Welcome back to our road trip diaries! It is Day 3 of this adventure in the heart of June and we spent most of the day driving from Ohio to Arkansas. We passed through West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and even Missouri for a brief moment before finally entering Arkansas. With bathroom and snack breaks included, it took us about 10.5 hours to reach our destination at Jonesboro, AR.
I had the opportunity to meet Ros's grandfather and to bond with him as he got to know me and vice versa. He cooked us a delicious rib and veggie rice dinner. Even though we have been avoiding red meat, there was no way Ros and I were going to say no to a home-cooked meal, especially one made by his grandfather. We even forgot to take a picture of it because we dug right in and it was gone within minutes.
Once the food went down and we were all more comfortable in the room together, we decided to take our troops to an aunt's house that lived 5 minutes away. It had been about 6 years since Ros had last seen her, and we wanted to surprise her since we really didn't tell anyone we were coming to visit.
By the time we got there, the sun was starting to go down. They greeted us with love and excitement. Without hesitation, they welcomed me to the family and I felt instantly included as they gave us a tour of their home and set us up in the back yard for drinks. It was lovely, sitting in this little patio with a new family just talking about life. Kids ran around, filling the air with laughter and mischief. Some of the men were making a small campfire to cook some roosters they had just killed. It brought me back to memories of when I was last in the Dominican Republic. Dinner was always fresh just like this was. I never expected to feel that way in the middle of Arkansas.
The outdoor space they had was so big, that their chicken coop barely made a dent. They had a swing attached to a huge tree that sat in the middle of the yard and the kids would take turns swinging from it. They even had a huge metal kennel that held two dogs, King and Cooper. We plotted to steal King, he was a beautiful german shepherd puppy. To make matters even more bizarre, they had a pony! A PONY. I always wanted a pony...
As the day turned into night, we reminisced the time away. They invited us to join them the next day to a river in Herber Springs. Since COVID-19 had already changed our plans in Ohio, we didn't want to risk traveling 4 hours to Hot Springs National Park, just to find out it was closed to the public, so we accepted the offer to join them. This was also an opportunity to spend more time with them for me and Ros since we don't know when we will visit again.
The next day we were up bright and early, and perhaps too early. In good old fashion Dominican culture, we arrived at the time we were told, but the host wasn't ready yet. The house was a buzzing center of people waking up and getting ready, breakfast sizzling on the stove, and the toaster popping tasty treats for us to munch on while we wait. It wasn't until 10 am that we hit the road as a group. After 2 hours, and a couple of u-turns, we finally found and arrived at our destination.
The parking lot was packed, which we expected with our lateness, but we found spots for all three vehicles. We sent the kids ahead to find a shaded area for us to set up while we unpacked the cars. Twenty minutes later we are set up under a huge tree, a rock throws away from the lake's edge. Within seconds, a group of us ran straight into the warm waters. The day was perfect for this activity, with enough clouds in the sky that we wouldn't get BBQed in the sun.
We noticed that there were some areas crowded with more people, and we decided to investigate. We had to follow a submerged path that leads to an island off the mainland. It was really cool honestly, apparently during low tide, the road is above water and cars can pass through.
Once we reached the island, there were a couple of cliffs that lend themselves to be jumping spots for the adventurous types. They came in different heights, and naturally, I stayed at the lowest one. It was about 6 to 7 feet high. When Ros jumped off the cliff, he would disappear behind the rock completely before even breaching the water. For me, it was already a little too high for my liking but I was determined to jump off it at least once.
Ros and his cousins jumped over the cliff at least 20 times each. From flips to belly flops, and everything in between. I managed to record a couple of good slo-mo videos for RossAdventures, so feel free to follow our YouTube channel to see them. I even let Ros jump off the cliff with my phone to see if we could get some good footage. Sadly my case had a slight crack in it and some water got in, but the video itself worked like a charm! We ended up spending most of our time at these cliffs and eventually I got my hands on a life jacket and then worked up the courage to make my first jump.
It was nice having everyone there encourage me to take the plunge, and my heart raced as ran towards the edge of the flat rock. I gripped my nose and shut my eyes just as my feet left the floor. I felt suspended in the air just before sinking into the unknown depths of the water below. There's something exhilarating about floating in deep water, unable to touch or see the bottom despite how hard you try. I'll be honest, fear was sprinkled in there, but the rush was enough to convince me to do it again.
When the sky got darker, we knew instantly that rain clouds were forming. Time was limited so we quickly regrouped and crossed the lake on foot once more. Everyone helped clean up the picnic area, eating the last of the BBQ. Ros and I figured that we should change into dry clothes before driving back. We made a makeshift changing area using my car doors, since all the indoor zones were starting to get crowded due to the public seeing the coming storm. We threw all the wet clothes into a spare bag in the trunk and sat inside the car while we waited for the rest of the family. The timing was perfect since the first drops landed on the windshield as we closed the doors. It didn't take long after that till everyone was ready in packed vehicles and ready to go. We both had a great time. I really enjoyed myself and felt proud that I faced my fear of heights to take advantage of the time I had here.
I didn't realize how late it was since the sun was still out despite it being 8 pm. We still had to drive 2 hours back to Jonesboro. Between you and me, I don't remember most of the trip back. The heavy rainfall and the loss of warm sunlight were nothing more than a lullaby for me. We found a hotel close enough to his family around 11 pm. Sleep came fast; tomorrow we will say our good-byes and start the new chapter of this trip: Missouri.
Ive always wanted to go to Arkansas, and im really glad yall are having fun :)