Allen and I celebrated our 10th anniversary a few weeks ago, and I wanted to do something special in honor of the milestone. For someone who’s only ever had one other partner in her entire life, this was a big deal!
I had noticed an Airbnb rental at a farm animal sanctuary months ago. It was expensive, but the money went toward the animals’ care. So I decided this would be a nice experience to splurge on to celebrate our anniversary. We arrived at Sowa Goat Sanctuary on a sunny, frigid morning and immediately took a 30-minute tour to meet the animals.
We met a lot of goats, some sheep, a miniature cow, and two Great Pyrenees. We met some special needs goats who simultaneously broke and melted my heart. Many of the goats were super-friendly and enjoyed being petted.
There were so many animals that I wished we could have spent more time with them. But the caretakers had much to do. And we were heading to an alpaca ranch right after our Sowa tour. The Harvard Alpaca Ranch is about a 10-minute drive from the sanctuary.
We were part of a large group on a guided “tour” of the ranch. I put “tour” in quotes because we stood in one spot on the grounds for most of the tour. But the co-owner who gave the tour was enthusiastic and witty, and we were able to walk around a bit and pet some of the friendlier alpacas. There had to have been at least 20 alpacas eating, lounging, and walking around us as the co-owner talked about them as if they were his own flesh and blood.
I was a little shy about petting the alpacas, but I did pet a few and they didn’t seem to mind. They were beautiful albeit a little smelly.
The ranch has a nice little store with an array of socks, sweaters, ornaments, slippers, etc. made from alpaca hair. I bought a cute pair of purple socks that I’ve been saving to try for a special occasion. Well…what am I saving them for? I’ll wear them tomorrow!
fancenance.com 
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