Shoe Shopping: The Reality

  
Next week we're going to England, where it can rain any day of the year, and then on to the Swiss Alps, where there could be snow on the ground.

In England in May 2011

After that,  we're going to Alaska, where it  also rains a lot, and we hope to do some hiking when we get off the cruise ship ONLY THREE TIMES, as Jerry keeps reminding me.  He's known the itinerary as long as I have, but he only recently put it together that there was going to be limited time on the ground to hunt for moths.

I needed some comfortable, waterproof hiking shoes.  Here's the catch--and it's embarrassing--I wear a size 11 shoe (why is this shameful for women?  As opposed to men--nobody cares if they have big feet.).

First to The Walk Shop in Berkeley, where a hollow-eyed but super-caffeinated woman badgered me into buying a men's size that was too wide and too short.  Took them back today.

Then to REI,  where an intense young man swore he'd find a pair of shoes that fit me. As he brought out box after box, he told me all about  how he's going to use coffee grounds to grow oyster mushrooms, which was interesting, but the size 11's were all too short.  After the eighth pair,  he gave up and went on a break.   

I came home and  called Nordstrom. Oh, yes, they assured me on the phone.  Of course they carry athletic shoes larger than size 11.  Come on down!

So I drove to Walnut Creek only to find out  they had a mere three pairs over size 11 and only two styles. Mercifully, one pair fit.   I was all set to buy them when I mentioned I'd be wearing them in the rain.

The salesman, a small-statured Asian-American man--what did he think of this Big-Footed woman?--looked pained and told me that these shoes would be ruined in the rain.  The fabric gets distorted.  Customers had complained.

I bought them anyway, because they fit.  That's what you do when you wear my size.

Nike Free 5.0+:  A bestseller but no good in the rain

In the meantime, this conscientious, empathic man trolled around on an iPad and found a pair of waterproof walking shoes available at the warehouse.  They should fit, but I'm leaving in 9 days.  Could this be expedited?

Apparently waterproof

 Yes.  For $5, the warehouse will get them to me by Monday.  They are just this side of gigantic. Don't know what I'll do with the first pair.  Return them, probably.

In the meantime, I found this pair of shoes sitting near me on a table in the shoe department.

And the style name?  "Reality."