The boys are all settled in

Well, the alpacas seem to have adjusted without much ado to their new home in Big Timber. We have finally named all three. Iggy stuck for the gold one, Cuzco is the black one (pronounced kooz-ko), and Yoshi is the white one. Yoshi and Cuzco are pretty amiable, but Iggy is stand-offish. We think he misses the herd because he's ungelded, so not having the ladies around might be making him a little blue.

I'm now on a mission to find a spinning wheel for fairly cheap since I blew most of my budget on the 'pacas. Iggy's wool is such a beautiful color all on it's own that I don't even want to dye it. It's a honey golden color, but it has pink undertones. It's going to make beautiful yarn.

The car ride with the alpacas was very interesting. We drove up to great falls with a much smaller animal in mind because they don't weigh very much (around 100 lbs). So, I thought we could fit all three in the back of my station wagon, but when we got there and saw those gangly, five foot tall cuties, I suspected there would be no cramming three in my car. So that's why I had to make an unexpected second trip on Tuesday.
On Monday, we helped shear Yoshi and Iggy and then stuffed them in my car. Iggy went meekly and never moved the entire trip. Which was kind of a miracle because Yoshi made it constantly known how unhappy he was with the situation. He was so in Iggy's business it was amazing. Yoshi seemed to think that Iggy's window was better than his, so he would leeeean way over Iggy and snuffle Iggy, then he'd try to get up, bonk his head, make some noise and end up back in Iggy's business.
The best part of this whole ritual was that while they were in the back, you didn't want to turn around and look them in the face because they were a little edgy and we didn't want to scare them into spitting point-blank. So you'd face forward and forget that you had an alpaca right behind you. So Yoshi would silently lean forward until he was right by your ear and let out a loud "Chuf!" which was a spittly, indignant sound he made about every 15 minutes and often is a warning shot for spitting. So, either me or Erik was always jumping when the alpaca alarm would go off in our ears.
He never did spit on us, but man, by the time I got him home and let him out, he rocketed about 12 feet out of the back of my car, like his cute little butt was on fire. Poor Iggy had apparently been holding so still because he had to pee very badly. When he got out he started dribbling before he was out of the car and didn't stop for about 20 minutes.
It was also pretty amusing because we had to stop and gas up on our way home and people were just so confused about what we had in our car. I was joking with one woman and I said, "Funny lookin' dogs, huh?" and she stared at me and backed slowly away. Yeah, that does happen to me a lot, so I'm used to it. I also heard one guy berating his girlfriend for saying they weren't llamas; he was positive they were llamas and she was being an idiot. I did hold my tongue, but it was very hard. Anyway, the moral of the story is that if you ever want to have a good laugh, stop at a gas station with an alpaca in your trunk.
Day 2 I had to go by myself because Erik had to work. By the time I got to Great Falls, Cuzco was sheared and ready to go, so we stuffed him in my car, where he promptly tried to stuff himself back out the window of the car. But you have to just drive, if you stop every time they get freaked out, they just freak out again as you start up again, so I'm heading out of Great Falls with an alpaca doing circles in the back of my car, scuttering around on the plastic and making pathetic (but cute!) little wookie noises. Nothing like looking in the rearview, and getting an alpaca rear-view and wondering, without many options, what you'll do if the alpaca decides to let loose on your shoulder.
And lucky me! I got to find out what you do when an alpaca lets loose in your car. Now, let it be known, that if I could have gotten the alpaca back in my car by myself (it's not as easy as you might think to cram a five foot lanky, scared piece of livestock into your wagon), I would have taken the poor guy for a little walk when we gassed up because I suspected from his gassiness that he really needed to go. But alas, I couldn't get him back into the car, so I didn't dare take him out. So I pushed on for home. And we almost made it. Almost. About thirty miles from home, poor little Cuzco lifted his bum into the air and started the flow on five gallons of alpaca pee. Yes. In horror, I thought should I stop? To what purpose? I have nothing very absorbent in my car. Nonetheless I start to slow down. Bad, very bad idea. The change in speed caused him to freak out, so he starts scrabbling around while still urinating, falls in his own pee, and jumps up, spraying alpaca urine everywhere. I take a huge splash in the face and gasp in horror, which then promptly ended with a shot of eau de alpaca right in my mouth. Oh yeah. I got alpaca pee in my mouth. Awesome. Try to resist the urge to scream in horror after that happens, but I wisely kept my mouth shut and took more piddle in the face. It really made for a fun final 30 miles, but at least he held it that long. So, my car is very malodorous right now, but it will be getting a thorough scrub down and upholstery shampooing this weekend. Cuzco will also be getting hosed.
Anyway, once we got home, he was very well behaved and he walks on a lead just like a dog, so he might be the prize show and tell alpaca. I'm just going to make sure he hits the poop and pee pile before any more road trips.

So there's my tale of alpaca fun. I'm sure more stories will arise as I go. One of these days I'll get some actual quilting done.
Happy quilting!