You went to Arkansas?

To backtrack a bit, during our LAST spring break of college, we choose to immerse ourselves in the depths of the Ozarks in the heart of Arkansas. Not rowdy parties with large groups of middle-aged college kids, not crowded beaches and suntans, Arkansas.

We found a real-life Mayberry. Milkshakes in rocking chairs in the afternoon sun, chatting with the regular folks at the cafe, a stone-walled county jail in the center of town, you know, just way too familiar. A week of circumstances so un-real and irreplaceable, I must say, we didn't spend more than $200 for everything including transportation (from Michigan and back) and food. Our sleeping arrangements were of interest as we went from sleeping under a highway bridge, to a mountain top with a 360 degree view of the Ozarks, to a trailer in a front yard during an earthquake, to a king-sized-bed in the house of a Buddhist monk, to sleeping below a 150 foot cliff under the starry sky.... Simply because we took interest in all that we encountered, and incredible things happen if you simply put yourself in a situation you just might not be all that comfortable in. This was the real stuff. Southern hospitality is a term so real, it's not even funny.

The actual town we found ourselves swept away in, will remain a place without name. It's important that each person finds their own corners of the world where a usual drive through, gas-stop type town, can become a place so heart-warming and dreamy simply because of the way it is approached.

Now, Arkansas is a place of nostalgia for us. Arkansas!