Life After Work

Thomas and Connie Betts
Hood River, Ore.

The best part of Connie Betts's day is "first thing in the morning, in the barn with the alpacas," she says. "They're curious, intelligent animals."

Betts, 55, used to develop software for Hewlett-Packard and Kaiser Permanente, while her husband, Thomas, 54, held various management jobs in Seattle and Portland with a boat and nautical-supply retailer. In 2003 they bought an old, rundown ranch in Oregon's Hood River Valley, planning to fix it up as a country retreat. Says Connie, who grew up on a farm: "At first we weren't even thinking about making money at this. We just wanted some animals, and alpacas are so beautiful and sweet-tempered."

Then they met an alpaca farmer who explained to them how his business worked. Intrigued, they decided to try it. They started off with four alpacas and now have 20. The ranch is also home to a store called Foothills Yarn & Fiber, which sells knitting and weaving supplies and, of course, supersoft alpaca yarn. Since turning profitable in 2006, Cascade Alpacas of Oregon (cascadealpacas.com) has taken on four part-time employees, and revenues are up 20% over last year.

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