This last week has been a busy one, partly because of the holiday but mostly because John and Jackie came to visit!  They were here from Saturday evening until Wednesday morning so we got to spend all our days off with them.  We tried some new restaurants, showed them the sights on the island, and hit a couple of tourist highlights.  One of these highlights was the Krystal Acres Alpaca Farm and Store.

Krystal Acres has the largest herd of alpacas on the island and it was on Jackie’s must-see list.  She wanted to pet and feed some alpacas.  Sadly she was disappointed but we did see the alpacas on the other side of their fences.  When Tom and I first arrived in May, the alpacas still had their winter coats.  Last month they got their summer haircuts so they are pretty cute.

You can tell that the owners of Krystal Acres love their alpacas.  They had one sign comparing alpacas to llamas in which the llamas came out badly.   Alpacas, according to their description, are gentle, clean, lovable, and make wonderful pets.  They are the smallest members of the camelid family.

Alpacas are primarily grown in the United States for their luxurious coats.  Compared to sheep’s wool, alpaca wool is clean and odor free straight from the animal.  It does not have the oils that are in sheep’s wool, so it sheds dirt.  I touched some of the alpaca fleece and it felt wonderful.

We checked out the Krystal Acres Country Store.  The store contains all kinds of clothing, yarn and toys made from alpaca fleece.  The teddy bears were some of the softest I ever felt.  A woven scarf tempted me but it was a little out of my price range.  I did buy some alpaca roving so that I can show it to people and try doing some spinning with it.

Although Jackie did not pet or feed an alpaca, we all enjoyed our visit to Krystal Acres.  We felt like we learned a few things about alpacas.  It was interesting to see the variety of goods that can be made from alpaca fleece.