Driving along the open roads, around the mountains, and through small towns, the exciting energy of two new friends fills the car. Embarking on our own adventure, I pick up my new friend Izzy and our track to Paradise Cove begins. I’m a Florida girl, and she’s a Colorado native, but our bond is our youth and wanderlust entwines our spirits that yearn to explore the earth around us. We couldn’t wait to get to the cove, jump off the cliff, swim in the cool water and embrace the day. Our excitement grew more fierce, and louder, and more powerful with every passing mile — up until we saw it. With just miles left until we reached the cove, there sat a string of cop cars. Our excitement turned to questioning. “The Feds!” Izzy would yell out after passing each car, which kept me laughing and our spirits high. We stayed optimistic that these cops weren’t going to stop our fun. But suddenly it was clear: or the opposite of clear. Smoke filled the sky as we approached our final turn. A severe forest fire would be the final road block to our day of fun.
We were bummed to say the least. All of that driving, all the excitement had all been for nothing. Dejected, we turned the car around and went back on our way; and then we saw it. A vast open field of lush green grass framed by the the scenic Rockies in the distance — at least a hundred fluffy llamas filling in the rest of the landscape. I mean, how can any one really be mad when there are llamas around? We immediately pulled over. The silly faces of the llamas brought us so much joy. We ran around with them, tried to pet them (but chickened out), and laughed about the series of events of the day. We had each other, we had the llamas, and that was just enough for us. Afterward we ventured a little further toward a close mountain, climbed up a few boulders and sat atop to watch the vivid sun set upon the smokey sky. Sometimes things don’t go as planed, sometimes they go better.
