We are ALWAYS looking for small pockets of time to saturate ourselves in nature. While we do like to vacation, and usually do 1-2 bigger trips a year, having these small pockets of “getting away from it all” are what gives us the energy to keep going. We LOVE LOVE Arkansas, and have started going there fairly regularly. We went to the Ponca area this past fall, and a family from Fayetteville set up camp next to us the second night we were there. They have 2 boys around our kids’ ages, and they all made fast friends. We had a blast in that 24ish hours with them and made a comment along the lines of “we should try to do this again sometime”! Well, we did! So, these near complete strangers, opened their beautiful home to us to break up our journey for one evening, and then came along with us to Petit Jean. We stayed in a duplex cabin thing which was perfect for a couple families vacationing together. The area was even more beautiful than I imagined and I know these photos won’t do it justice. The kids were TROOPERS–we did a couple long hikes (one was nearly 5 miles when it was all said and done, and even the adults were “waving the white flag”), but they stuck it out and it was worth it! The area and the hikes were SO diverse, and it felt like we were hiking in Colorado, minus the altitude which was a nice bonus. There were a couple trails we didn’t have time for, so I guess we’ll just have to go back someday! Thanks for joining us Scoggins fam, until the next adventure…
