My Top 5 Suggestions for High Falls State Park

• Get your ass up and get out early. The park can get crowded quickly, especially near the most picturesque locations. The park opens at 7, parking is 5 dollars which includes entry to any other national park in close proximity for the day.

• Pay attention to the signs posted regarding safety, especially if you are unfamiliar with the layout of the park and the terrain. Yes the waterfall looks small, but in reality, the fast moving water could easily drag you across the rocks to a painful death. The signs posted are not a suggestion, stay out of the water.

• Speak to the people you share the park with, I make this suggestion for safety reasons, you are out in the middle of the woods, anything could happen. Speaking to others is a way of helping them remember you so if a description is needed, one can be provided. “Oh yes, I did see a stunningly beautiful woman with a great smile wearing sunglasses taking pictures, she was very friendly”. That’s simply an example of a description that could be provided about anyone visiting the park, not me specifically.

• Depending on where you are driving from, take the back roads instead of the highway. There are usually a few roads that run parallel to major highways, use those roads. Yes it adds about an extra 30 minutes to your drive, but so what? If you have a day at the park planned, take the road less traveled and enjoy the sights of the small Georgia towns. Stop and pop into a few of the many craft shops, produce stands and check out the nuggets of Georgia history as you pass the town square. Look for signs about the other sites that are close, you may pass them on your drive to High Falls and decide to take a quick detour.

• Lastly, find a rock, a tree stump, or a dry pile of leaves and spend some time sitting near the waterfalls. The past few weeks I have been a nervous wreck. Worried about my son in college for no good reason, but worrying about him having a life where he is living his purpose and happy. I can’t control any of those factors but I want to, so I stress about it. Worried about making a major life change, since I am a planner, I have always played it safe, I have always had a safe stream of income and a safe career. Worried about not blogging enough, and all of the millions of articles I have read about blogging, and good blogging and bla bla bla and whose class to take and who to pay to build your blog and who to pay to take great pics and can I just enjoy what I am doing? Can I just take my pics and have fun, enjoy my little blog adventures? So with all this noise in my head I sat my ass down on a rock and enjoyed silence. Take a friend with you that appreciates the moments where chatter is not needed. Where you both can just sit, enveloped with the sounds of rushing water, and feel that stress lifting, its amazing.

Take a quick trip, forget the plans, just jump in the car and head out for a day of exploration! Remember to smile and speak, if anyone needs to provide a description of you, make sure it’s a good one!

Much love from the brown girl, traveling the world, trying to make something beautiful”

Ny Unnerved