Home Again Farm

They say "you can't go home again." Perhaps that is true for a lot of people, but our friends Gail and Daryl have proven that expression wrong. Gail and Daryl are the 6th generation owners of Home Again Farm in Theresa, NY (be sure to pronounce the "h", or you'll sound like an out-of-towner). They raise alpacas and have a store. Don and I left with alpaca socks for him to wear this winter while cycling (alpaca fur is softer than wool and has wicking in it). I bought a beautiful green sweater made in Peru from a Fair Trade artisan. It is stunning. I wore it in Montreal, but it is too hot to wear in NJ just yet. They also sell yarn made from alpacas on their farm. This last item includes a picture of the alpaca it came from. 

I normally keep my friends' private lives off of my blog, but I will quote from their own website: "All of the hustle and bustle (of living in Central NJ) seemed to lose its appeal especially after Sept. 11, 2001. Daryl actually watched the second plane hit the tower from his Jersey City office on that fateful day. Short of saying, "We're out of here!" we started to develop a plan so that we could return to upstate NY and grow the farm that Gail grew up on."

For more of their history, follow the above link to their website, or visit them in Theresa.

This was our first visit with Gail and Daryl since they moved out of state. They both look younger, healthier and happier than when they were living La Vida New Jersey.

They proudly showed off their farm, including the handful of male alpacas and the two dozen "girls." We fed treats to the girls. We fell in love with how cute they are, but recognize we are not cut out to be alpaca farmers. 



We had a delicious lunch with our friends before heading back into Canada for the rest of our vacation while Ashley was at camp. I think we confused the border crossing agents, but they let us back into Canada without making us get out of the car.

Unfortunately we did not time our visit to Boldt Castle right (we missed the ferry by 5 minutes and the next one would only allow us an hour on the island), so we are saving that for another trip.

Enjoy these cute pictures of alpacas. If you ever take the 1,000 Islands Crossing, make a detour to Theresa (next door to Antwerp, which drops the "t") and visit them.