This month was filled with weekend trips, spending all but one weekend on the road. Our souls feel so refreshed because we spent, not only 3 weekends traveling, but we got out and hiked on local trails a good amount of days. Spring is one of my favorite times so the rejuvenating sense of rebirth and reawakening has definitely been echoed in our lives.
Trip Planning This Month
We did a fair amount of trip planning this month! We booked several camping trips around the Ozarks from near the Buffalo River in Arkansas to the Current River in Missouri and a few places in between. We booked eight weekends this month for throughout this year… we’re definitely trying to make the most of our beloved camper.
My parents, my brother & his family and our family all booked a beach trip for next year! We will have a week on the Gulf Coast in a beach house and we’re excited for some family time with a view.
We also reserved a spot for the 2024 total eclipse! Our families have rented out an entire motel in a small town in Southeast Missouri. We cannot wait! I saw totality in 2017 and it was such a moving, spiritual experience. I cannot recommend this experience enough. I will say, if you’re wanting to do an overnight stay, book it asap! We tried 3 other cities/state parks before we were able to get this one!
We booked a week in Big Bend National Park for my birthday next March! I cannot wait for this! It’s been 7 years since I visited this park, and fell in love with it. I can’t wait for Matt and the kids to get to see it for the first time! We’ll be taking the camper and my parents will be joining too! My hope is that we can take the kids to Mexico for the day, like my dad and I did in 2016, for my birthday – it’ll be the perfect day to celebrate their first time out of the country!
Lastly in trip planning for the month, we booked a weekend in Tulsa with my brother and his family! They’ve been here for weekend trips a handful of times, so they’re excited to show us the ultimate kid-friendly stops here!
Travel This Month
We kicked off the month on our first camping trip! It was such a beautiful weekend in Ponca, Arkansas with a couple of hikes, a ziplining adventure and just so many wonderful moments of family time and settling into the camper life. Plus, we went to a spectacular restaurant – which you’ll see more about in the best thing I ate section.
We had a weekend trip up in St. Louis this month to visit Stacey and her family. It was really fun because we scheduled family time, so we got to watch all the kiddos interact. We started at The Magic House which was so much fun to watch Charleigh and Heidi explore. Then, we went to the St. Louis Zoo the next day. We got to see all kinds of animals, many of which CJ had never seen before, which was a lot of fun.
We finished out the month in much the same way we started it: camping in Ponca, Arkansas. This go-around, though, was just our little family of four. We spent the entire day Saturday doing something fun! We hiked to Fern Falls, Hawksbill Crag and Magnolia Falls. All of which were just incredible. Then, we woke up bright and early Sunday to check out the Milky Way, sunrise over the mountains and do the quick jaunt to Triple Falls. We felt like the ultimate weekend warriors after this trip.
Travel Mishaps & Laughs This Month
On this edition of costly travel mishaps, Matt forgot to zip the camera compartment of his camera bag and dropped his camera in our driveway on our way out the door to camp. We looked at it, didn’t see anything massively visible to the body or the lens, thanked our lucky stars and moved on. When we got home and Matt went to edit his photos and they were all out of focus… His camera was broken. After investigating the life of his camera vs cost, we decided to update Matt’s technology and he got a new Nikon Z5. We now diligently check the camera bag. Haha.
The weather surrounding our trip to St. Louis was absolutely the most perfect spring weather. However, we spent our dinner that Friday taking shelter from a tornado warning in a Thai restaurant bathroom! That was definitely a first.
Continuing in the weather pattern, I didn’t realize that it was going to be freaking freezing Sunday. So, I packed only leggings, Tevas and one thin flannel shirt. Which meant, I got to visit the St. Louis Zoo gift shop and purchase $9 socks and a $32 sweatshirt, both purchases I stand behind because they did indeed keep me warm, but it made a free zoo visit vastly more expensive than $0. Haha
Blog Posts from April
THOUGHTS AFTER OUR FIRST CAMPING TRIP: This was just a bit of a personal post about all the feelings and thoughts that taking our first camping trip brought out in me.
OUR WEEKEND IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE: Memphis was our very first weekend trip as a family of four. We packed a lot into a weekend trip in Memphis, this is a look at all the highlights!
A LITTLE MOTHER EARTH LOVE – EARTH DAY 2023: Every Earth Day I write a post about how we celebrated (almost always a hike and cleanup), some of the amazing places we’d seen over the year and some sustainability resolutions! Check out this annual post!
MY FAVORITE NATIONAL PARK HIKING TRAILS: Another occasion to celebrate around Earth Day is National Park Week! I, of course, find this to be worth celebrating, so I shared over a dozen of my favorite trails in the National Park System.
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Best Thing We Ate This Month
Hands-down everything we ordered at Low Gap Cafe in Low Gap, Arkansas. This unassuming rock restaurant served up some truly incredible food. We had chicken fried steak, chicken Alfredo, key lime pie, lemon + blueberry Italian cake, key lime pie and the waitress even sweetly gave Charleigh a piece of chocolate pie. Everything from the entrees to the sides to the deserts were just incredible. We all cleared our plates because everything tasted so good! This is going to be a treat on most of our camping trips to Ponca, for sure.
(Side note, we ate there again on the 29th, after I’d preemptively written this knowing nothing would top this and the only thing that potentially topped that meal was the brisket tacos I had there on the next visit.)
Favorite Local Find in April
I decided to add this to our monthly recaps going forward. Especially since we’re trying to discover more local places.
In April, I discovered a local coffee roaster, Ozark Mountain Coffee Company. I have completely fallen in love with their Ozarks Favorite coffee. It’s all I’ve had since wandering in there. I cannot recommend it enough. Plus, the owners are very sweet and fellow outdoor-lovers.
Life Updates in April
This was a month of getting outside much, much more. We have been going on hikes or walks most evenings. It’s so fun watching the outdoors come to life again and it has brought me a lot of joy. We had an unseasonably warm month with some insanely beautiful sunsets.
Easter was spent with family and I loved watching Charleigh really get into hunting Easter eggs! I’m already so excited to have two little tots hunting eggs next year.
We got to spend a lot of quality time with some dear friends and tons of time with my family. I had a girl’s night out, walked + hiked with friends and family, had some brewery visits, brunches and more. We’re truly so blessed to have so many special people live right around us.
Around our house, we started cleaning out our flowerbeds for the season. We replaced some shrubs and perennials that we lost during the winter and started our vegetable garden. Plus, I love spring and summer to watch all my beautiful perennials and bulbs bloom.
What’s Coming in May?
Well, we’ve got three trips to Arkansas coming – all three of which are to different destinations within the state! I’m especially excited for our first weekend trip because we’ll be going to Toad Suck Daze with my whole family – including my two sweet nephews! We’re also going to go to a new-to-us campground for a first tome and trying something new is always fun!
Also, I’m hoping to give For the Love of Wanderlust a bit of a makeover. So, wish me luck working on that and I hope to bring you a sleek, new look for our site as we transition into a whole new stage in life.
Here’s hoping your May is filled with joy, adventures, beauty and peace. We’d love to hear about your April adventures or what you’re most looking forward to this month!
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