Photo by Michael Craven

September 2011. Spoiler Alert: No fish were harmed on this Arkansas fishing trip.

Back when I was in college at LSU, I had mixed feelings when my boyfriend Michael would spontaneously announce on a Thursday evening that he was going fishing up in Arkansas. “See you Monday,” he’d call out as he drove off in his old 4Runner, provisioned for his weekend in the woods with a fly-fishing rod, a tent, a shotgun, some cans of ravioli, and the clothes on his back. “Have fun,” I’d call out, which really meant “Is this safe?” and “Shouldn’t you be, like, taking me to the movies?”

Flash forward ten years to Memorial Day, 2011. For the holiday weekend Michael and I, now married, decided to return to his fishing spot up in Arkansas. Packed into our “new” old 4Runner, we hit the road on Friday morning with our Google maps destination set to Heber Springs, the town that serves as a base for those seeking recreation on the Little Red River or Greers Ferry Lake.

After an almost eight-hour drive, we were glad to arrive in the early afternoon at Michael’s former stomping grounds, the John F. Kennedy Campground. When the park ranger informed us that we had arrived in time to claim the last available campsite, we felt as though only great things could come our way for the three days to follow. Well, that was mostly true.

We paid our $17-per-night campground fee and went in search of site D-19. Here’s something I wasn’t expecting: we were the only ones there without a recreational vehicle. Other campsites varied widely, from those hosting “modest” RVs and patriotic centerpieces on picnic tables, to the ones with monster RVs and amenities that didn’t so much blur the line between indoor and outdoor living, as drive right on over it. We even observed outdoor big screen TVs and people of all ages playing Wii. I guess getting some fresh air while playing video games is a step in the right direction.

Amongst all these surreal campsites was sweet D-19, where we pitched our small tent and rolled out sleeping bags. Our camping neighbors at D-18 arrived shortly afterwards, so we got to see first-hand how to set up a “modern” campsite. Our neighbors were grandparents with their children and young grandchildren—six people in all. Grandma pulled up in her van first and unloaded a leaf blower, which she used to loudly blow the nature right off of their campsite. A few perfectly-timed minutes later, the rest of the family arrived with an RV and two more cars. In what seemed like seconds they had pitched a two-room Abercrombie & Kent-style luxury tent, set up a nice “porch” scene with outdoor furniture next to the RV, unloaded the children’s toys, scooters, and pack ‘n play, and raised the American flag. Jaws to the ground, Michael and I could only salute. Later, when one of the precious grandchildren was asked if she was having fun, she proclaimed, “I very love it.”

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