Helen

Helen, GA is this little tourist town in North Georgia where all the buildings have a fake Germanic style. No offense to the lovely townsfolk of Helen, but it looks like a really tacky tourist trap. I guess some people like it, because all the shops on the mainstreet that sell touristy stuff survive. However, the area that surrounds Helen makes it a complete jem. Mountains surround Helen, but not just any mountains--lovely mountains with hiking trails and waterfalls and (almost) free camping places.

I have learned from my mother the poor habit of not planning things very well. This style of not planning has translated into our vacation life very clearly in the past four years.....   Christmas during my senior year we decided we were going to go on a ski trip in Colorado about 5 hours before we went--Mom told Jim we were going on vacation while she and I proceeded to pack about 30min after the idea was first mentioned. I have no idea how we afforded that vacation--I made a Christmas tree out of wrapping paper and taped it to a wall because we couldn't really afford a tree--but it was one of my favorite vacations. Well, in like habit, Mom and I decided where we were going and where we were staying the evening before we left...at least we had planned the vacation days a week earlier. Well, we hiked to a different waterfall every day we were there, and, the first day, the hike was so short we decided to hike up the waterfall. It was wet and dangerous and fun minus that Mom slipped and hit her head lightly on a rock....    The second hike was Raven Cliff Falls Trail which is in a state park only about two hours (I timed it on the way back) outside Atlanta and followed a creek 2.5 miles to this beautiful waterfall and swimming hole. The best part was a camp site near the trail head that had two campfires located in a flat space large enough to hold at least four tents next to a large bend in the creek that a rope swing above it. The entire place was begging for a bunch of twenty-somethings to take over and,...... well....ya, have large amounts of fun.

Regardless if my friends want to go camping, I bought this book with pictures and directions to waterfalls all over GA and SC, and I think I'm going to be going on adventures all year.My goal is to hike to all the waterfalls in my book before I graduate OU. If you want to come along on any adventures, let me know and we can plan accordingly.

Overall it was a nice vacation. I suppose I am pretty lucky to have spent the entire weekend alone with my Mom and to mostly get along the whole time.