The Random Rideout Pictures

Oh yes, Twatt. It's somewhere between Wetwang and Penistone, isn't it? Some parts of the country have some funny place names.

 

This past Saturday I saw an ad in our local newspaper for the Western National Parks Association store. They place ads in the paper on a regular basis and every time I see one I say, "Gee, I should go see that place". Plus it's right off a road that's on a common ride route as well.

So today was the day. I decided I'd do a solo ride and make the ride (primarily) about the destination rather than the journey. Of course, any excuse to ride..... The store is only about 15 miles from our house so the ride itself was a bit of a shorty.

Now that I've been to the store I can't believe I never went there before. SO many lost opportunities to purchase Christmas and birthday gifts--plus the odd thing for myself and Mr. Sandi here and there, too. Thanks to our rise in Covid cases lately, masks were required inside the store and there were very few customers. I was the first one of the day. They also have a classroom type room and an outdoor area in addition to the store itself. The women running the store said that they have the artists whose work they sell sometimes come to do shows and speaking engagements but won't be doing that again until Covid is laid to rest.

So I snapped a bunch of photos to share here. I tried to capture a representative mix of what the store features but there was FAR more than I could (or should) photograph or post. That said, I will share enough photos to require two posts.

My Low Rider S all by it's lonesome (almost) when I arrived.










They had tons of books of every sort--historical, hiking guides, parks guides, novels, kids books. I'd like to go back soon just to take a better look at all their offerings!


Navajo weavings


Gorgeous jewelry, mostly Navajo and Hopi


Mata Ortiz pottery


Oaxacan animal carvings - Mr. Sandi and I have a handful of these. They are really cool and fun to collect because price wise they are affordable compared to things like the pottery and weavings.


continued in my next post

 

But this particular Oaxacan animal is a bit out of Mr. Sandi's and my price range!


Tohono O'odham baskets. The Tohono O'odham tribe is located very near Tucson.




Zuni fetishes--nooo, not THAT kind of fetish. Although I guess the question on this sign still may apply. This is another really fun thing to collect. I used to have a number of them and have absolutely no idea where they disappeared to. Guess I need to start a new collection.



Traditional Native American flutes


Of course lots of local and regional foods (way more than in this photo!) and cookbooks.


And toys! But no dog toys or none that I saw anyway. Although I'm sure Ellie would enjoy tearing her way through a stuffed coyote or javelin if I brought one home for her.




The outdoor area for demonstrations and art shows. I'll be looking forward to those when the store starts doing that again. I feel like I made a great find today. Although to be honest I'm rather a dunce since this place has been around a long time and right under my nose (and on a ride tour) the whole time!

 

I'm not quite sure how to say it after I've only just had a cup of coffee, Bikerman!

 

If you anagramise (is that even a word?) the name it could be Glen Edward Avawade

 

A mid morning tea break on the North Yorkshire Moors:



...and lunch later on:

 

Been riding around Dumfries and Galloway most of my life, plus my job took me all over it as well, so there are not many roads I don't know. However, today the Triumph and I found some little roads I have never been on before, in the parish of Keir, on the west side of Nithsdale. With my trusty 1:50,000 scale map as a guide, I explored the network of minor roads, passing the remains of Lag Tower, once owned by the infamous Major Grierson of Lag, whose dragoons hunted down and murdered Covenanters all over Galloway in the 17th century. (Not that the Covenanters were any better whenever they got the upper hand. The 17th century religious wars in Scotland made the Taliban look like a Sunday School outing.Similar mindset, though.) At one point I passed a superb rusty old 'Dangerous Hill' sign (only seriously dangerous to pre-war cars with no brakes, I would say). Anyway, a bit further along, I turned up a steep, winding single-track road which led up towards the top of the Keir Hills. One particularly steep zig-zag section reminded me of the Wrynose Pass in the Lake District. There was a splendid view back across Nithsdale to the Lowther Hills Eventually the tarmac ended, and the road became a rough farm track As I live up one of those, I was not concerned, and carried on, and was eventually rewarded with a fine view westwards across Glencairn, with the high range of the Rhins of Kells blue in the distance. Eventually the tarmac reappeared and I descended to Glencairn. Not a bad afternoon out.

 

Lovely vistas to reward your single tracking, Dave! Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos.

 

Yep, that's definitely a "fixer-upper", Bikerman. Your bike is sure looking good!

 

'Character property that would benefit from some minor modernisation and upgrading.'

 

Neither of those: I was just pretending to be an estate agent...

 

Around where I live, most real estate agents would also figure out how to work the word "cozy" into the property description. It seems to be the current euphemism for "tiny".

 

A most ingenious reply - obviously the result of much dogged research.