was.  There was still a tiny
bit of blue in the sky, but she was sure it was well beyond sunset.

   Carla walked through the field a few yards away from the treeline,
heading to the main trail she had first used to enter the woods.  After
several hours mostly under a canopy of trees, walking in the field with no
cover nearby made her acutely aware of her nudity, especially when she saw
a few cars pass by.  She had just reached the trail she was looking for
when she heard the sound of a large truck NOT passing by, but slowing down
and pulling into the parking area across the field.  A moment later she saw
the flatbed tow truck maneuvering to line up with her truck!

   Carla had finally made it to a place where she could remember the way to
her clothes, but she knew it would take a few minutes to actually find them
in the dark woods.  Not knowing for sure exactly how many minutes
retrieving her clothes would take, or how many minutes it would take the
tow truck driver to hook up her truck and haul it away, she decided that
collecting her clothes would have to wait; keeping her truck from being
hauled away had to be her first priority.  She trotted out to the restroom
building as quickly as her Crocs allowed, and peeked around the corner of
the building.

   Her heart skipped a beat when she saw how fast the driver was working.
He already had the flatbed ramp angled and extended to the truck's rear
tires and was about to hook cables to her truck's frame.  She was no expert
but she was pretty sure if she'd gone for her clothing first the truck
would have been long gone by the time she made it here.  She shouted,
"Stop!" from her hiding place, straining to be heard over the sound of the
diesel idling.

   "Who's there?" the driver yelled, whirling around.

   "That's my truck, unhook it, please."

   "Park's closed, the signs warn about being towed after sunset."

   "But it's not my fault, I got turned around and lost on the trails
through the woods.  I didn't mean to still be here this late," Carla
replied.

   "Okay, but my boss will be ticked off, he drove by 15 minutes ago and
sent me out after he saw the truck.  He's already on his way to open his
lot up for me to bring it in.  Go ahead and take it, I can tell him it was
gone when I got here."

   "Thanks, but I can't go yet, I had to leave some stuff behind back on
the trail to get to you before you took the truck," Carla replied, "It's
kind of important, I really can't leave without it."

   "Jesus, you're getting to be a pain!  I'm already bending over backwards
just letting you take the truck after coming all the way out here!  And why
are you hiding behind the building, anyway?" the driver asked, obviously
annoyed by Carla's odd behavior.

   "Yeah...I'm sorry about hiding, but, well, it's kind of embarrassing. 
The stuff I left behind, that I need a few minutes to go get, it's my
clothes, all of them.  I'm just asking for a few minutes to run back and
get them!" Carla pleaded.

   "So you're telling me that you're running around out here bare-assed,
and that's why you expect me to just leave your truck?  Prove it or I'm
going to do what I was sent here for!" the driver grumbled, expecting her
to respond to his calling her bluff by coming up with some other lame
excuse for not being able to leave yet.

   Carla weighed her options, both of them pretty awful.

   Option 1- she could stay hidden and have her truck towed off, then go
find her clothes and walk or hitch a ride into whatever town her truck was
headed to, call a cab to get to her truck, and pay some exorbitant fee to
get the piece of junk back.

   Option 2 -- she could show the driver that, yes, she really was naked,
and hope he'd hold off on towing her truck long enough for her to get to
her clothing, get dressed and get back to the parking area.

   She decided Option 1 had too many unknown variables; Where was he going
to take her truck, how soon would she be able to get it back, and at what
cost?  "Option 2 it is!" she thought, deciding one more person seeing her
naked that day wasn't such a big deal if it let her get on with her life.
"It might even be kind of fun to see the shock on this dude's face when he
sees me!"

   "Okay, if you insist, I'm coming out!" Carla shouted, quivering a bit as
she stepped away from the building and into the glare of his truck's
lights. She walked a few feet in the direction of the driver, then stopped,
using her right forearm to be able to block the glare and see him clearly,
"Believe me now?" she said, shaking a little as she saw how he was looking
her over.

   "So you weren't bullshitting me about being naked," he said, "what
exactly do you want from me?  I can't just leave your truck here, if I
don't bring it in, it damned well better not still be here if my boss comes
by again!"

   "I understand; I just need long enough to get my clothes, get dressed,
and get back here.  I promise you I'll be gone as soon as possible.  Twenty
minutes should do it." Carla replied.

   "Twenty minutes!  I'm already going to have to explain to my boss why it
took me a half-hour more to NOT tow you than it should have done to
actually do it.  Fifteen minutes is the best I can do, by then either you
drive it away or I'll have to take it."

   Carla set the timer on her phone and ran off at high speed, heading for
the trail into the woods she had used earlier in the afternoon.  Everything
looked different with only some moonlight to see by.  She slowed down to
make sure she didn't miss the first trail.  Walking and using her phone as
a flashlight she found it, a little farther into the woods than she
expected.

   Going just a little bit faster she quickly came to the next trail, her
quicker pace leaving her with almost ten minutes left.  She tried to
estimate how long it would take her to get all the way back to her truck;
as long as the third trail wasn't much farther she figured she would have
time to collect all of her clothes.  At worst, if she was short on time she
could always turn back with only her shorts and t-shirt.

   As she remembered it, the third trail hadn't been too far beyond the
second one, but her memory of its location had been formed when the sun was
high in the sky, when she hadn't been in a hurry, and when she was fully
dressed.  Under severe time pressure, in the dark, and naked, finding the
third trail was taking a lot longer than she'd expected.  She was getting
pretty nervous by the time she finally found the third trail, but was
feeling pretty good about her earlier decision to hang up her shorts and
shirt on a branch next to the trail, fairly close to where the third side
trail branched off from the main trail.  With only a bit over seven minutes
left, she'd barely have time to grab the two closest items and race back to
her truck, still in the nude.  She expected the driver wouldn't mind giving
her an extra minute or two if he could spend it watching her catch her
breath and get dressed.

   Carla scanned every tree branch anywhere near where she remembered
hanging up her shorts and shirt, but all she saw were empty branches.  When
she reached the pool at this trail's end she not only hadn't found the two
items she had hung up along the trail but didn't see any trace of her bra
and panties anywhere in the vicinity of the pool.  "SHIT!" she shouted,
"where the fuck are my clothes?" She could only think of two possibilities;
either someone had stolen them, or, she had to admit was more likely,
hurrying in the darkness she had missed one of the trails branching off
from the main trail.  She was thinking about where she might have missed
the right trail until she thought to check how much time she had left.  She
gasped as the digits counted down below 5:00.

   Carla instantly knew she had no choice but to give up all hope of
leaving the park any way except naked; there simply wasn't time to double
back and try searching another trail, and no way to be sure her clothes
were even where she had left them anyway.  The only question now was
whether she'd be driving her truck, with at least some control of her
situation, or, she shuddered just thinking about it, hiking stark naked
toward whatever town the driver was towing her truck to.  She took off,
running at as fast a pace as she thought she could maintain.  Her anxiety
level rose to borderline panic when she remembered having stowed her wallet
in the truck's glovebox!

   As Carla dashed out of the woods into the field she glanced at her
phone, seeing seconds flashing by with no minutes left, she picked up her
pace.  A strong searchlight on the roof of the tow truck lit up her route,
helping her avoid a few potholes.  She was glad for the added light, even
though she was sure the driver's motivation for lighting her up like it was
daylight had nothing to do with helping her out.  Seeing that he wasn't
about to drive off with her truck right away, she slowed to a walk with
thirty feet left to go.

   She walked up to the driver, hands on her hips, breathing hard and with
sweat pouring off her.  "Well, you're more or less on time, but don't seem
to have any more clothing than when you left, what happened?" he asked.

   "I don't know, they may be gone or I might have missed them," Carla
panted, "can I have some more time?"

   Standing next to her truck he replied,"I'm honestly sorry, but no.  My
boss called me while you were gone, asking where the hell I was.  Either
you drive away or I have to tow it; which will it be?"

   Carla just glared at him, unlocked her truck's door, and climbed up
behind the steering wheel.  He offered her directions to a commercial
district about twelve miles down the road where she could buy some clothes
and wished her good luck.

   "I'll need more than good luck to get out of this mess," Carla mumbled
as she pulled out of the parking area, not at all sure where she was
headed. "Getting my hands on some clothing, that would help," she shouted,
unable to stop laughing.



   Carla Finds Nude Travel Tricky!  Pt.  02

   Life can be complicated when you're not wearing any clothes.

   Although she was a seriously distracted driver, Carla was relieved to at
least be putting her fiasco of a visit to the county park and several of
its hot spring-fed pools behind her.  She had plenty to be distracted
about, between the events of her last few hours and her uncertain prospects
for the next few.

   Carla's current state, stark naked except for her pink Crocs, had her
driving in something of a daze.  It took a few minutes for the warning
light next to her truck's fuel gauge to break through the fog to receive
her attention.

   She hadn't noticed how low the fuel gauge was reading before she stopped
at the park; it really hadn't been a problem before, she had more than
enough to make it to the town the driver had given her directions to.  Now
that she'd be arriving in the nude, depending on what options the town had
she might be forced to fill up in an uncomfortably exposed location.

   She trembled as the image stuck in her head, but somehow in her
imagination she always pictured herself at a newer mini-mart, standing next
to the truck under a canopy full of bright lights, with other customers
coming and going all around her since she'd chosen the busiest pump, near
the store entrance, and stayed to fill the tank instead of just pumping
enough to get by until she wasn't naked.

   The nature of her surroundings began to change in the usual progression
when approaching a town, from farmland or woods to a few scattered houses
and businesses, then becoming more dense as whole neighborhoods and small
shopping centers began to line both sides of the road.  The road changed
from two lanes to four, and a few traffic signals marked larger
intersections, making another of her truck's quirks, formerly just a bit
annoying, now a serious problem.

   Sometime during her second day on the road, the two map lights at the
edge of the front window had begun refusing to go off whenever the truck
was running.  Other than having to deal with a few distracting reflections
while driving at night it hadn't made much difference to Carla.  Now the
reflection she saw, and more importantly, the view available to approaching
vehicles and any sitting next to her at a red light was of herself,
brightly lit and naked, all the way down to her navel!

   At the second crossroad with a signal, Carla caught a red light.  The
first ten seconds of sitting still made her a little tense, but real
anxiety began as she was joined at the intersection by a pickup truck next
to her in a left turn lane and then an SUV in the lane to her right.  She
held the steering wheel with her right hand and crossed her left arm over
her boobs.  She looked straight ahead, determined to avoid finding out
whether the occupants of the other vehicles had caught on to her nudity.

   Despite her attempts to cover up, the SUV driver leaned on his horn. 
Her determination to ignore her fellow drivers crumbled as the horn
continued wailing; she turned to her right, hoping that acknowledging the
SUV's driver would get him to stop before he drew even more attention to
her state.

   Making eye contact with the SUV's driver did get him to let up on the
horn, but not before he'd made the driver of the pickup look over to see
what the fuss was about, distracting him enough to make him miss his green
arrow entirely, causing the two cars behind him in the turn lane, who had
no idea why he had zoned out, to lean on their horns in frustration.

   When her light finally changed to green, Carla eased forward slowly,
trying to encourage the driver to her right to pull ahead and get on with
his evening.  "If it's going to be this crazy before I'm even in the busy
part of town, what's it going to be like where I need to go?" she worried.
Coming over a rise and seeing the commercial strip the tow truck driver had
mentioned, she said, "ready or not, I guess I'm about to find out!"

   She slowed down to take in her options, but there were so many stores
and gas stations to consider she ended up passing completely through the
area and had to turn around.  She lucked out and was able to turn around at
a left turn lane, catching a green light and avoiding having to hang around
waiting.

   On her return trip through town she came up with a strategy; if
everything she needed was available at the right side of the road, she'd
stick to right turns to avoid being on display while waiting for a left
turn arrow.  To avoid needing to double back and make yet another trip down
the busy strip, she planned to turn in to get the things she needed in
whatever order she found them

   Her first trip past all the businesses had reminded her how long it had
been since she'd had anything to eat or drink, so she added food to her
list of necessities, thinking she might be able to get a meal at a
drive-through without too much exposure.

   Cruising slowly along in the right lane, the first one of her
necessities Carla spotted was a fast food place, not her first, second, or
third favorite chain, but good enough in her current situation, and without
much of a line at the drive-through.  She turned in and got in line.  No
more than a couple of minutes later she had ordered a combo and was
approaching the pickup window.  Covering her boobs with her right hand and
forearm, she pulled up to the window, belatedly remembering that her wallet
was still locked in the glovebox!

   The young woman working at the window said, "That'll be $7.85, do you
need any ketch...uhhh...what the...?" Carla stretched over the storage
cubby between the seats, her left hand hanging onto the steering wheel to
hold her up and her right hand reaching for the glovebox button, showing
the drive-through clerk her naked backside from her head to the back of her
thighs.

   Finding the glovebox door locked, Carla whispered every bit of profanity
she knew as she sat up straight.  She turned off the engine and took the
key out of the ignition, then bent over again to unlock the glovebox.  With
her wallet in her right hand, she pulled herself back up, giving the small
crowd of employees now crowded together at the window a view of her front
almost as good as they'd had of her rear.

   She was about to hand over her credit card to pay for her meal, but
thought better of giving the man who'd taken over from the young woman at
the window a name to go along with everything else she'd just shown him. 
She pulled a ten-dollar bill out and held it out the window, blushing but
not bothering to try and conceal what she'd already shown.  "Nah, no
charge. Come back soon!" the man said, grinning.

   Carla pulled away from the drive-through and looked for her next
destination, and saw a convenience store not too far down the road, with
gas pumps and a good-sized lot where she could park in relative privacy
while eating her burger and fries.  She pulled into what would be a pretty
inconvenient spot for customers and turned the engine off, and with it the
cursed map lights.  While eating her dinner she kept an eye on the truck's
mirrors, both to be aware of anyone approaching and also to just get an
idea of how busy the store and its gas pumps were.

   Once she'd finished, wolfing down her dinner, Carly worked out her plan
to gas up her truck with as little risk of more people seeing her naked as
possible; mostly she was dismayed by how many people had already seen most
or even all of her unclothed body in the last few hours, but a part of her
was beginning to think it really didn't make much difference at this point.

   A small voice inside her was telling her since there was no way she
could avoid risking being seen, she might as well relax and enjoy the range
of reactions to her nudity, laughing as it pointed out, "Being caught in
the nude got you a free dinner!"

   Carla tried to tune out the voice urging her to enjoy her situation,
pulling her truck to the pump farthest from the store entrance so she'd be
blocked from one side by the pump and the opposite side by the truck. 
"Nothing much I can do about the narrow opening between the pump and the
truck but hope nobody else wants to use such a remote pump," she said.  She
took one last look around before opening the door, amazed that even though
she'd been seen naked today several other times, her pulse still shot way
up the second she set a foot on the ground.

   Standing between her truck and the gas pump wearing only her bright pink
Crocs, it seemed to Carla that time was passing more slowly than she could
ever remember.  The seconds it took for her credit card to be authorized,
the few seconds it took the pump to recognize her choice of Regular and
reset the readout, and especially the pace the gas was flowing at all
seemed to be taking way, way, more time than normal.

   She considered quitting while she was ahead, or at least unseen, but not
knowing yet where, when, or even how she was going to acquire some form of
clothing, she wanted enough gas to be sure she wouldn't need to do another
naked pit stop just a little later.  "Just a little longer," she thought,
"besides, nobody has come near seeing me here so far."

   "It's like I cursed myself!" Carla whispered when only seconds after she
concluded her choice of position was safe, a car pulled up on the opposite
side of the island her pump was on.  As soon as she saw it approaching she
shifted closer to the pump to stay out of the driver's line of sight.  A
glance at her pump showed she had only put in a bit over three gallons;
considering the way her truck went through gas she felt like she needed at
least six gallons to make it to the next town where she might be able to
find some clothing if she failed to get some in this town.

   She decided to just try to keep the pump between her and the man on the
other side, whose face she could see over the top of the pump.  "He's got
no reason to come over to my side of the pump, so I'll just ignore him,
stick close to the pump and wait for him to leave before climbing in."

   She was being careful to look anywhere except across the island at her
fellow customer, but she heard him grumbling to himself, then say out loud,
"Sorry to bother you, but I've never used one of these contact-free cards,
do you know...OH, sorry, I , um, I didn't..."

   Carla turned quickly and found herself face to face with a tall, lean
grey-haired man, who was still stunned at seeing a tall, shapely naked
woman nonchalantly gassing up her truck.  Without stopping to think twice,
she followed the instinct of her inner daredevil voice, answering him,
"sure, I can show you how they work, can I see your card?" Still in shock,
he handed her his credit card as she stepped over to his side of the pump.

   "Here, you see this symbol on the card?  Look for the same symbol on the
pump, it's usually near the card slot.  Just hold the card near the symbol
on the pump for a few seconds, and there, the 'Transaction approved'
message comes up on the screen." She handed the card back to the
dumbfounded man and hit the cancel button, saying, "Now you try it!"

   He somehow had taken in enough of what this inexplicable naked vision
had just demonstrated to get the pump started himself.  Once he got it to
work he said, "Thank you.  So much." and began filling the tank in his
Miata.

   "No problem," she said as she stepped back to her side of the pump,
"Have a good night!" Watching him drive away, she barely kept herself from
screaming, "Holy shit, did that just happen?  Who AM I today?" She ducked
behind her side of the gas pump, shaking so hard she could hardly grip the
pump handle as she thought about her interaction with the stranger.

   Too late to make any difference, she realized that besides having
exposed herself to the stranger at the pump, for a minute or two the only
thing between her naked body and the rest of the people at the gas station,
the convenience store included, was a car whose hood was roughly the same
height as her uncovered ass!

   Carla's plan had been to go back to the remote parking spot where she'd
had her dinner and check Google maps to see what her options were for
finding clothing once she'd finished fueling up her truck, but after her
stunt at the pumps, she saw several people looking her way, apparently
hoping to get another look at the crazy naked blonde chick at pump 9, so
she decided to move on.

   She cruised slowly down the road to find a store, selling Women's
clothes; any one would do.  She didn't have to go far before she saw both a
Walmart and a Target just about across the street from each other.  She
didn't much care which of them she stopped at, knowing she could find
something to cover herself with at either store.  Being on her side of the
road was enough for Walmart to win her business; she turned into the
massive parking lot, parking far from the store to sit and think how she
could get herself some clothing with as little exposure as possible.

   Going into the store in her current state seemed like the least
desirable option possible; she filed away that choice as a last resort, to
be done only if she couldn't think of any other way.  Sitting in her truck
and watching people come and go she noticed several employees leaving and
arriving, all parked in the same area.  Seeing them gave her the first idea
for getting dressed with as little embarrassment as possible she'd had in
almost an hour of sitting there.

   Carla drove over to the employee parking area and began to wait; fifteen
minutes later a middle-aged man came along, still wearing his uniform vest.
Still barely believing what she'd done at the gas station, she decided to
wait for a woman employee.  Another twenty minutes went by before she saw
two women, one still in uniform, approaching the employee parking area.

   Carla took a deep breath, stepped out of her truck, and called out to
the women, "Hi!  I need a little help, can I ask a favor?" Seeing the women
swerve to avoid her and quicken their pace, she went on, "I'm not asking
for money, in fact, I'll pay you if you help me out!" Neither woman gave
any sign she'd heard Carla's request; they got into a car and drove off
without ever responding to Carla in any way.

   Carla got back in her truck and thought about how to fine-tune her
pitch. She tried again with a woman walking alone, who seemed even more
spooked than the earlier pair to have a naked woman approach and calmly ask
her to buy her some clothes.  When a half dozen men and four women walked
out of the store together a few minutes later and neared her parking spot
she was nervous, but ready.

   Stepping out from behind her truck as the group came near, she said,
"Hi! I'll pay anyone who'll help me out by buying me some clothes to wear
and bringing them to me out here!  I'll give you $50 for your trouble, plus
the cost of the clothes!"

   "Why are you naked?  Is this some kind of scam?" one of the men asked.

   "At least he's not just ignoring me," Carla thought, and replied, "Not a
scam, I promise.  It's simple, I give you some cash to go back in and get
me some clothes, and then I pay you $50 when you bring them to me.  Why I'm
naked, well, it's kind of a long story.  If you really want to hear it I'll
tell you all about it once I get the clothes."

   "Sounds like a fair deal,' the curious man said, "what do you need,
exactly?"

   "Oh, thank you, thanks so much!" Carla said.  She handed him a list of
what she needed, including sizes, along with enough cash to cover the
shirt, jeans, bra, and panties on her list.

   "No, thank YOU!" yelled one of the women in the group, snatching the
cash out of the man's hand, shouting, "C'mon, everybody, first round is on
Lady Godiva here!" The man looked at Carla and shrugged, then got into a
car with the woman who'd grabbed the cash.  The whole group got into their
various vehicles and drove away, leaving Carla still naked and now $60
poorer.

   It was becoming clear to Carla that the only way she was likely to
acquire anything to wear at this store was to go inside and buy it herself,
but she spent over an hour hunched down in her truck trying to come up with
some other plan, preferably one which didn't require her strolling around
the brightly lit, well-staffed store in the nude.

   Once she resigned herself to taking her biggest risk yet in a day full
of them, she tried to map out in her mind every step, hoping to make this
mission as short as it possibly could be.  Even after she'd worked out her
route she waited a while, expecting the store to have fewer shoppers and
employees the later she went in.

   Carla drove closer to the entrance she planned on using, parking in a
space as close as possible to the building; she set the number of customer
cars in the lot dropping below 12 as her cue to go into the store; when she
could only see 11 she decided 10 made more sense.  Seeing arrivals and
departures bringing the number down to 9, she thought 8 would be safer.

   Five minutes after the 9th car drove away, she finally stopped stalling,
opened the truck door and stepped out.  She walked away from the truck,
shaking as she left behind the shelter provided by the boxy vehicle.  Her
heart pounding, she nervously began crossing the fifty feet or so of empty
asphalt between her truck and the entrance marked "Home & Pharmacy."

   Carla was so focused on walking through the door the second it opened
that it didn't dawn on her until she practically bumped into the sliding
glass panel that the door was not actually opening; a few seconds later she
understood that it wasn't going to open anytime soon, noticing a sign
saying this entrance was closed from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM.  To get inside
she now needed to detour to the Grocery entrance, way off at the other end
of the store "Of course it's closed, why wouldn't it be," Carla grumbled,
trotting to the distant entrance.

   Carla had been in enough Walmarts in her 25 years to have a pretty good
idea of how they were laid out, but this one was different than the ones
she knew.  Where she expected to find Women's clothing she instead found
all kinds of Children's clothes.  "Not a good time to find a clerk and ask
for directions!" she thought, walking briskly down a main aisle in search
of the Women's department.  She found the Men's section first, and with it
a man her age straightening a shelf full of jeans.

   Before he had a chance to say anything she cut him off, saying, "Yeah, I
know, I'm naked, it's weird.  Long story, no time.  Where the hell is
Women's clothing?" He didn't say a word, but he stopped staring at her
boobs long enough to briefly make eye contact and smile.  He pointed in the
appropriate direction and watched as Carla hurried in the direction he'd
pointed, focused on her ass as she took a zig-zag path through the racks of
men's clothes.

   Before she made it out of the Men's section Carla spotted a rack full of
parkas; she wasn't really in the market for a winter coat, but since they
were long enough to cover her down to the middle of her thighs she decided
a parka would make a fine temporary solution to her problem.  She grabbed
one and put it on, only breaking stride long enough to zip it up.  She
hadn't planned on the first piece of clothing she'd worn in over six hours
being a big puffy parka, but was relieved to finally be covered up.

   Once she made it into the Women's clothing section, Carla quickly found
what she needed.  She wasn't particularly picky about style, grabbing the
first three matching bras and panties she came across in her size.  She
pulled the tags off the lingerie she chose to wear out of the store and
gleefully put on one of the panties.

   She slipped her feet out of her Crocs and put on a pair of jeans, which
fit so well she picked up another pair before moving on to find some tops.
She quickly picked out a black t-shirt to wear and one each in the same
style in navy blue, pink, and grey for later in her trip.

   Looking around to see if she was being watched, she unzipped the parka
and took it off, setting it on top of a display of blouses.  She was
surprised to be nervous about being briefly topless again after all the
times she'd been seen completely naked, but her hands were shaking as she
put on one of the bras she'd picked up.





   Her nervousness began to fade once she had slipped into the black shirt,
fully dressed for the first time since she'd stripped at the first hot
spring pool in the park.  She'd taken the tags off everything she'd put on
right there, thinking that since she had duplicates of everything she was
wearing, she could just have the cashier scan items twice to account for
what she was wearing.  She picked up a black hoodie and carried it and the
rest of her new wardrobe to the only register open.

   As she waited for the couple in line ahead of her to be checked out,
Carla was happy to have concluded her own personal version of "Naked and
Afraid", though she also felt kind of proud to have managed to overcome the
many challenges she faced.  Though she'd be happy to never be so exposed
and vulnerable again, she'd begun to enjoy how freaked out her being naked
made people!

   When her turn at the checkout came, Carla heard a man standing at the
end of the checkout say, "Maureen, don't scan this woman's order," then
turning to face Carla, say, "I'm with store security, and you've been
observed shoplifting several items.  You have two choices.  You can return
everything and agree in writing to be banned from all of the company's
stores, or you can wait here for the police to charge you."

   "But I haven't stolen anything, I was just about to pay for it all!"
Carla protested.

   "Removing price tags is accepted in this state as proof of intent to
steal," he said, "and we have video of you doing exactly that."

   Carla's head was spinning as she thought about what their video showed,
what an arrest would do to her ability to ever work in a bank again, and
how she'd explain any of this to her parents.  For all she knew the local
police might have already been called about her various appearances in the
nude earlier this evening.  She knew which option she needed to take.  "So
if I return everything, I'll be free to go?" she asked.

   "Yes, after signing the agreement to stay away, you can be on your way,"
he replied.

   "And the video, what happens to that?" she asked.

   "The store manager will review it.  These things are usually deleted
once they've been reviewed."

   "Usually?  Not always?" Carla asked, looking the security guard straight
in the eye.

   "No, not always, but you don't need to worry about it ending up online
or anything, the company wouldn't want that," he replied, "any more than
you would."

   She thought she detected a bit of a smirk after his last reply, and
wondered exactly how many people would get to watch the video of her naked
shopping expedition, but agreed to sign his form letter.  He handed her a
clipboard and a pen.  She looked the form over, and seeing nothing but what
he'd described in it, she signed it and handed it back to him.

   "Now for the hard part," she thought, noticing for the first time the
five customers lined up behind her, watching and eavesdropping.  Somehow,
though the idea of stripping with this audience just a few feet away was
more embarrassing than walking through the store already naked had been,
she wasn't as nervous as she had been when she first walked into the store.

   Trying to seem as relaxed as if she was at home getting ready for bed,
Carla slipped off her Crocs, plucked her wallet and phone out of the rear
pockets of her jeans, which she immediately unbuttoned, unzipped, and
slipped off.  She bent over to pick them up and handed them to the cashier,
who had already put the rest of her items in a bag for restocking.  Carla
pulled her t-shirt over her head and off, then dropped it into the bag.

   She tried to hide the effect putting on this show was having on her. 
She was less embarrassed by stripping for her shocked audience of
late-night shoppers than she was surprised by the realization that she was
finding it exciting!

   Carla noticed some whispered conversations and comments from the other
customers and turned to face them as she undid the hooks on her bra strap.
It occurred to her that the other customers watching her strip couldn't
have expected to see a fellow customer get topless right in front of them
any more than she had expected to be stripping for this random audience,
and they were likely to be even more shocked to see the young woman ahead
of them in line totally nude.

   Sizing up her audience, she was pretty sure at least two out of the
three men in line were glad they'd decided to go shopping when they did. 
She was less certain how the third man and the two women watching felt
about the unexpected show, so she gave them fair warning, announcing,

   "If any of y'all are gonna be offended by me getting naked, you should
look away for a while, because unfortunately, that's what's about to
happen!" She pulled the shoulder straps down her arms quickly, drawing a
few gasps and one long, slow whistle as she stood still for a minute with
her bra hanging from one hand.  She smiled as she noticed her warning
hadn't cost her any audience members.

   Carla dropped her bra in the bag the cashier was now holding out like
she was trick-or-treating for clothing, then hooked her thumbs in the
waistband of her panties and tugged them down slowly, alternating sides an
inch at a time.  Once her ass was completely uncovered and her light blonde
pubes were in view she let the panties drop to the floor, turned her back
towards her audience, bent over at the waist, and picked the tiny black
cotton garment up.

   "I believe that's everything," she said as she dropped the panties into
the bag.  She slipped her feet back into her Crocs, which once again had
become her entire outfit.  "So, I'm free to go, right?" she asked the
security guard.

   "Yes, and you need to be off the property in five minutes," he grumbled.

   "Gladly!" she shouted over her shoulder as she walked away.  Somehow no
longer worried about being recorded despite now knowing that she was, she
put on her best strut during her return to her truck.  She left the parking
lot with a minute to spare.

   Once she came down from the high her unexpected strip show had given
her, Carla pulled into the parking lot of a closed furniture store to try
to think of a way to get, and this time keep, some sort of clothing.  After
a solid half-hour without a single practical idea, her phone buzzed,
alerting her to a new service available at the local Target store; she was
about to delete the email when she noticed the phrase CURBSIDE PICKUP,
promoting their contactless delivery option.

   She read the email and laughed hysterically, realizing her entire fiasco
at Walmart could have been avoided.  She logged into the Target website,
set the store just down the street as her local store, and spent the next
25 minutes happily filling her online shopping cart with enough clothing to
get her to the end of her road trip.  She filled out the payment section,
chose the all-important CURBSIDE PICKUP option, and hit the submit order
button.

   "Store closed.  Pickup available at 9:00 AM.  Continue?" came up on her
screen, drawing a howl from Carla as she tried to think of what she could
do with herself for the next ten hours.  She went ahead with the
transaction and began to think about where she could safely wait for her
order to be ready.  "I'd like to be in a nice comfy hotel room, given the
choice," she said to herself, "but I don't think the front desk staff are
likely to check me in in my current state." Fifteen minutes and went by,
but none of her ideas promised a safe and restful night.

   Her recurring wish for a hotel stay eventually bumped up in her mind
against her clothing delivery scheduled for the morning; the critical word,
contactless, brought forth a memory of a hotel stay earlier in her trip. 
The desk clerk had offered to help her set up the chain's app on her phone,
telling her, "Using the app, you can check in from anywhere, choose your
own room, and even use your phone to unlock doors."

   Carla had dismissed his pitch pushing the app as nothing but a way for
him to make his job easier and declined his offer, but now she thought the
app's capabilities might be just what she needed!

   Carla found and downloaded the app, filling out the usual info, then
logged in to find the nearest available location.  She found a hotel in one
of the chain's brands less than a mile away and reserved a room.  Once she
had chosen a room with one king-size bed, a diagram showing available room
locations popped up.  She had hoped for a first-floor room since she didn't
think using an elevator was advisable, but the only available rooms of the
type she had chosen were on the fifth floor.

   "Oh, well," she said, "after all I've been through tonight, climbing a
few stairs isn't such a big deal." She chose her room, the closest of her
options to a stair, then checked a box choosing the option to use her phone
as a key.

   During the short drive to her hotel, Carla couldn't stop smiling.  She
was thrilled to be able to not only find somewhere to spend the night but
to possibly, with a little bit of luck, be able to make it into her room
without showing her body off to any more people than she already had.

   She found the hotel easily, and drove all the way around it to locate
the door allowing for the most direct route to her room.  Once she was sure
of where she was headed, she parked her truck as close to the door as she
could, which as usual considering the vehicle's bulk was not all that
close. She sat for a few minutes to see if the door was as little used as
she hoped, and seeing not a single person go in or out, committed to her
plan, opening the section on the app for unlocking doors.

   Carla opened the door of her truck and stepped out, thinking, "Funny how
even after having God only knows how many people see me in the nude today,
it still sends a shiver up my spine just to risk having it happen again. 
She set off for the door at a trot, reaching it without anyone noticing her
as far as she could tell.

   She looked at her phone just in time to see the app shut down, forcing
her to log in again.  She had no trouble remembering her username and
password, but standing naked at the mostly glass door, in a pool of light
from a fixture right above her, she was a little shaky in entering the
information.

   She managed to get the app opened again, followed the directions for
using her phone to unlock doors, and was rewarded by a green light at the
handle and the metallic click as the lock released its hold on the door
frame.  "I'm IN!" she whispered to herself, looking down a corridor all the
way past the open area where the front desk, lobby, and elevators were, all
the way to a matching door at the opposite end of the hotel.

   So close to being safe in the private space of her room, Carla was
shocked to have to tamp down a sudden urge to go down the corridor far
enough to have a look at the lobby.  She could picture herself passing the
meeting rooms and breakfast area and peeking around the corner to see
whoever was working at the front desk.  She imagined herself stealthily
crossing the wide-open space if the person working the desk appeared to be
looking away, reaching the relatively more safe space of the opposite
corridor, still unseen.  Or, quite possibly, seen.

   She was able to shake the idea off, but not before she had gone ten feet
beyond the door she needed to open, to the stair.  She backtracked to the
stair and began the climb to the fifth floor.

   Once she was moving up the stair Carla felt her anxiety spike, along
with her excitement, every time she neared another floor, more specifically
the door at each floor; if anyone happened to come through one of those
doors at the right time, she'd have nowhere to hide.  Her pulse was
pounding more than she'd expect from climbing a few steps by the time she
reached the fifth floor.

   She tried to peek out the small window in the door to see if anyone was
in the corridor, but she could only see a small area.  She took a deep
breath and opened the door, sticking her head out to have a good look down
the corridor.  "All clear," she whispered, "Now I just need to find my
room."

   The path between the shelter of the stair and the safety of her room
seemed much, much longer in real life than it had on the screen of her
phone, but Carla didn't hurry.  Somehow, the quiet of the empty corridor,
combined with the knowledge of how close she was to the safety of her room
allowed her to relax and actually enjoy these last few moments of being
exposed!

   She calmly made her way to room 517, counting down room numbers as she
passed them, "511, 513, 515.  There it is, room 517!" She paused to take a
few selfies, both tame and NSFW, showing her, the room number sign and the
long empty corridor over her shoulder.

   She was so intent on getting just the composition she wanted that she
didn't notice until she turned to unlock the door that a young couple was
approaching from the far end of the corridor, their footsteps silent on the
carpeting.

   She leaped into the room the second the lock clicked open and slammed
the door shut, then looked out through the peephole.  There was no doubt
the couple had noticed her, as they paused to look at her door before
backtracking to the elevator lobby.

   "Oh, crap," giggled Carla, leaning back on the door and reviewing her
nude selfies, the last few including a surprised man and woman
inadvertently photobombing her best shots.  "I guess they win the 'last
people to see Carla naked tonight' prize." She wondered what the prize
would be, deciding as she checked herself out in a full-length mirror that
seeing her like this was prize enough!