If you come to The Natural State in the summer, you will notice several things: the beautiful forests, the curvy highways, and the Arkansas humidity.
Over the weekend, my husband and I decided we were going to build a campfire in our fire pit. It had been overcast all day and the temperature was only in the 80s.
There was also a nice breeze outside that made it quite pleasant.
Besides, the first day of Fall is almost here.
It just seemed like the perfect time.
However, before we could build a fire, we needed to clean out the ashes in the fire pit from our last campfire.
We eagerly started this processed with visions of s’mores and roasted hot dogs in our minds. It was going to be a great afternoon for us and our kids.
We always love sitting around the campfire talking and eating good food.
However, this weekend would prove to be different. The Arkansas humidity would rear its ugly head once again.
As we were cleaning the ashes out of the fire pit, we started doing what every Arkansan does outside all summer long: sweating profusely.
I’ll be honest with you, nothing makes me more angry than trying to accomplish something outside in the stifling humidity.
It’s terrible.
What’s worse is that you can’t really trust the thermometer in Arkansas. The outdoor temperature may say that it’s in the 80s but you don’t truly know what it feels like until you step outside.
Sometimes the humidity is so thick that you feel like you have come face to face with a wall of water.
It’s like swimming on dry land.
The more we worked on cleaning out the fire pit, the more angry and sweaty we became.
We finally looked at each other and decided there was absolutely no way we were going to start a campfire. Our hopes and dreams of s’mores and roasted hot dogs were smashed.
The Arkansas humidity had gotten the best of us.
We are both Arkansas natives so this is something we are very used to but sometimes you just have to throw in the towel, go in the house, and take a shower.
And that is exactly what we did.
We decided that instead of sweating outside in the humidity and getting angry with each other, we would just come in the house and have a rare movie time with our kids.
Usually, we are the type of people that like to stick it out. We don’t hide in the air conditioning all summer watching tv. We like to get out there in The Natural State and explore.
We like to hit up all the best campgrounds in Arkansas, we enjoy all the amazing Arkansas hiking, and we’ve even been known to do a little bit of fishing.
But even we can be pushed to our limits.
You Southern parents know what I’m talking about too.
There is nothing like trying to buckle the kids into their car seats while sweating from the humidity.
Especially now that every single car seat has a harness that looks like it came straight out of a NASCAR vehicle.
It never fails that those clamps will never line up and the straps always get twisted on the most humid days and there I am in a sunny parking lot muttering to myself and getting soaking wet.
After years of having little kids to buckle up, I have finally learned my lesson.
I start the van, crank the AC up to high, and proceed to crawl around the minivan on my knees buckling them all up.
A non-humid mama is a happy mama.
I have always heard about some RVers who call themselves “snowbirds.” When the weather starts to turn cold in the northern part of the United states, they all head south.
My grandparents did the same thing for many years. Even though our Arkansas winters are typically mild, they would load up their motor home and head to Florida with many of our relatives.
Personally, I would like to be the exact opposite.
I would rather travel North during the most humid months in Arkansas: June, July, August, and possibly September. Once Fall and Winter hit, I would gladly come back home.
I prefer to spend my time in sweaters and leg warmers instead of t-shirts and flip-flops.
If you are thinking about traveling to Arkansas during the summer, I promise that you will be all right.
Yes, the Arkansas humidity can be a real problem but if you are prepared, you can still enjoy all of the wonderful things to do in The Natural State.
Wear your shorts, never leave a fan out of your camping gear, and bring a bottle to mist yourself with water while hiking.
And if it gets unbearable, there is an easy solution. Just go jump in one of our beautiful Arkansas swimming holes!
I wish all of you the best of luck as we all try to tough out the rest of this humid season.
We will all stick together.
Literally.
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