On a lovely, temperate Saturday afternoon my girlfriend and I visited Road Runner Rascals alpaca…read morefarm, having made a reservation a couple of weeks earlier. The cost was $25 per person, and we figured that it would simply involve getting a few photo ops with alpacas, and perhaps getting up close and personal with a few to scratch their furry necks etc. Little did we know that the ranch runner, Julie Judge, was offering up a full experience!
Road Runner Rascals has around 100 alpacas overall, and when we arrived we realized that it would truly just be the two of us interacting with the alpacas -- no other groups of people. Julie introduced us to the alpacas, then proceeded to halter a couple of them (named Savoy and Plum Crazy) for us to walk around the pasture. I didn't have "walking an alpaca" on my bingo card for life, and yet that's exactly what we did. The alpacas were very docile, and happily let themselves be led on a long walk through a sprawling, hilly pasture. They make the most adorable noises, and have definite personalities -- we could tell when they wanted to go certain places, and their curiosity was also very obvious. After walking them for at least half an hour, we brought them back to the stable...where Julie was warming up milk for us to bottle-feed a ten-day old alpaca! I don't know why, but the feeling of feeding warm milk out of a pop bottle to a baby alpaca is just something you have to experience for yourself.
Afterwards, Julie opened up the back paddock and a veritable herd of alpacas came wandering out, surrounding my parked car, then walking up to us to be petted, some lying down, some rolling around in the grass, and generally just doing what alpacas do. Funnily enough, this wasn't our first alpaca experience, having visited another alpaca farm a few years ago, but what Julie offers at Road Runner Rascals is truly next level. It's also heartening to know that she has donated alpacas to a nearby autism center, and also has some connections with OSU and other local businesses. All told, my girlfriend and I have had a lot of great days this year, but this is easily one of the best. We made a point of buying a few things from the gift shop as well, but the real takeaway is the memorable experience itself, and it's one not to be missed by any animal lover in the region!