We crossed state borders for this alpaca farm (HH/BW Challenge Series)
In doing this Harvest Hosts challenge, we've come to realize that we need to strike a balance between shorter and longer drive days. It's made the most sense to bop around one region for a while, and then when we feel like we've exhausted the locations and need to move on...or when weather dictates it...we drive a couple of hours and then bop around that region. This is what we first did with the St. Louis metro area. We stayed west of the city, then east of the city. After that, we could have just continued east toward Indiana, but we worried that we might be going too fast. We wanted to experience as many Harvest Hosts locations as feasible, but we also wanted to be selective, choosing ones we expected to have a good time at.
This is one of the reasons we decided to travel south from St. Louis. We had a few things we wanted to see down there, and if you've been keeping up with this series, you'll know that we didn't quite get to all of them. That's okay though, because we found some Harvest Hosts that were absolutely incredible. Well worth the couple hours' drive down from St. Louis.
Because we still had time to spare before heading to Indiana, we decided to stick around southern IL a while longer. We tried to get into a Vineyard that asked members to call to request a stay. We called multiple times and couldn't reach anyone. Disappointing because it looked beautiful, and even more disappointing when lots of other locations in the area were booked up. After all, we were looking for a weekend spot last-minute.
We ended up booking at a different vineyard nearby. In case you're wondering about the ample vineyards in southern IL, yes, there is a little wine country down there. The Shawnee Wine Trail's slogan is "Come for the wine, stay for the experience." Well, we came for the experience, but we did in fact stay a while! The whole area is quite lovely, with rolling hills and vast farmlands. Who needs to travel all the way to Napa?!
StarView Vineyards, Cobden, IL
This was not a top choice location for us because almost every review said that the parking lot was very unlevel. However, at the time when everything was breaking, so was Anthony's laptop, and he needed to buy a new charger and have it shipped to the Staple's in town. We hoped to pick it up before hitching up at Walker's Bluff, but it arrived late. We decided to just plan on unhitching at StarView. Anthony would be able to get his charger, and we'd be able to easily level front-to-back. Also, we were simply running out of options of places to stay, and StarView had plenty of parking. We parked in the lower level lot as directed and found a spot where we were relatively level left-to-right (we still used our blocks for a couple of inches) and we had a grassy area out our pleasure side, which is always a plus.
Leveling front-to-back was almost impossible even with unhitching. We needed to come down over 10 inches in the front. We almost ran out of tongue jack! We didn't level all the way to zero because we don't trust our jack as far as we can throw it, but we got level enough, which is really what we aim for at overnights.
We may not look level, but that just shows how sloped the parking lot was!
Any place that follows Walker's Bluff is in a tough position, but StarView had a lot going for it. The event barn was adorable. We heard that you can sometimes even see bison roaming across the street, but we didn't see any. The winery has a patio overlooking a pond that is filled with koi fish and turtles. There is a little koi feed dispenser for guests to feed them. The winery has a tasting counter as well as a counter to order food and buy gifts. There are a few souvenirs, condiments, and shirts for sale. An adjacent room has tons of space for indoor seating that kind of reminded us of an upscale cafeteria. They offered a selection of board games if you want to stick around for a while, and we thought this was a nice touch. I would have loved to challenge Anthony to a game of Upwords, but we didn't have the time.
The heat wasn't as oppressive that day, and so we ordered some food at the counter and decided to dine on the patio. Anthony ordered BBQ nachos and I got a soft pretzel and cup of broccoli cheddar soup. All decent, but it was no Walker's Bluff! Because nothing is. Sigh.
There was something that Walker's Bluff didn't have, though. As we were eating, we had a visitor.
Yes, that is us letting a cat we don't know lay on the table as we eat. Notice that we took the hand sanitizer out. She must have sensed that we have a soft spot for the felines, because she became quite the little beggar. At one point, a group of ladies came out to the patio and one of them looked perplexed. She asked "Is that your cat?" and we said "Nope." We didn't know where this kitty came from, but she certainly seemed to own the place, so we assumed she was a vineyard cat. What's strange though is, later that night I went into the Harvest Host listing, and there were almost 100 photos. None contained the cat. Of over 100 reviews, I saw none that mentioned the cat. But she was such a presence! Who was she?!
Eventually, our kitty friend left and went down to the pond to watch the fish and pounce on bugs in the grass. We finished our meal and stopped by the pond on our way back to the rig. There were a lot more turtles than we could see from the patio, and they all stuck their little heads out of the water to greet us. It was so cute! You can see one of the turtles in the photo below.
Kitty followed us back to our RV and hung around for a while. A few interesting developments took place. This has definitely been the year of the cat. We have had so many feline visitors during our travels this year!
We never saw her again. If it weren't for our photographic proof, we'd wonder, was she even actually there at all?
The Wine Trail was treating us well, but we had some other plans for the rest of our weekend. We were a little surprised that we hadn't stopped at more farms during this challenge. Usually, that's our top choice when we stay at a Harvest Host during our normal travels, but we had only stayed at one so far! As I was perusing locations in the area, I came across an alpaca farm that was very popular with the RVers. I could see why. They were adorable and the profile exuded such warmth and friendliness from the hosts. The only problem was, they had just one parking spot available each night, and those spots seemed to get snatched up quickly. They had Sunday May 5 available, and I grabbed it.
This was on April 28. To refresh your memory, we were still east of St. Louis, at a Boondockers Welcome, hiding out during storms. We had already booked Walker's Bluff Winery for May 1-3, but we were waiting on an answer for where we could stay that Tuesday, April 30. The casino stay was still up in the air. We had nothing booked yet for May 3 or 4, so to grab something for Sunday May 5 was a bit more "advanced planning" than we had been doing. But we just had a good feeling about this place and couldn't pass it up.
Friday night hung in the balance for days because we kept trying to call that other vineyard. Saturday, we found a spot fairly quickly, but there was a catch. This was a farm that had grass parking only. As soon as we booked, we got a message from the hosting letting us know that rain was in the forecast, and the ground might be wet and we might risk getting stuck. This is exactly the reason we had been booking gravel spots as often as we could. We had a chance of rain almost every single day! We kept in touch with the hosts and we all kept an eye on the forecast. There were a few times we considered cancelling out of precaution, but we didn't want to jump the gun. We're glad we didn't. The forecast cleared just for that day, and the rain was supposed to hold off until we left the farm Sunday afternoon. The day before, we got a message from the hosts saying the ground was good. We were ready to roll!
Featherstone Farm, Mayfield, KY
This place may take the cake for the most idyllic of our first two weeks of the challenge. A converted old tobacco barn, horses and sheep grazing right outside our RV, a giant field full of wildflowers, and a wooded nature trail adorned with little seating areas. The hosts offer RV parking in their field and also have a glamping option on Airbnb. They hold artisan markets and have a little farmstand. You can even purchase a curated picnic package to enjoy on the property. We bought a beautiful flower bouquet and some fresh eggs from their chickens. We spent some time chatting with our hosts. They were about our age, so we shared stories of how we're all finding lifestyles we're passionate about. We talked about our ultimate goal of finding land of our own, and we got to hear their story of how the barn serendipitously came on the market, right in the location they wanted to be.
The weather was hot and humid, but we were happy to be rain-free for a bit. We took advantage by walking the trail through the woods in the evening, and the trail through the field the next morning. We saw frogs and a baby snake on the wooded trail. I spent some time capturing photos of the wildflowers in the field.
We just love a good farm stay and southern hospitality. Venturing down to Kentucky was turning out to be a very good choice.
Misty Pond Alpaca, Paducah, KY
It was the day we had been waiting for: Our 2nd alpaca farm of the challenge! They only allow one RV to park at a time, but that meant we would have the space all to ourselves. They also offer electric hookups, which we had been taking advantage of as much as possible because the air had been so hot and muggy. The hosts weren't back yet when we arrived, so we waited for a little bit. Storms would be coming in that evening, so we only had a small window to meet the alpacas.
The livestock guard dogs are maremmas, a breed from Italy. The official breed name is Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog. They were beautiful dogs and definitely understood their assignment, because whenever we got near the alpaca barns, they would watch us vigilantly and bark. When the host was with us, though, we were let in with the alpacas. We learned their story and got to feed them. The alpacas had just been shorn a couple of weeks before. We had been seeing alpacas right around sheering time, which was fun. The pre-sheer ones were extra floofy, and the post-sheer ones were all skinny. The heat has been tough on the alpacas. Even though they originate from South America, they lived in higher elevations. Here, they can adapt to the heat, but it can be a struggle sometimes, especially for the babies.
Our host Rick told us that they decided to become a Harvest Host because they kept seeing the company at alpaca conventions. A little look behind the curtain of how they find hosts! We're not surprised they've been recruiting farms. Because Harvest Hosts began offering stays at a lot of wineries, farms are a perfect family-friendly alternative. There is usually lots of space and accessibility for RVs, and there's plenty for all ages to enjoy. What was noticeable here, though, was that this wasn't just farm owners who decided to let RVs park. Rick and his wife actually thought through their offerings. They made the pullout with the electric pedestal, along with a grassy area and even a swing! Campers can choose from different activities to engage with the alpacas, whether it's feeding, petting, or walking them. There is a pond with a picnic and campfire area, perfect for families that want to hang out outside their rig. Lastly, Rick and Ruth have set up a little shop with alpaca-related goodies, so visitors can patronize their business. Everything was organized and pristine, and Rick was very helpful and welcoming. Top notch hosting all around.
Given the weather, we had just enough time to meet the alpacas, buy some goodies, and take a quick walk/swing. Then the rain came in. We settled in for another night of storms, happy that we could use our AC to cut the humidity.
The next day, we hit the road to venture back across the Ohio River and into Illinois once again. We'd be back to our familiar stomping ground, east of St. Louis, but with all new Harvest Host locations. Next up: A rodeo ranch!
