A Birthday Weekend with Alpacas in Temecula

Spent a weekend in mid-June out in Temecula for a combined birthday and Father's Day celebration. The weather was exactly what you'd expect for summer inland—hot, dry, and very sunny. We spent a lot of the time at an alpaca farm, which was a pretty unique setting for the occasion.

The animals were in a large, dusty enclosure with white fences and a few trees for shade. They seemed pretty used to people, coming right up to the fence to be fed. They all had these incredibly fluffy, shaggy coats in different shades of brown, white, and black. Their expressions are just kind of funny and curious.

The birthday cake itself was, fittingly, alpaca-themed. It was pretty elaborate, with little fondant alpacas, cacti, and succulents sitting on top. We set it up on a colorful blanket right there with the actual alpacas milling around in the background. It felt like the only appropriate way to do it. Just a quiet, slightly strange weekend.