It's All About Fiber ...

You know the saying 'The grass is always greener on the other side... ' which nine times out of ten is not true   BUT hey from past years we knew that the majority of the swan migration viewing is super impressive in Brownsville directly across the river from us. The problem is we are smack dab in the middle of crossings to the other side. Fortunately the decision making wasn't too difficult whether to go north/ south as Natureman's car was due for an oil change which happens to be right next to the bridge in downtown La Crosse.  I would also drive so we could go see the swans while his car was being serviced. Perfect.

After crossing into Minnesota we drove by this  sign. Wow alpacas, roadside no less but we were on a mission to see the swans.  Natureman suggested we stop on our return since we needed to retrieve his car... True. So on we went to the Brownsville viewing area...

But, wait the swans had decided to hunker down farther out.  See those white dots in the distance...
I couldn't believe it. Today of all days when we come to see them en masse they have plopped themselves far out. There were many pockets of them but I don't have one of those giant lenses.

This is the closest I could get with my zoom.

Maybe we arrived before wake up time. Nobody even wanted to pose for a picture/were tired from posing the previous day. Imagine that!

The grass definitely was not greener on the other side as our view on the Wisconsin side was a lot better to see the swans. Totally unimpressed we didn't stay long and home we headed but wait the trip wouldn't be a total loss, we had the alpaca stop.


The closest I had ever been to an alpaca was in the zoo and my knowledge about them is like nil.

The camera hog

As I approached the fence this gal came right up to me. What a camera hog!  She wouldn't even let me take pictures of the others.  No matter where I aimed my camera, there she was.

Then all of a sudden all the alpacas came rushing towards me. They must have realized there was a visitor and thought that it was feeding time.  Whoa. Once they realized I had nothing to offer them, they returned to their business.



As you can see alpacas  are a smaller version of a llama. But they are not pack animals like the llama but rather bred for their wool.  This wool comes naturally in 52 colors. That's incredible.  After seeing these guys I can see how that's possible.  I love their bangs too.

You can pet them but stay away from their legs/undersides... They also spit like camels. No, I didn't get spit on.

Bella poses with a side profile shot

 There are 2 breeds of alpacas, suriya and huacaya.  The most interesting factoid I read about was regarding their hygiene. The alpaca has a dung pile. A female will relieve herself in an area and the males will line up and go in the same place. There you go.

Before we left, the daughter -in- law of the owners returned home and we visited a bit. The fleeting thought of having an alpaca for a companion for our goats was answered once I inquired as to their cost.  I had no clue, guessing a couple... a couple hundred? She smiled, responding a couple,  a couple thousand.  She told me that it was Bella who was hogging the limelight. I guess if your name is Bella, of course you know you're beautiful especially if you sell for a couple thousand dollars.

'Guess the goats will have to keep themselves company right here in the End of the Rainbow Valley...