What do Winona, Crème Brûlée and Soufflé Have In Common?

I’ve always wanted to meet an alpaca. Yesterday, Skip and I met several: Winona (featured above with farm owner Janis), Cutie-Patootie, Crème Brûlée and her daughter Soufflé. Their fluffy crown of fleece, deep set eyes, and somewhat regal posture are endearing. Watching them hop and run through the pasture was a hoot!

Our Harvest Host, Ridge Valley Alpacas, sits atop a high ridge with beautiful views of surrounding acreage. Cattle and sheep dot the neighboring landscape. This bucolic farm resides in the southern Shenandoah Valley between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains. In fact, we enjoyed the glory of both mountain ranges as we traversed Virginia. What a magnificent panorama!

We love learning as part of our travel adventures. Our host, Janis, shared her knowledge generously. Alpacas are typically docile; those we met were quite friendly. We fed a few of the females and watched three-week old Soufflé nursing, albeit from a rather reluctant mama. You see, Soufflé is Creme Brulée’s first cria (an alpaca baby) and her maternal instincts are a work in progress. I’d been warned about spitting, but that’s more common with llamas than alpacas. If you are curious as to the difference between alpacas and llamas, here’s a good link. Interestingly, alpacas don’t have hooves; they have two toes. Their gestation period is eleven months, longer than cattle or horses.

Alpaca fleece creates luxuriously soft and warm fiber. Janis and her husband Tom carefully breed their herd for the quality of the fiber. They’ve won various awards for their animals. I’ll testify to the wonderful fiber; I’m actually wearing a new pair of alpaca socks purchased form the AbellaPaca boutique here at the farm. So toasty warm!

This Harvest Host visit was a great success! Driving through the mountains of Virginia has been stunning. We are blessed indeed.