Way down upon …
the Suwanee River, not far away (at all!)
I’m staying at a “Boondockers Welcome” site. I belong to this—hm, club? program? I’m not sure what you call it but you join for an annual fee ($67 but it can vary) you belong to the Harvest Host (HH) and the Boondockers Welcome (BW). I started off using the Harvest Host sites more—these are businesses that allow you to spend the night on their property, for free but you are expected to spend at least $20. This can mean buying fresh produce and eggs at a farm, beer at a brewery, perusing a museum or other attraction or simply buying a meal at a restaurant. You spend a little but you get the free place to stay and the thing you purchased. These places, the HH businesses, almost always limit you to staying for one night. It is awesome and I’ve had the most fabulous experiences.
Boondockers Welcome is private properties, not businesses. Also free, but many of them have electric, water and sometimes even sewer hookups that you can pay a nominal fee to use. Something between $5 and $15 /day. (Campgrounds run between $20 and $100 per night, with the most common price range $45-55.) I’ve just started doing these BW sites this year. At first I worried about them a little more, traveling solo. Had this idea I might be safer at a business. So far I’ve never felt unsafe. These places will often let you stay multiple days, it specifies on their profile.
I found this one on the Suwanee River that allowed three days. I wanted to sit tight somewhere peaceful right through New Year’s Even and New Year’s Day. I have a superstition that the way you ring in the year is how the year will go. Boy, did I hit the jackpot. A lovely older couple who have owned their place since the 70s, but retired here more recently. Their son has the place next door and their niece one door down from that. I met most of them, great folk. All of them have houses and extra outbuildings and docks and patios and decks that sit up on stilts because the Suwanee can flood. Across the street it is a swamp of cypress knees and black water. So these houses are built on the strip of high ground at the river’s edge.
I am extremely happy to sit out the chaos of New Year’s activities in this incredibly quiet, private, peaceful place. And unbelievably grateful for this family who have been blessed and are willing to share those blessings.
Happiness quotient right now 10/10.
