Our Night at an Alpaca Ranch

So for those of you who have been following along, you know that we have been “semi-permanently settled” in Albuquerque since January. My oldest is thriving in a public middle school and all three of the boys are loving going to karate at the same gym three times a week. However, our compromise when we decided to settle was that we would travel all summer long. So we hit the road on May 29^th and we will be traveling all summer long, with the goal of returning to Albuquerque on August 1^st.

Our very first stop was Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec, NM, which funny enough is a complete misnomer because the Aztec Ruins are really the ancestral grounds of the Pueblo Native Americans. At the ruins, the boys earned their 20th Jr. Ranger Badge and we enjoyed a great history lesson.

After our hike, we went up to Colorado to stay at Pleasant Journey Alpaca Ranch. I had made arrangements a few days ahead of time to stay on this farm through our Harvest Host membership. (For more information on HarvestHosts, check out my previous post on Buying Local While You Travel.) The hosts Susan and Glenn Kacsh were wonderful! They provided us with a flat place to park and a little table outside where we could eat while we watched the alpacas. In fact we could even see the alpacas from our own couch!

We took long walks around, enjoying the amazing views of the San Juan mountains. This gave the boys a chance to really run around and “be boys” for awhile. The hosts had plans to give us a tour that night, but unfortunately one of their newborn calves was having trouble breathing and they had to take him to the vet. However, the next morning Susan gave us wonderful tour of the ranch. On the tour, we got up close and personal with the alpacas, visiting the baby and mother alpacas, the herdsires and all of the other alpacas. Susan told us about the processes for sheering and breeding alpacas. She was very knowledgeable, recognizing each of the over 50 alpcas by name, parentage and attributes. The boys learned so much and were able to ask her questions as we went.

Before we left, we visited her store where she sells alpaca fleece, hand spun alpaca yarn and professionally milled alpaca yarn, as well as rugs, scarfs and other things made from the alpaca yarn. The boys each picked out a little finger puppet and we got some lovely dark brown yarn for my aunt who likes to knit. If you’re looking for alpaca yarn or any products using it, you should consider contacting Pleasant Journey Alpaca Farm!

This was such a great experience! I can’t wait for our next Harvest Host experience. If you’re interested in signing up for a Harvest Host membership, feel free to use my name “Heidi Raki” under the referral code and we’ll both get an extra month added to our membership.