Nothin’ like it! The air’s dry, sky’s blue, and we will be in our own bed tonight! You all remember that wonderful feeling of walking into your home after being gone for a couple weeks. It feels and smells so good! (If the frig hasn’t broken down while were gone.) We have had a great time and will always remember this trip. We’re coming home with some checks (always good), several boxes of citrus fruit, a trailer load of redwood, Joe Netherwood originals, some new jobs, and a few extra pounds (don’t need those). Can’t wait to see the kids and grandkids! Cheryl
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Besides visiting a couple of our clients in Scottsdale, we were able to visit Joe Netherwood, one of our favorite western artists. Joe has loved the West since a child in Virginia and that is vividly reflected in his paintings. We met Joe and his wife Stephanie at a show in Phoenix many years ago.They bought chairs from us and, finding we have much in common, we have been friends every since. Now its our turn to trade and we have aquired three of Joe’s paintings. We are so excited! Joe doesn’t merely paint western scenes and characters, he paints his passion. Check out his website at www.joenetherwood.com.
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On the mountain pass coming into LA, about an hour from our daughter’s home, we drove into snow once more. It seems to be following us. As we came down the hill our spring broke and Andy had to crawl under the trailer and do a temporary fix. A few miles down the road, one of our trailer tires was blown and Andy had to stop and put our spare on. He spent Saturday doing repairs.
We got into LA late but still managed to get dinner with Andy’s army buddy, Luis. They had a great time remembering the old days when they worked and played together, pulling all kinds of firehouse pranks on the other guys and Luis’s poor young bride, Renita. We also talked of kids and grandkids and plans for the future. Some friends are just as dear year after year no matter how many miles and years separate you.
We also had a real treat getting to watch our beautiful, feminine daughter run a mud race. She really got into it….head first!
We followed that up with dinner with my brother, Charlie, and his family. So nice to connect again. We don’t do it often enough. Keeping in touch friends and family has been such a privilage on this trip, always worth it, but so easy to let slip in our busy, busy lives.
The Desert
We are warm for the first time as we cross the Mohave Dessert. Feels pretty good after all that snow and rain. Once again, some of God’s best works of art are on display!
We’ll be in Phoenix tonight and and tomorrow… home on Wed, Lord willing.
Cheryl
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Our next stop is also in northern California, but this time we are in rich CA farmland, not forest. We are delivering to another customer’s home, our friends, Carol & Mike Churkin. After carrying in their juniper chairs which they helped to design, they showed us around. They have all kinds of citrus trees, olives, and row upon row of walnut trees. They treated us like family and generously sent us home with several boxes of fruit. Yum!
On to LA to visit one of our favorite children, Shalom. (They’re all our favorites!) Shalom is our 3rd born daughter and she is involved in a ministry to inner-city children and families. She just recently ran her 3rd LA marathon with a group of high school children whom she helped to train. I wish we could have been here for that but I’m glad to have the opportunity now. We will also get to visit one of Andy’s old army buddies and my brother, Charlie and his family. So this is the non-business part of our trip.
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We met the West’s at the SCI show. They told us they had some wood they thought we would like to use. Jeffrey works for a company that is working to restore the Redwood forest. A hundred years ago they used wood, especially those which were not good straight lumber, burls and stumps, to fill ditches and build roads. Now they are getting rid of the logging roads and uncovering buried treasure in the forest. At least they are a treasure for us. Jeff is able to bring some of that wood home and his father, Jim, is slicing them up for us. After being in the ground, with water and minerals flowing through them for decades, the wood is even more beautiful, rich and dark with curls, waves and figure.
Andy was “a kid in a candy shop” as he picked out choice pieces for us to take home in our trailer. There is not much room to move around anymore but we don’t care. Can’t wait to see what the finished products look like!
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I’ve gotten behind so I will try to catch you up. If you’ve been following our trip, we drove from the Tri-city area of Oregon to Portland on Sunday. On Monday we went to the Geezer Gallery to meet them and drop off some pieces. The Geezer Gallery is in downdown Portland and features only artists over 60 years old. The owners are such friendly and interesting people. We enjoyed meeting them and hearing their passion for their work. https://www.geezergallery.com/
We decided to spend the afternoon doing some sightseeing around Portland but we learned a secret. Don’t try to do sightseeing on a Monday…everything is closed! And it was raining non-stop so we ended up at a Starbucks sipping on cafe con leche. Not a bad thing!
The Redwoods
Tuesday morning we traveled south through Oregon and into California. When we connected with HWY 101 we began following the coast and then drove through a section of the Redwood forest. Wow! Even though we knew how big they were, seeing them standing so majestically tall in the thick forest, very little light even reaching the forest floor…it was magical!
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Saturday Snow
We left MT this morning, crossing Idaho on our way to WA. We spent the night in an RV park in St. Regis, MT. Before we left this morning, we couldn’t resist stopping at an antique shop, our weakness. Saw some really cool stuff. I found an old electric coffee grinder and Andy found some windows that would have looked great in our house. We stuck our hands back in our pockets though, reminding ourselves of our commitment to not spend money until we catch up from the recession. This has been a great year though and our job board is filling up once again.
We’re driving through the mountains, pine trees lining the road, snow coming down steadily but thankfully not sticking to the road…yet. Our truck and trailer are functioning faithfully as is Andy. Just passed a smashed up car which must have gone out of control. Guess he was in a hurry…I think he’ll be late now. I hope no one is hurt.
Sunday following the Columbia River
Sunday’s my favorite day of the week. I love worshiping with the family of God but usually when we’re out of town we don’t have the luxury. However, this morning Andy and I found a sweet fellowship and enjoyed both the worship and the teaching.
Then back on the road. Our path led us across the Columbia River to the Oregon side and we followed the river all the way to Portland. The river looks huge compared to the Rio Grande and is lined with cliffs on both sides. I took lots of pictures! As we approached Portland the landscape grew more lush and there were barges on the river.
Tomorrow we are going to place some furniture and art into The Geezer Gallery, and spend the rest of the day doing some exploring. It will be the first time on this trip we’ve stayed in one spot for two nights in a row and I’m looking forward to it.
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We left the Newton’s warm and lovely home this morning. They are such charming people and they really loved the bar. It did turn out beautifully. Hard to capture in pictures but we tried.
We headed west and have stopped at an RV park in St. Regis MT. First day open for the season. Now we have some time to rest up and relax a little. What beautiful scenery we have passed through! Not much snow here but it sure is a lot more humid than NM. Course, just about everywhere is more humid than NM! Our dog, Shadow, thinks he is in dog heaven. Watch out for April Fool’s tricksters and have fun doing it to others!
See you down the road,
Cheryl & Andy
Here are some more pics of the installation. Let us know what you think.
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Today is the day! We have been working on a bar for Wayne Newton’s house in Montana for the last three months. A lot of designing and making sure everything was going to flow with the rest of the house. I can’t wait to see what the pictures look like.
I had the privilege of helping my dad deliver a 12 foot table to the Newton’s house this last December. While we were there we were able to discuss the bar table with Mr. Newton, his designer, and his contractor to get a good feel for what they needed us to do. So now as I right this my Dad, Andy, is installing the whole bar which includes a raising bar, a carved eagle carved by my brother Aaron, and a sliding mirror which slides away to reveal a 42″ screen TV.
My mom should be posting another blog either today or tomorrow with some pictures of the installment.
You can follow me on twitter for further updates @danielsanchez20 or @AndyandAaronS for updates from the blog.
Here are some photos of the area where we are going to install the bar.
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Today we drove through Idaho and we are now in Montana. I have enjoyed the vistas of mountains covered with snow. As an almost native New Mexican (I was three when my family moved to NM) I am awed by so much of the white stuff. And the mountains are lining the road on both sides. Magical!
Tonight we are spending the night at
Glen Gilmore‘s home in Montana. Glenn is a blacksmith of unusual talent. Check out his website if you have time. We met Glenn at the Western Design Conference in Cody, WY. That’s where we first became aquainted with a great group of Western Artists.
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