Yesterday, my husband and I took our daughter to a "haunted" llama farm. A few hours from where we live is a farm that use to hold yearly Halloween shows with llamas and a hayride where you travel through a kid friendly haunted forest with actors playing different roles. They stopped three years ago and yesterday was the first day of their returned show.

I'd never been to the llama farm and from relative and friend's stories it was a really cool Halloween event. In the past they had a petting zoo where kids could pet baby llamas, goats, pigs, and other farm animals. That was the big reason we went. I figured Little Rabbit would have a ball seeing baby animals. She loves our cats and ducks and is gentle with them. She has the biggest smile and laugh when she pets animals and I figured she'd have a ball at the petting zoo.

I Think This Llama Was Really A Zombie

The "haunted" llama farm ending up being okay. Wasn't worth two hours of driving. We arrived and there really wasn't much to do. They had a Native American theme to the place and had a teepee with a storyteller inside. They had people playing drums and singing Native American songs. Spending time in South Dakota and learning about American Indian culture, the whole feel of the Native American theme seemed capitalistic. We talked to some of the staff and no one was actually Native American. It was just a gimmick to sell tickets. The authenticity of the American Indian elements included in the storytelling and shows is very questionable.

Teepee For Storytelling

The hayride through the haunted forest was just okay. I'm told it use to be an hour long. They'd do elaborate shows and a dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller. The ride would take you to a barn with a petting zoo. I guess they downsized. The ride took 30 minutes and they played a short clip of Thriller and a person dressed as a werewolf came out of the woods and waved at us. There were two women dressed as witches. There were two zombies, one of which just stood there really bored while the other danced. The only part I really enjoyed was some guy "wrestling" with a fake alligator while Jerry Reed's The Ballad of Gator McKlusky played.

Listen to the song here. I love Jerry Reed.

The weirdest part is the lack of llamas. The big draw is the fact the place is a llama farm. They had a group of llamas chilling in a field. There were two that you could walk around in a short circle for $1. They didn't have any llamas you could pet and the only llamas they had were far enough off you couldn't enjoy them. I'm told it wasn't like that years ago. It was really boring.

Llamas In The Distance

My Husband and Little Rabbit Walking A Llama

Little Rabbit was oddly unimpressed with the llamas. Her dad held her while he walked a llama and she really seemed uninterested in the animal. She just wanted to run around a play and got fussy riding the hayride through the haunted forest. All in all it was something to do but I won't go again. It's too far away and disappointing. The llamas are a big draw for people but the lack of llamas and the sad short show aren't worth the drive.

The trip home ended with lots of Napoleon Dynamite impressions inspired by the llamas which did help us laugh quite a bit.

“Tina you fat lard come get some dinner. Tina! Eat the FOOD!”-Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite gif credit