Last weekend we took a little trip to Mountain View, Arkansas for a little R & R.
Even outdoor retail is madness in the holidays and pretty much Thanksgiving through January is wildly busy . After working loads of hours, last year we took an extended vacation to travel west. However, this year we’re saving for a big trip overseas, so we opted for a mini-trip a little closer to home and asked our best pals to join us.
Usually we sprinkle a little adventure into our trips but the sole purpose for these few days was to relax, read, and spend our time in good company.
I scouted Airbnb for the perfect place to hole up. While normally scouting for a location in regards to nearby entertainment, food, trails, etc., this time I was on the hunt for a great place. We wanted beautiful, cozy digs. We wanted it to be pet friendly in that it not only allowed dogs, but offered some space for them to run around. We wanted a nice little view and a hot tub, too.
We were willing to splurge on the place because we wanted amenities rather than access to the area.
I ended up landing on a cabin in Mountain View; a five hour drive for us and a three hour drive for our friends. Upon arrival, we immediately sized the place up and were thrilled that it would be the ideal spot for our weekend goals: drink coffee, drink wine, chat with friends.
Jackson and I admired the style of the cabin and its use of space, while Kona took advantage of the creek. Despite how chilly I know that water had to be, our girl rushed in without hesitation and had to be toweled down before re-entering our temporary home. Dogs will be dogs? As much as it annoyed me to have to keep cleaning her off, I must say I was amused by how thrilled she was with our digs.
Over the next thirty-six hours we ate good food and lounged around the cabin. To Kona’s delight we strolled around the creek and spent a few hours outside in the hot-tub which meant she could run circles around the property with her bestie while we talked life, politics, happiness and much more with our friends.
The sun smiled brightly on that January day and my heart swelled with emotion that we had the blessing of being able to escape to such a beautiful place and share such good company.
Jackson, Dustin, and Ellen have known each other since grade school and I felt a tremendous sense of gratitude to be included in such a beautiful friendship. Dustin and Ellen aren’t just the kind of people that you want to hangout with when you’re bored, but rather the kind of friends you want to make a valiant effort to keep in touch with because they challenge you to be better people.
As our conversation drifted over everything from current politics to the search for happiness, I was reminded of the value of a great friendship and how important those friendships are in forging yourself into a more thoughtful, more intelligent, more understanding, stronger and respectful human being. Good friends will challenge you and support you, they’ll comfort and encourage you, and they’ll care as much about contributing to your happiness as they do about fueling their own.
Our time spent with Dustin and Ellen reminded me that great friendships are not about simply finding people you get along with, but about spending time with those that make you want to be better and live bolder.
If you’ve got some friends like that, call them up and go rent a cabin for a weekend. I promise you might find as much to explore in way of conversation sitting in one place as you often find navigating a city or walking down a trail. If you live near Arkansas, you should check out this one!
The Livingston Creek Camphouse was the perfect blend of rustic and modern, was clean and cozy, offered a lovely deck space with view of the creek and offered the perfect stomping grounds for our lively pup who had no intention of relaxing ALL weekend where there was so much exploring to do. I’m positive that when it came time to get back in the car she must have been thinking, “Aw come on guys! This is the perfect place for us, no need to leave!”
We highly recommend this spot for a place to kick back and relax!
Perfect weekend!
If only everyone could have good friends like you and Jackson! How lucky we are!