We made our way to the Asheville area for WWOOFing adventure #2. Passed by a produce stand off the side of the road and stopped for a looksee. There was a lot of locally made honey, preserves, jelly, and cheese so we picked up some snacks for the road.
It rained as we made our way through the mountains and I learned that not only were my windshield wipers falling apart, the drivers side wiper didn’t even touch the windshield. Cool. We hit some traffic and pulled off to get gas, but paying at the pump wasn’t working. My intention was to pull forward and loop around to a different machine, but the reality was that there wasn’t enough room to make the turn. As I sat there brainstorming with Mom about what to do and how to get out, a kind man came over to help. In my opinion, he made it a little more difficult, but he was the ‘expert’ so i listened to him. I listened to him maneuver me right between an old car and a van. A whole lot of back up, stop, pull forward, stop, sharp turn, stop- happened. Eventually, I was out of the tight spot and pulled back around to get gas (successfully!). As I was pumping gas a semi parked right in front of me… this was turning out to be a really fun pit stop. Good thing we bought snacks. We sat there for a few minutes, wondering how long we would be blocked in, but the driver came back out after a few minutes and took off. Hooray! Thankfully, by the time we got back on the highway the rain and the traffic had let up a bit. Our destination is deep in the mountains about 25 minutes outside of Asheville, so, naturally, my GPS did whatever it wanted to. Like take me up a one lane hill to a gravel driveway that was NOT where I belonged, for example. Right to a spot where there was zero service to make a call to our hosts for clarification. Thanks to Mom’s patience and expert directing, I was able to maneuver the camper between a van and a boat for the second time in one day. I’m getting pretty good at this. We found the correct address one street up; their house was the only numbered one, making it easy to find with guidance from a UPS driver. One hundred and sixty one miles later and we officially arrive.
Mom, Neville, and I settle in for the night and meet our hosts, Robert and Jessica, and their son. Their friend, Kathryn, and her family were visiting along with two of their pups. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming off the bat- I love the WWOOFing community! Of course we ran into a few snags while hooking the camper up, but nothing we couldn’t handle. The next morning Mom and I got up early for breakfast and got a good look at the farm. Jessica and Robert have 5 acres that include pigs, chickens, and lots of fields they are using for personal crops. Looking at the land reminded me of my childhood… in fact, most of the drive through North Carolina did. My granddaddy was a farmer in rural North Carolina, lived on a farm, grew his own food, the whole shebang. The house they lived in and raised their family in served many purposes- obviously housing, but also schooling, a workshop, and farming.
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| Dad & I |
My grandparents passed away when I was a teenager, but I have fond memories of spending summers there with my family. My cousins and sisters and I played on the farm equipment, picked the fruits of labor in the fields, and helped out in the kitchen. As much as we could, anyway, being kids and all. Come to think of it we were probably under foot more than anything, but my kind and patient grandparents made us feel like we were helping.
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| Cousins |
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| Baby Bex & Little Lori |
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| Baby Bex & Grandma |
So being back in North Cackalacky, driving through the country, and being back on a farm brought back all kinds of memories that I haven’t thought about in quite a while. It made me warm and fuzzy inside <3 Then I got my hands dirty so I could really appreciate the hard work that is the farm life.
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| Cousins |
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| Oldest niece and Granddaddy |
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