I was in Quito because of a bag of these. Arguably, the best cookies ever.

Years ago, 2000? 2001? my friend Emily and I traveled to Lyons, Colorado, for the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival. We planned to camp and on the way from the airport to our campground, we stopped at a Safeway to load up on provisions. Emily always chooses healthy snacks; I often opt for the not-as-healthy ones. She had filled our basket with apples and carrots and hummus and bananas and other utterly healthy food items. I detoured down the snacks aisle and noticed Mother’s Circus Animal Cookies (pink and white frosting! and sprinkles!) were on sale two for one. I picked up two bags, held them up, and with a wide grin said, “Pleeaaaasssse?” She rolled her eyes, which I took as an exasperated “yes” and I dropped them in our basket.

The first day of the festival we joined hundreds of others already in line, waiting to enter the festival grounds. We were ready to go in, spread our blankets, and enjoy a day of lazing in the sun enjoying great music and snacks. Before we could enter, though, our coolers had to be inspected (no alcohol or glass allowed!). The volunteer inspector seemed like a friendly enough guy, bantering with festival goers as he looked into coolers. He opened our cooler, spotted the Mother’s Circus Animal Cookies on top, picked them up and said, “I love these things!” I grinned, “I know! Aren’t they the best?” Introductions followed, and we headed inside the festival grounds.

Later that day when we opened the bag of cookies, we found him and offered to share. We discovered he lived in San Francisco (just like us). After enjoying a weekend of great music, we exchanged information and promised to get in touch once we got back to the Bay Area. And, the strange thing was, we did. The next several years saw more adventures – music concerts, trips to Tahoe, nights out on the town, abalone diving trips up the coast.

Then he moved to Sacramento, and we saw each other less. On a vacation to the Galapagos several years ago he met a lovely woman, moved to Quito, and is now married with two beautiful children. When we told him we were coming to the Galapagos, he immediately invited us to stay with him while we were in Quito. We said yes right away then wondered if five plus years of not really keeping in touch would have changed our relationship.

As he answered his door at 1 am the night of our arrival, we realized nothing had changed. We lapsed back into conversation as if we were back at Lyons so many years ago. All because of a bag of Mother’s.