By Rhonda Franz

My son and I embarked on an adventure: a mission to explore some curious back roads we had been on, but never seen the end of. Many thanks to Robert Frost and his poetic inspiration, and also those glorious Arkansas hills (the ones we couldn’t see around) which piqued our curiosity.

Our very own road trip, Staycation-style.

Our first chosen road runs past the bus drop off at my son’s elementary school. There’s a hill and a curve and after looking down that road one day, I wondered aloud about where it led.

My son said, “We’ll have to find out where it goes, Mom.” And I thought, yes, we will.

Earlier that week, after an evening in town with the family, we were on our way to our rural, northwest Arkansas home. I couldn’t find a back road to our neck of the woods, even though I remembered being on one before. Somewhere, I took a wrong turn.

We added this lost back road to our queue.

And we found an evening to leave little brothers and Daddy and we took off from our driveway with a bottle of water and a semi-plan on our very own version of a road trip. I didn’t get a teacher’s education for nothing, so I had my son make some predictions.

All roads leading to a park is a nice idea, don’t you think?

We drove up that bus loading hill by his elementary school, and went right on passed the building.

We drove by some big, fancy houses that we never knew existed, the kind with fancy gates in the entrance, and brick walls surrounding property. Then the paved road turned into this:

And then this. Two roads diverged, even.

That’s really where the fun began. At the fork in the road, we chose gravel. We crossed over little creeks on narrow bridges and peeked at houses tucked way up into the woods. It was kind of dark in places, thick with lots of overgrown trees, and slightly spooky. We kept going and going, and when I was sure we had delved deep into the notorious backwoods, we went a little farther and saw this:

So, that was good.

We came out onto a familiar road, about ¼ a mile away from the school. We’d practically gone in a circle. It was fun, and my son was thrilled. We checked that road off our list, and made notes to try the left side of the fork next time.

And then we went on to find that long lost back road. Again, I took a wrong turn on our search for it, but found some beautiful Arkansas hills we had never before seen, went on roads we never knew existed, and lost mobile phone coverage. We also found the other side of the lake.

At a “Dead End” sign, we doubled back and finally found that back road, which we promptly took into town, where we stopped for a treat. (A crucial part of any good road trip, yes?)

And then we took that back road all the way home.

Create your own version of a road trip. Discover a route that steers you clear of rush hour traffic and enjoy the state’s beauty. Turn a different way on that street you’ve never been down. Maybe find out what the “Dead End.” looks like. When you’re not pressed for time, grab a bottle of water and get in the car and look for new roads to drive from here to there and back again. Take a kid or two. Make a map. Draw a picture. Record what happened.

Take the road you haven’t traveled. Don’t forget to stop for a treat.

Rhonda Franz is a writer and educator who lives in the woods of northwest Arkansas with her husband and three young boys. She is a city girl who has learned to appreciate the space and quiet that comes from living out of town. She loves cooking, long walks, and road trip adventures that culminate with fruity drinks.

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