Traveling misadventures + Hi from Arkansas
Hi friends! How’s the morning going?
We are in Little Rock, Arkansas! We came here to visit the Pilot’s family, and meet our new niece, Nylah. We can’t wait to see everyone! It feels so great to be here, and even better after a crazy night of travel.
(I’ve always been obsessed with the tall, gorgeous trees in the South)
Before packing everything up, I got in an Orangetheory class. It felt so great to work out again after being sick and two days off. I especially love to get in a run or sweaty class during travel days when I know I’ll be doing a lot of sitting.
It was my favorite workout that we’ve done in a long time.
Lately, I’ve felt like OTF has been a lot of crunch variations. Last time, we did four different types of crunches, and I was in the grey zone (the cool down zone) for a majority of class. I’m pretty sure my coach thought I was dead based on the screen. For yesterday’s workout, it was an awesome balance of HIIT intervals with incline on the treadmill, strength, balance training, and functional core work. It was amaaaazing, and I was in the green zone with a little orange for most of the class.
Snack: a big bowl of berries
My travel buddies:
Liv wins the gold star for our trip. I packed some fun toys and coloring books, and she ended up sleeping the entire flight to Dallas. I read the latest Real Simple, ate a sandwich on Paleo bread, and took a little snooze.
Since our flight was late taking off, and then taxied for 1800 years, we missed our connecting flight and couldn’t get another until this morning. When we got to the airport, they gave us vouchers for meals, so we hit up TGI Fridays, which I don’t think I’ve had since the Fayetteville days?
Helloooo, sweet potato fries.
This morning, we made it back to the airport (in the same clothes we wore all day yesterday… I almost always bring extras with us, but I was a fail yesterday and checked all of our bags so we wouldn’t be lugging so much around) and after a quick flight, we’re here! Time to head off on some real adventures. If you have any ideas for fun things to do in Little Rock, please let me know! You always have the best suggestions. We haven’t been here for a few years, but we love the River Market.
Hope you have a great day. <3 I’ll see ya later on the Family page and tonight with a new vegetarian recipe.
xoxo
Gina
Workout of the day: this Hop To It circuit, featuring some of my favorite jumping moves, which boost power and burn a ton of calories.
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When my kids were younger and we were travelling the one time I didn’t pack extra clothes my son was sick all over me and him. That was s big fail and I learned my lesson! Have a fun time. We’re having our own travel adventure out of the cold in the warm weather- and I never want to leave .
We LOVED the Argenta Market for a cute little lunch place when we were stationed there; they use all local grown food and I feel like it is a little hidden gem (well, hidden 4 years ago). It is downtown but on the other side of the River 😉 I hope that you enjoy your visit in Little Rock, I loved our time there!
that sounds like something we would love! thank you 🙂
Flying through Dallas is a disaster right now because of their construction (always bring extra underpants). I’ve been flying up to Little Rock every other weekend or so to see my fiance doing some training up there and last time I spent 6 hours in DFW with no one giving us any answers about our plane. Getting in at 2:30AM was awesome! I highly recommend taking the tour of the USS Razorback – the submarine that the city bought. It’s a pretty cool and short tour and makes you glad you’re not a submariner!
i found an extra pair in my backpack and almost cried tears of happiness hahah
oh that sounds really interesting!!
Gina, your daughter would like the All-aboard restaraunt and grill. These little trains run on tracks overhead and serve you your food! It is fun to watch http://www.all-aboardrestaurant.com there is a little video on their website that can show you what I am talking about! Enjoy your time with your family! -Alyssa
this sounds like something she would LOVE. thank you!
I’ve wanted to try out Orange Theory for a while since every blogger seems to rave about it! There’s one opening soon in Pittsburgh, so I may have to try it out!
Only sort of related: I just found out they’re building an Orangetheory near my house and I am so. excited. to try it, given your rave reviews. I’m also slightly scared…
haha! don’t be afraid. i hope you love it!!
You are so chipper and positive in this post, having just gone through an annoying travel misadventure. Keep it up, Gina — love it! And my husband and I always eat at cheesy chains like that when we travel for convenience purposes. I particularly like Chili’s at airports, because they serve BIG glasses of wine. 🙂
i was starting to get so frustrated, but realized it was totally out of my control and let it go 🙂
i didn’t know chili’s was so generous with wine servings!
I was thinking the same thing about your good attitude. Hope you’re enjoying your time now that you’ve finally made it.
Have fun on your visit and meeting the newest member of the family!
thank you!
Pinnacle Mountain is a great place to hike. They have several different trails. The Clinton Library is also a good day trip. Discovery Science museum is great for kids and they have a special Science After Dark series for adults on the last Thursday of each month. If you are looking for a new restaurant, I recommend ZaZa’s Pizza in the heights. They have amazing salads and tasty pizzas. Everything there is really fresh and it is very kid friendly. Another good restaurant is YaYa’s Bistro. I hope you enjoy your time in Arkansas!
wonderful! we will definitely check these out! thank you 🙂
Ive only had my flight cancelled one time, but thankfully it worked out and we were able to stay an extra day and relax. Not that I was somewhere that was particularly exciting, but it’s always good to get a surprise day off from work!
Enjoy your adventure! I love getting in exercise before a travel day too. Wears me out so I am not so antsy. I have never been to Arkansas so I’ll be interested to read along on your trip 🙂
Also congrats on your new niece!
she is so sweet!!
Travel can be tough when things go ary! Glad to hear you are keeping a positive attitude and I hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly.
thank you so much, friend!
Hey Gina, I don’t know if you’ve posted this before, but I’d LOVE some tips on staying healthy and active during vacationing…any suggestions?
i would do it early in the morning before everyone else starts the day 🙂
I started going to Orange Theory a month or so ago and am not totally sold yet– I LOVE the treadmill portion and usually get into the orange for that, but for the strength half of the class (besides rowing) I feel like I get nothing out of it. Maybe it’s because my form is incorrect and/or I’m rushing to complete the rounds, but it’s just not doing it for me and I rarely end up with more than 4-5 “splat points” for the entire workout. Any tips how I can make it more effective?? I’m always surprised when I see myself in the blue/green for most of class when it feels like I’m working hard!
it depends what day you go. power days are usually winners for me because we blast our heart rates up on the floor, but on the strength days, it’s harder for me to get my heart rate up. don’t be discouraged; it probably just means you’re fit. 😉 i would just try to stay in the green as much as possible. the more you go, the harder it is to get into the orange because you become more conditioned
That’s my hometown! Some ideas: Big orange for a burger, Burge’s turkey salad, Gus’s fried chicken, shopping at the boutiques along kavanaugh in the Heights, museum of Discovery, Pinnacle Mountain, Arkansas River trail, walk the big dam bridge, and the Clinton Library. Have fun!
amazing suggestions! thank you so much!
My hubs was stationed in LR for 8 years. I was there 4 was those years. We really enjoyed it. The River Market area has a great Museum Discovery for kids and All Aboard Restaurant and Grill (a train delivers your food to you) was a huge hit with our nieces there. Hiking Pinnacle Mountains is always beautiful and they also just redone the area below Pinnacle with great biking/ walking trails. I think it is called Two Rivers Trails. Chenal Promenade might also be new to your guys. It’s fab! If you go there you must eat at Yaya’s Euro Bistro! Enjoy the Natural State! =)
http://www.all-aboardrestaurant.com
Have so much fun with family! I’ve never been to Arkansas.
Enjoy Arkansas, it looks beautiful!
i’m OBSESSED with orangetheory!!!! i’ve been going regularly (2-3x/week) for about a month now and i just love it. I’m also seeing results and actually look forward to going every single time. thanks for writing about it!!! your blog was the first place i heard about it. 🙂