Home, home, not on the range...

Well, I made it cross country and all is just as I left it... sort of.

All my stuff is just as I left it but, there are no more weekly Saturday Markets in Beacon. Going to be the Second Saturday only now. So, I'll be there on September 12th. Which means I'll be at the Mower's Market in Woodstock a little more regularly until I start doing more jewelry parties. Oh, and I'm going to be at the first Squish Art Market at the Arsenal in Brooklyn on Sunday August 30th.

I'll have some more jewelry in different retail locations around by next month too.

But more about that later. I want to tell ya'll about the trip back across to NY.

I met up with my dad in Denio Junction and went hunting for Opals. That was fun AND I found a few too. They're all Opalized wood and some of them are pretty cool. Of course, that means I have a lot of partially Opalized wood AND plain old fossilized wood too. We also went to a place where there were supposed to be Fire Agates on the way out and I found a piece of rock that looks like it could actually be Fire Opal OR, a really nice Banded Red Agate or Carnelian. Not really sure since I haven't found any pictures like it or someone to tell me what it is. Let you know when I figure it out.

We're already planning another trip out there for next year though. Til then, the Opals will be curing and then I'll figure out what to do with them. (Dad took all the pictures on that leg, so I got nothing for you. Sorry).

After the Opal hunting, I drove up to Missoula to visit Bill. We hiked and saw some high mountain glacial lakes (it was raining so, again, no pictures) and then went to Gem Mountain and found some Sapphires. Only two were deemed ok for cutting, but they said it would take 6-9 months for me to get them back, so I took them home with me. Along with the smaller and fractured ones AND a couple Garnets and a nice little pebble of Hematite. Oh, and a bag of bigger rocks too.

That was fun too.

I love digging around in the dirt for nice rocks. I have a LOT of them to wrap and polish and play with too. Guess I know what I'll be doing this Winter;}

Oh, and here's a picture of the Gem Mountain part of the trip.

The rest was DRIVING, driving, Driving. I saw some great things - as I drove by - and got stuck in a LOT of construction traffic past Illinois. Probably would have been back a few hours earlier if it weren't for all the stopped dead then 15 miles of 20 MPH driving that occurred from Indiana to NY. Road rage did also ensue (after 9 hours of driving through that kind of thing, it is really inevitable).

One of the really amazing things I saw I couldn't get a picture of. No place to pull over and then it was dark. Along my right side there were plateaus as far as the eye could see AND it was raining on that side (not where I was or the other side though) and really wide rainbows were coming down - STRAIGHT down - from the clouds and landing on the plateaus. I saw a double one with lightening striking to the side of the smaller second one.

Really beautiful and amazing! Wish I had that picture!

Wish I was still in dry heat with cold mountain nights too... well, I never did like the humidity much and it's been raining a lot with high temps so, it's pretty much like living in a sauna. Not my favorite place to live....

Ok. So I'm ready for Fall, what can I say? That IS my favorite season.

Trekking Cross Country, Wanna Meet Somewhere Along the Way?

Hey Everybody!

Just a week before I leave for the vast expanses of the great SouthWest. Stopping in Arkansas for Bethany's wedding and then on to dig up diamonds and get a good scare! Yep, dig up diamonds. Crater of Diamonds Park is just a short (relatively speaking) drive south from Fayetteville and they let you dig in the dirt and keep what you find (for a small fee) so Wish me Luck!

If I find anything good, I'll make something out of it... I like the look of raw diamonds. Oh, and if it's really good, I might just pay off some CC's... That would be nice too.

Then, we're off to Colorado to spend a night at the Stanley Hotel and see if we can get Phil to see a ghost. I've already seen a few and he says he won't believe it til he sees it, so Wish him Luck too.

Then, we're across to stay with my sister for a couple days in Park City before my first, ever, Park Silly Sunday Market. If you're around there on the 26th, I'll make sure to say hi! ;}

Phil has to leave to come back to work right after that and then I'll be on my own - with just my family and friends - for two more weeks before driving back. One more Park Silly before I go and then maybe I'll be stopping at your place for a Jewelry Party?

Somewhere inbetween I might even head NorthWest a bit more and join my dad for a day of opal digging too. Have to get the rest of my Utah party schedules finalized before I know if and when though.

So, what's up with you?

Oh, and here's a picture Phil took of some of the jewelry I made with his miniature watercolors - all originals and some are going to Raindance in Beacon and the rest are going with me to Park City: