Sometimes life gets overwhelming. Everyone needs a break every now and then. Doing the same thing day to day is monotonous and isn’t good mentally or spiritually. I like to think that’s why spring break was created. It’s like a universal acknowledgement that life gets hard and everyone needs to take a break, to get out.

I was fortunate enough to hit the road during my college spring break this year. I grabbed some good friends, my camera and my hammock and took off to Arkansas. No, it’s not a beach or mountains. But hey, it was a pretty dang good trip.

We used Pinterest to plan our road trip. If that’s not the epitome of college girl I don’t know what is. However, it ended up being perfect. We mapped out our route and where we would stop for nights. We picked hiking spots, museums, restaurants and other quirky stops that we didn’t want to miss. Then, we set out.

Day One:

Our first day was pretty crowded. We prioritized stopping at Lambert’s for lunch because that’s a Missouri classic. We then crossed over the border and started working our way southwest. We wound our way to Eureka Springs to hit two of our quirkier stops. This would be Christ of the Ozarks and Thorncrown Chapel. These were scenic and fun, and were the perfect stops to ease into our road trip. We then moved on to Bentonville to go to the Crystal Bridges museum. The museum was stunning (and free). We spent a good amount of time here taking in some beautiful art then headed on our way to Fayetteville. We left our agenda open here and wound up eating at this fantastic grilled cheese restaurant (Hammontree’s Grilled Cheese) and wandering our way around the college town before turning in for the night.

Day Two:

We got up early and headed for the destination I think we were all most excited for. Hawksbill Crag is a photo opportunity if there ever was one. We wound up some dirt roads and well beyond cell service, packed our lunch and headed out on a hike. The crag was breathtaking. It looked a lot more dangerous than it actually was. We spread out on the rock to enjoy a peaceful picnic lunch. I will probably never eat a meal with a better view. We took our many fun photos and headed back up the trail. We then headed to Mount Magazine State Park to hike to the highest point in Arkansas. This was bear country and we hoped to see a furry friend, but no such luck. There were some impressive scenic overlooks we took time to check out before making the super short hike up to Signal Hill. We opted for a shorter hike due to sunset coming. The highest point was marked and even on a stone map of Arkansas. We hit the road again to make it to our main destination, Hot Springs.

Day Three:

Why Hot Springs, Arkansas? Something about the smallest national park and the fact that you could take baths for fun made us want to check out the quirky little town. It ended up being a great choice. We started off our first day by taking a traditional bath at the Buckstaff Bathhouse. Boy, was that an experience. The water felt great though the whole routine was bizarre. It’s just something you have to try though when you go to a town built around taking baths in the natural springs. We spent some time shopping that day as well. The town is so cute! There is a cupcake shop called Fat Bottomed Girls that is amazing and I would highly recommend. We also headed up to the Mountain Tower. This was an amazing view of the town and surrounding mountains. It was crazy windy so that made it even more fun. We turned in a little early due to severe weather, but this was good since we were pretty wiped from all the driving and hiking.

Day Four:

We headed for one of our weirder stops first thing in the morning. This was an alligator farm just outside of town. There were so many gators in this place it was nuts. A man handed us little gators to hold. I’m glad I can say I did that, though not sure I would do it again. We played with some goats and passed our morning with the animals. We also stopped at this rock shop that was interesting and made for some simple souvenirs. We spent the rest of the day heading into the Ouchita National Forrest. We decided to hike a trail at Lake Ouchita. This lake was way cooler than we thought and the views were great. That trail was probably the hardest one we hiked though. We finished up the evening back in town at the famous Ohio Club where Al Capone and Babe Ruth used to party. The food was great and the live jazz was even better.

Day Five:

We headed out in the morning to start the journey back. First stop was Little Rock. We wanted to get some purple milkshakes for lunch at the Purple Cow. We ended up stopping at Little Rock Central High School and the national monument site. This is where integration was forced and a lot of history was made. It was a cool spontaneous stop. We went on to Blanchard Springs Cavern and took a tour through the coolest cave I’ve ever seen. We also checked out the spring itself and Mirror Lake, which was beautiful at sunset time. We ended the night in a hot tub in Branson.

The next day we spent some time at Silver Dollar City and then headed home.

This road trip wasn’t spectacular or expensive. It was cheap, it was dirty and it was simple. What mattered was getting out of school, out of routine and out of our heads. A week in wide opens spaces and with good company was the perfect break.

I like to think that when you are out in the “wilderness” you are closest to God. The trip wasn’t spiritual, but it was good for the spirit.

Everyone needs to step back, get out and heal the mind and the soul. Take a break, take a trip and make some memories.