Helen, GA: Stovall House

573 miles later, my crew and I arrive at our first official stop: Helen, GA.

"Life is a journey; not a destination." That quote is the theme of this trip so far (points to anyone who sang it as they read it). Instead of focusing on all that has gone wrong in the first 48 hours- and believe me, there has been a lot- I'm choosing to be thankful for all of the things that have gone right. All two of them. 

1. Arriving safely with all body parts in tact.  

2. Our first WWOOFing location. 

For those unfamiliar with this acronym, it stands for Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (http://www.wwoof.net). Basically, for me, its a farm set up where I can park the Drag Queen and receive water, electric, and food in exchange for working a few hours every day. The organization's website explains it best:

After arriving in Helen, Georgia, Mom, Neville, and I had the pleasure of seeing the beauty of the Stovall House nestled in the mountains (http://stovallhousebnb.com/sh/home.php). Our hosts, Johnna and Lloyd, greeted us with their dog, Honey, and their son, Riverfox, and showed us around the property. We settled in that night and in the morning we enjoyed breakfast and coffee on the wraparound porch with a clear view of the north Georgia mountains. 

The Stovall House B&B

The Drag Queen

This gave us the energy we needed for the day and after rectifying the trailer issues that popped up, we were off to work. We learned that the bed & breakfast is relatively new and the ribbon cutting ceremony was scheduled for the morning we planned to leave, so we adjusted our scheduled slightly to stay for it. Mom got to work in the kitchen and I helped Johnna out in the garden. For anyone who doesn’t know me- I do not have a green thumb (I mean, I once killed a palm tree). Johnna took the time to explain to me what she does in the garden and how she keeps it organic. And I learned on my own that bamboo causes me to break out in a rash. 

                                   

Anyway, as mentioned, one of the perks of WWOOFing is that after working only a few hours in the morning you have the rest of the day to do as you please, and so we did- but more about that later.  After returning from our adventure in town, we enjoyed some of Chef Jeff’s cooking at dinner with our host family and their friend, Joyce. For the next two mornings we helped prepare the B&B while continuing to work out the kinks of travel trailer life. Then the big day came and the Chamber of Commerce arrived at the Stovall House with the red ribbon and giant scissors. The Stovall House is officially up and running... Congrats!

We are happy to have been there for that moment and to have met this friendly and accommodating host family. Lloyd and Johnna were incredibly helpful to us, easy to talk to, and fun to be around. They are always on the look out for volunteers and open to host the help! Or, if you are ready for a low key mountain vacation- this is a great spot to consider. And if you do look them up, please tell them you read about it here! 

Partial view from back porch dining

Back Yard