We set off Friday for Puyallup and the biggest alpaca show on the west coast…Alpacapalooza! We caravanned with Krystal acres. They brought a show string of 10 beautiful animals and our three stunners.

This is the only show that I attended last year but having been there before it helped take the edge off of my anxiety of travel, set-up and showing. This year I was lucky enough to be able to bring along my son Kahana (11). It was a huge trip for him and the start of his spring break. I was worried about his being bored or unable to keep up with the sometimes hectic pace of the show ring.

We raced to Puyallup, arriving at about 2:30 and waited in line for veterinary check, required for all entries. The first wave of the check in procedure is the identity check. All animals are checked for proper microchips. A few farms were put into quarantine because the animals micro chips had ‘migrated’ to someplace else in the body and proper identification couldn’t be established.

Next, the veterinarian comes through and inspects each animal for health, test papers are turned in and if all goes well you are cleared to go into the show.

After you are cleared to enter the show grounds the real work begins! Stall set-up and color check. The animals are unloaded, fed, watered, walked and put into their stalls. Loads and loads and trips and trips are taken to and from the trailer and truck to bring out all that will be needed to care for and promote the animals for the duration of the weekend.

Color check is up next. We haltered all the animals and brought them to the showring to get signed off on the registered color of the animal. Alpaca come in 22 Natural colors which are broken up into white, browns, fawns, beiges, blacks, grays, and indeterminate. In each of these classifications there are subcategories of light, medium etc…

Upon birth the animal is registered as a color. Cria hair is short and fine. Colors can change in appearance. When you register your animal for the show you register the color as it appears closest to the skin not on the outside. This color may not be the official ARI registered color of the animal. Once at the show each animal is double checked to make sure it is correctly classified. More than one of our animals was reclassified into other color sub-sets.

The day was almost over for us. We attended the pizza meet and greet. It was good to touch base and check-in on farms that were so kind to me last year at my first show.
Off to the hotel and a hopefully good night sleep.

The show season started two weeks before the first show with a quick ferry ride to San Juan Island to drop off my three animals, Valentino, Channel and Autumn at Krystal Acres. Kris and Albert Olsen of Krystal Acres trailered the animals in the ‘circus wagon’ them and we caravaned behind to the show.
I wish I had photos of this but it was all hands on deck for the loading of the trio into the van. I constructed a ramp which eased the loading into the van or as we call it the alpacamoble!