Happy Friday y’all. I wanted to let you all know about an incredible weekend I had a month or so ago for a friend’s birthday. If you follow along on my social media, I’m sure you saw the multitude of stories I posted of alpacas and spending a weekend in a yurt. Yes, alpacas (also one llama and a multitude of chickens).

Paca Pride Guest Ranch is the hidden gem of a location we stayed at, that really shouldn’t be hidden. The owners and supporters are doing a wonderful thing with this plot of land. They have built yurts and camping spaces off of the Mountain Loop Highway in Washington and also do their part in promoting a permaculture environment.

Permaculture –
Sustainable land use design based upon ecological and biological principles seeking to create a stable and productive ecology that benefits the land, the animals, and the humans.

So yeah, rad stuff happening at this farm. They offer an incredibly educational tour of their farm and practices and you can also participate in chores if you’re into that. We learned how to greet alpacas and how throwing a llama into the mix affects the alpacas’ personality. Did you know you greet alpacas by sticking your nose out to them? Hah, I sure didn’t. Reaching out your hand to pet them is telling them “you’re in my space, please move”, so they back off.

We fit just shy of 20 people in our large roundhouse yurt. ‘Twas a bonding experience and now I can say I’ve slept on a coffee table (shakes my head). Paca pride is expanding their lodging options! I encourage you to plan a trip there! It’s like winter camping, but with tolerable temperatures to sleep in. Bonus points that it is less than an hour outside of Seattle with lots of hiking options nearby. We drove less than 30 minutes to get to the Big Four Ice Caves nearby for a quick hike during the day!

If you still need convincing… LOOK. AT. THIS. FACE.