Llamas and Princes and Eskimos--Oh My!

Okay, so this past weekend I got to go on a road trip with five of my closest girlfriends—Emily, Tiana, Hannah, Faith, and Kirsten—and Tiana’s mom, Mrs. Turner (who didn’t get to go to Ireland because she broke her ankle). We left early (truly early, not teenager early) on Friday morning for Colorado Springs where we got to experience the majesty of the Garden of the Gods. I know I’ve been there before (I spend more vacation time in CO Springs than anywhere else), but honestly, I couldn’t remember it—you’d think I’d remember something with a name like “Garden of the Gods”. There, Emily disregarded the rules and climbed beyond the “Do Not Climb Farther Than This Sign” sign. (We were determined to get in trouble somehow—we’ve never gotten into trouble before and this trip seemed like the perfect chance to do so. Sadly, we never did end up getting arrested or even getting cited for anything. Darn.) Then this huge storm broke out—it was like the gods were angry with us for trying to echo certain words off the rocks and around the park (‘certain words’ is not as bad as it sounds. Remember, the six of us can’t get into trouble even when we try).

Then we drove to Castle Rock where Tiana’s grandparents have a thirty-five acre ranch. Cool? Most definitely. There we did things like drive on the wrong side of the road (unintentionally), bake a gluten free cake that Emily didn’t even eat (I’m not bitter, Emily, just cynical), sleep deeply, succumb to the plague distributed by Emily, leave the keys in the engine and the engine running (unintentionally), and attend a Renaissance fair.

Apparently I have been to this Renaissance fair before, but I don’t remember it (I seem to do this a lot). It’s kind of incredible that I don’t remember it because it was…interesting. Very interesting.

Tiana made us wear these fairy wings that we had painted ourselves, and when we first pulled into the parking lot I think Faith and I wanted to kill Tiana because we didn’t see anyone else who was dressed as ridiculously as we were. Then we got out of the car. Yeah—us, weird? No, not even slightly. There were Zelda women in leather bikinis with leather pleated skirts and leather boots; there were Amazon-looking characters (fur, dreadlocks, etc.); there were black cloaked figures; there were people of unknown-sex with horned animal costumes; and there were “regular” people dressed as lords and ladies. Our brightly colored, sparking wings were subtle.

The fair was very exciting—new sounds, new smells, lots of flirting vendors...an intense black knight (why do I always go for the bad ones?), Charming and Dashing, corn on the cob, and a frozen chocolate-covered banana (oh, childhood on a stick!), being followed by a troop of college-aged Links (who made their costumes themselves. They were clearly our soul mates.) I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Later we celebrated Tiana’s 20th birthday and I discovered a new heartthrob: Rock Hudson. Why are all of my on-screen heartthrobs a good four decades before my time? (For example: Paul Newman, Jimmy Stewart, Hawkeye Pierce…)

On the way home we made a detour so that we could stop at Bishop Castle—a real live castle built of rocks and ironwork, constructed by a certifiably crazy man. There I climbed higher than I’ve ever climbed with so little to prevent me from falling to my certain death. (It’s privately owned, and the owner scoffs at safety). My knees, they shook. My breath came in gasps—just like it does in the books! Still, it was awesome.

(That's Tiana and I at the top there--staring death in the face.)

The whole trip was awesome (it had its iffy moments--many of them brought about by me being an emotional, hormonal, teenager--but what trip doesn’t?). Thank You, Father for my wonderful friends and for this opportunity to spend quality time with them before we’re once again spread out all over the country.

I love you guys!