Central Oregon: Smith Rock and a hundred and one alpacas!
I can't believe that it has been almost a month since we moved into our RV! We only have a few more small things to do this week, then I think we will be all set to hit the road! But before we head out and I forget, I wanted to post some photos from our hike at Smith Rock and our visit to the Crescent Moon Alpaca farm.
At Smith Rock, we decided to do the trail to the right of the rock this time. (We did the lefthand hike last time.) We considered the trail that is straight ahead from the bridge, but then saw that it is called "Misery Ridge" and that it is pretty much a vertical ascent of Smith Rock. Only the young rock climbers seemed to be going that way, and they were carrying a lot of gear and gallons of water with them. One climber encouraged us to not be intimidated and go for it. We thought about it for a half-a-second and then decided to take the flatter trail to the right!
Smith Rock is so beautiful, the pictures don't do it justice. It's a shame that I'm not a better photographer, but at least we have a few pictures to remember the day.
Down, down, down in the beginning means up, up, up at the end!
Trying to let him be a boy and do crazy things, but praying the whole time that there wouldn't be a rattlesnake in his path!
We stopped and had a picnic lunch at this spot.
Double points if you can spot the lizard and the chipmunk. They sat there and stared at one another for a long time.
Triple points if you can spot the tiny white speck of a person at the top of the rock. He is standing on the peak to the left of the highest peak. I held my breath as I watched him repel down that slope. I asked the kids if they would ever climb that high, and the girls gave an emphatic NO. Can you guess what Jackson said?
My parents came out to our campground to see the beautiful area that we have been telling them about. Jeff still hasn't edited the video of the canyon and the viewpoint, but he will upload it once he does. It's gorgeous and we feel fortunate to have been able to stay here for so long.
Grandma was shouting at us all to "GETAWAYFROMTHECLIFF!" Ha ha. I'm thirty-five years old and she still wants to herd me. I guess those mama instincts never fade. :)
Grandma giving Jackson some pointers on his horseshoe game.
We also got to visit an alpaca farm last weekend. I learned two things right away:
1. Alpacas are cute and super sassy.
2. Alpaca fleece is gold and only rich people can afford alpaca stuff. Oh. My. Word. So expensive! Apologies to Maddie, because we wanted to get her some skeins of yarn so she could make something cute, but nearly choked to death once we saw the price tag. It's the thought that counts, right?
This was Jordan's favorite alpaca. It followed her the full length of the fence. I'm pretty sure it got most of her bag of food.
Meg loved the babies. She is very gentle and patient, and animals seem to love her.
This fella was pretty feisty.
This lady had attitude for days. She turned her ears into little devil horns and stared us down. Megan said she was challenging us. We thought she was feeling protective of her baby, so we kept on walking.
These babies were running around, surprise attacking one another. It was funny.
We learned that a baby alpaca is called a cria. We saw one baby that was born with double cataracts and couldn't see, so they put a small bell around the mama's neck. That way the baby could hear where she was when it needed to nurse. All the babies were curious but shy.
We have one last field trip planned this week, which we are all excited about. Not going to tell what it is yet, but I will say that we are hoping for clear skies, so we can get the most out of the day. Can you guess???
*Edited to add: I finally finished editing the video of our trip to the alpaca farm...two months later. As I get more comfortable editing movies, I think it will be easier to sit down and get them done in a more timely manner.
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