If last weekend was fun, then this weekend was the most fun! I was lucky enough to visit Arkansas with a wonderful group of people to celebrate a birthday.
Turns out, people who want lake days for their birthdays are the best people!
We spent Saturday morning driving and then hung out in Hot Springs where we went hiking in Hot Springs National Park. These mountains might not be the most impressive I’ve ever seen but I love any kind of mountain view.
The view from the top is quite nice at several lookouts so we stopped a couple times to hangout and take pictures (including this fav where about half of us did a silly pose). One group broke off and hiked for a couple hours, but since they left before I arrived I just did a few short hikes off on my own.
Hiking is one of my favorite outdoor activities so I enjoyed getting a chance to check out the trails in this state park. They were well maintained and easy to walk even going up and down the mountain! I wish I had more time to explore here so I might be headed back soon.
On Sunday we rented a couple boats and spent the day out on Lake Ouachita, one of the many beautiful lakes in the mountains of Arkansas.
I haven’t been out on the water in a boat since I went to the Tennessee River in 2011… I’ve missed it!
We started off with tubing which was incredibly fun! I ended up being the champion and hanging on to the tube the longest. Can’t throw me off, yo!
I also tried out wake boarding which didn’t go as well. I couldn’t keep my grip on the handle so I never got up to really do it. I’d start to get out of the water and then the handle would fly out of my hands. I’ve never had great grip strength so that combined with a larger handle meant I wasn’t wakeboarding. It was fun to try and I think with ski gloves and a “girl” handle I could probably make it happen next time. I’m adding wakeboarding to my to do list!
Another first for me was riding jet skis! I know, for most people who go to the water regularly that isn’t too exciting. But I’ve never been on a jet ski before and this weekend I not only got to ride, but I got to drive one! It was incredibly fun and I fully see the appeal of owning them now. I got up around 50 mph which felt super fast and I thought it was the most fun thing ever!
Other fun things: hanging out with Jason, floating in the lake, jumping off the roof of our pontoon boat, hanging out with a lot of cool people, relaxing in the sun and wind!
At the end of the trip I was incredibly tired from all the activity and the sun, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’m so incredibly lucky and blessed with the life that I have now. There is nothing like a lake day full of friends and fun!
