It’s 2009 and I just split up with a girl I was maniacally in love with.  Hindsight tells me our relationship was really more of unhealthy obsession…at least on my part.  At this point in my life I was even more confused than I am now and my typical reaction pattern to such a stressful event was to feel suicidal and try to escape.  The escape part of my reaction was fine because it was the middle of March and I normally go on a roadtrip every year in March as a celebration for my birthday.  Usually I go with my brother but this year I planned on going on a trip by myself this year because the intent was either to snap/shock myself out of this depression or to kill myself in the secluded backwoods of some state park.

For a week or so I researched state parks in Oklahoma and Arkansas (I live in Texas and those are neighboring states).  Arkansas claims to have the most state parks of all 50 states, at 52 parks, so I looked through at some of their state parks and picked the one that looked the most interesting.  The morning I was leaving my family asked if I was sure I didn’t want my brother Andrew to come with me and I said unequivocally that I was sure.  However, as I was pulling out of the driveway, excited but downtrodden, Andrew asked if I wanted him to go along and I changed my answer, telling him if he could get ready in 15 minutes he could come.  Amazingly, he packed all his stuff for a few day’s worth of travel and we were on our way to Arkansas’s Legendary First State Park—Petit Jean State Park.  There is a romantic history behind the park’s name that is worth the quick read, but this story is shaping up to be long enough as it is so I’ll let you decide if you want to do that or not: History of Petit Jean Mountain.

Thankfully we made our way to Hot Springs for a break and it happened to be a really beautiful city.  As we drove down what seemed to be the main street in town we suddenly realized it was St. Patrick’s Day.  The giant parade and street closures were our first clue.

We turned off the main street, got some gas in the car and drove around a bit more until we ended up finding a little park with amazingly-lush greenery where we explored a little bit and then went onward toward a more remote destination. There were a couple more stops before we reached Petit Jean State Park, one was another state park which I don’t remember the name.  Again we got out and ran around a bit, found the skeleton of a gigantic fish and urinated in the original bathroom, pure nature.

Both of us were hungry at this point so we stopped at the nearest restaurant which was a gigantic pizza place which, based on both of our depressed states of mind, would’ve been a mistake had we known anything about the restaurant.   I remember nothing about the quality of the food, only that the decor was very sparse and it filled with locals who must’ve been utterly unable to relate to the depression-inspiring walls which were lined with quilts probably showcasing all of the town’s grandmothers’ skills.

By now it was dark and we were speeding down tiny-ass forested roads, in complete darkness save the lights of my dad’s 2002 champagne-colored Nissan Maxima, roadtrip vehicle of choice.  Somewhere along the road we stopped, turned the car lights off and got out to stare at the stars which were so visible that I briefly envied the ancient peoples who lived in a pre-science time of wonder and freedom to create the most elaborate of explanations for astronomical entities.  Oh well, everything’s a trade-off.  In exchange for magic we have the ability to use computers to view naked women doing obscene things.  I’m not really sure if it’s an even trade but I know many who would probably say it is.

Pondering stars was great but I realized we weren’t at our destination yet and I didn’t really want to sleep in the car on the side of the road, so we resolved to get to the state park and settle in for the night.  Eventually we arrived at Mather Lodge, which is where you stay if you’re into paying for stuff.  Despite not wanting to sleep in the car on the side of the road, I seemed to think it was acceptable to sleep in the car in a parking lot.  We did in fact do this but not before I got out, walked around and started playing depressing songs on my guitar to try and chase my blues away.  Unfortunately, it didn’t work so I went back to the car and mentally prepared for the backache and sore neck I would have the next morning from playing a sleeping contortionist.

After waking up relatively early due to having achieved the predicted pain we ate some trail mix or whatever and then we headed toward the waterfall.  Nothing noteworthy happened on our way out there and once we reached the waterfall we sat down in peace and admired what water can do to rocks (or any terrain really), how it wears them away, marking the presence of its constant movement.  It was a very calm place as you can tell from the photos.  Thankfully we didn’t see any other humans until the hike back.  For me that’s always a plus.  We wandered around a little more before deciding we wanted to head out and be home by the evening.

On the way back to Texas we passed through many ungodly small towns, stopping in one to get lunch.  When you see old caricatures of Southerners without teeth, wearing cowboy hats and suspenders and sitting on their porches in rocking chairs with straw in their mouths…that’s basically where we were.  The food lived up to its stereotype of good Southern home-cooking and their hospitality was also quite interesting—when paying the bill the cashier reached over and pulled a stray hair off of my shirt, throwing it on the ground and saying, “there ya go.”  It’s hard to get that kind of service in the city.

Even though the trip didn’t really help a whole lot with my attitude I’d still consider it a success.  It’s good to get away from home for a while and try to reevaluate.  The scenery was nice and it was refreshing to be distanced from home, family and reminders of my recent breakup.  As well, seeing the way other people live can help you appreciate the way you live and also give you new ideas to think about integrating into your own life.  I don’t think I took much from the folks I met in Arkansas but the principle is still valid.

Here are some more pics, and if you have any good Arkansas stories, please share them!!