buzzardnotes

Dot, Cora, Lynda at the bottom of Dot’s driveway. Pretty matilija poppies are in the background with Dot’s house at the top of the photo

Dot lives on hillside that overlooks the valley and this is one view from her house. In the distance, one can see Mt. Palomar along with its famous Palomar Observatory. It’s a tiny, tiny white dot sort of in the right center of the mountain.

Dawn looking toward Mt. San Jacinto from Dot’s house

Almost the same view later in the morning with Dot’s house in the foreground. You might notice some haze/fog in the distance. It’s normal in this area and for that reason, the next town south is called Temecula, “Valley of the Mist.”

Of course we had to do some shopping (that’s a tradition with us) and we trekked off the Temecula.

There are many fine and some funky shops (ye olde shoppes?) in Temecula and we only visited a few. Ironically, we met two Orange High alumni in one of the shops.  It’s indeed a small world.

Trish found some good stuff!

Because we shopped so hard and worked up an appetite, we had to do lunch. Temecula has many nice wineries and we elected to have lunch at the Wilson Creek Winery. No, this was not the bottle we had at lunch!

It was a good lunch with some good vino

Elizabeth arrived later that evening.

Most of us had a first time experience the next morning. We got to visit an alpaca ranch and actually touch, feed, pet and talk to them. It was such fun for all of us!

The girls were waiting for our arrival because that was the signal that they got to go into the pasture and have some food.

Running to get dibs on the best spot in the pasture. This little one was so ecstatic that she romped and jumped for several minutes. She was a real kick (no pun intended).

Alpacas certainly aren’t camera shy. Sherry has a new friend!

I look a bit hesitant here but they were very gentle with us and each other.

This llama is known as the baby sitter. She protects the other girls and makes sure everyone is cared for. She reminds me a bit of the “push-me-pull-you” from “Dr. Dolittle.”

The other guard/caretakers are two big Great Pyrenees dogs. They are also used in North America as livestock guardians. I wouldn’t mess with these dogs but they were pretty mellow while we were around. The alpacas were recently sheared and that’s why it looks like little waves in their coats.

Just restin’, Mom.

Nancy, Shiloh Springs co-owner, showed us some fiber and items she has made.

One of the things she does with the wool is called felting. She makes a design with the different colors of wool and then lays it out on a piece of silk and the wool/yarn strands somehow hook onto the silk. One doesn’t need any glue to make this work. This picture shows the outside (the farthest away) and the inside (nearest).

A vest made with the felting method.

Not only did we get to see the alpaca products but we got a tour of the other ranch areas, such as their veterinary facilities and a work place to make more products. Nancy was a foster mom to a pregnant cat and Diana is holding one of the offspring. You can see some of the many prize winning ribbons on the wall behind Diana.

Elizabeth has found a new alpaca buddy.

The girls like the tasty leaves on the trees in the pasture and reach up to get them.

Multiple photos were taken of us in this pose with the girls and not one of them has everybody looking in one direction. We all had such fun with these animals that were a bit shy with us at first but they allowed us to pet as well as feed them. Maybe we were all alpaca whisperers.

I loved the cute faces of these animals. Personally, I could have spent a few more hours with them as it seemed that all of them were curious and wanted to be friends at one time or another.

We zoomed off to another Temecula winery to have lunch and proceeded to get a selfie of the entire group just as a tiny breeze came up to toss the hair.

THE END