I went and visited Lauren this weekend in Arkansas! I can't believe I hadn't seen her since May. It was so good to reunite and we didn't skip a beat. Everything went back to the way it was in Italy!
The first day we got some BBQ because of course I had to while I was in Arkansas.
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You order by phone... |
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And it was delicious! |
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Outside Penguin Ed's, an interesting name for a BBQ joint
But I like it. |
After the lunch, we took a quick stop by Bill Clinton's home. Random, but why not since it's an interesting attraction in the small town.
The rest of the day consisted of some major bonding time, naps, some delicious dinner, then going out to some bars.
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In out matching jean shirts from London, obvi. |
The next day we went to the farmers market in the downtown, shopped around a little (which included a very funny new book purchase, sorry that is going to stay discreet), and hanging out with my new and "old" friend. I really like Fayetteville and it reminds me a lot of Boulder, where my sister went to school. I really enjoyed walking around the beautiful town the entire day.
That night ended up being fantastic. We went out the bars again...
Sunday turned into quite a day. We had plans to go hiking and reach Whitaker Point, which is ledge that overlooks a valley. It was really beautiful because all the leaves were beginning to change. Other than that, it was not what we were anticipating for the day. First, we got lost, which made us an hour and half behind schedule. So, with that said, we had to "speed hike" and we did the three mile hike in an hour. Unfortunately, we weren't able to spend more than 10 minutes at the point. I was still pretty excited to see it. As you can see, it was quite an adventure.
The next day was my last day, sadly. Lauren, her two roommates, Naomi and Kelsey, and I went to a Drive-thru Safari. What is that you ask?
Well, it's basically a zoo that you drive thru and are literally inches away from the animals. You are able to roll down your windows and have animals literally right next to your car. In our case, we had a camel's head in our car. It was hilarious, but awesome. After the Drive-thru, we were able to walk through a "petting zoo." Remarkably, we were walking past a cage with two baby monkeys. The girl that was in the cage with the monkeys asked us if we wanted to go in and play with the monkeys. How could we pass that up?
So, we got to have the monkeys climb and play all over us. They were actually really sweet. I have to admit, I was a little scared a first, but once I got used to it, I really enjoyed it.
I was happy that Lauren and I got to spend the whole rest of the night together. We went to Mount Sequoyah, which overlooked all of Fayetteville. Everything was so green! Sounds crazy, but I am an Arizonan and definitely not used to that.
I will really miss my fellow Firenze girl! Next time, we really need to get the whole group together! Reunion soon please.