Ellensburg is a town of about 18,000 people located in the center of Washington State. It's a university town with an economy based on cattle and hay. The Ellensburg Rodeo is held Labor Day weekend and is considered one of the top 10 professional rodeos. For a small town Ellensburg has more than its share of saddlery shops - at least five.
Ellen's Loving Spouse was looking for some leather off-cuts to practice tooling leather, so we rode along to visit a
custom saddlery. They had lots more than just saddles. In fact, I didn't see any of their custom saddles on display - just some consignment saddles and one or two new stock saddles.
Do you need new stirrups?
How about a bit for the bridle? I had no idea there were so many choices. We just used the only one we had when I was growing up.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see the stock of lariats, but I didn't expect to see pink and blue ones.
Couldn't help noticing the display rack.
When you looked around, they even had packs and saddle bags for pack horses. I suspect that would be popular in the fall during hunting season.
I was surprised to see that they stocked a rather complete selection of clothing and boots - in all sizes.
But what intrigued me most was this beautiful pair of custom spurs. Just like a jewelry store, the price tag was upside down.
One of the prettiest drives you will ever do is hwy 821 from Ellensburg down to Yakima. It is easy driving and very trailerable. If the camp grounds are still the same, it is fantastic camping along the river. The hiking is really great too.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoy the river road between Yakima and Ellensburg (821), and will always choose it over the new highway (82/97) over the hill. I think the road between Ellensburg and Cle Elum through Swauk Valley and along the Teanaway River (970) is just as beautiful, with even less traffic but I'm not aware of legal spots to boondock. :-(
DeleteThere certainly is a lot of nice country up there in the PNW. Sometimes I daydream of my good times up there.
DeleteYup! This year's trip is about visiting childhood haunts in the northwest.
DeleteI found the Canyon River Road a few years ago, I will always take it when traveling from Chelan South..The campgrounds were rebuilt in the past few years and are very nice, if you can find a spot on the weekends.
ReplyDeleteDavid
Nice weekends in the Northwest are going to find most everything full. :-(
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