My latest adventure to the West coast was a tremendous success. Keeping with my original plan to visit as many of the sellers as possible, I arrived in Portland, Oregon. Canby Gem and Mineral show was in full swing, where I met with Gary Andruss, who has recently opened a mine for Oregons famous Sunstones. I have seen a few of these beauties on my previous trips, but none compared to what Gary showed me. Not only were they bigger but the color seemed more intense and there were less visible fractures. I bought two honkers of red sunstone with the specific purpose of having each faceted into a simulation of a dragons eye. I located one of Oregons best facet cutters and negotiated a price for the stones to be cut. After several hours of looking at his previous work I was satisfied I had made the right choice to hire him. If you are in need of an artistic approach to faceted stones check out Jerry Campbells work, past items and contact information (coming soon) will open in another window.
From Jerrys home I drove to Everett, Washington to see Terry Maple. Anyone who has ever been to any of the major rock shows out west has certainly heard of Terry. I had no idea what I was in for, but soon was surrounded by a collection, which in my opinion was better than what I had seen at the Smithsonian. Everywhere I looked I saw superb specimens displayed through out his shop. Boxes and crates were filled with jaspers and agates, some of which havent been seen in over a decade. It didnt take long to exceed my allotted amount of capital in this museum of lapidary material, and I had only viewed a small portion of the collection. Terrys wife an artisan in her own right began to show me some of Terrys cabs she had done beadwork around. Several of her pieces can be seen by clicking Sharlenes Gems she has taken great care in choosing the right shade of bead to accent the stone, but not to overshadow the natural beauty of the piece. I am not certain if she is taking orders at this time, but if she is they are some of the most interesting interpretations of color and pattern I have ever seen.
Moving on from Washington, I drove by Mount Saint Helens and saw first hand the huge amount of devastation from the volcano. Some new growth of forest has begun, but is rather insignificant in the scope of the destruction. What amazed me the most was how much of the mountain was missing! Im not a scientist and I am certain someone has calculated the amount of explosive force needed to accomplish this, but it was amazing how powerful the volcano was to obliterate so much of the mountain. I reached my destination for the day, The Dalles, Oregon, where I met up with my friend Jason Hinkle of Hinkles Rock Shop. Jasons passion for thundereggs has led him to visit any area which has a thunderegg bed. His rock shop has a wide variety of specimens he has collected and many he has bought for resale. While I was visiting, a customer of his stopped by as I was recanting my awe of my visit to Mt. Saint Helens. He asked how long I was going to be around and asked me to wait while he went home for a minute. Shortly before I left he returned and presented me with a bottle of ash he had collected the day after the eruption.
As I go along in life I realize that Rock People, probably like any other like minded individual, are very unassuming and generous to a fault. With so much turmoil in our communities and with the worlds instability it is always refreshing to meet with anyone who can stop and take a moment to see the hidden beauty in nature. No matter what your level of expertise everyone listens to your new found discoveries, never letting on they have already experienced your pleasure. I was watching a young boy about 11 years old tell of his first rock trip with a local club to several older men. With wide eyed exuberance he recanted his tale of joy when he found his first agate. The older men listened intently, smiling at the young man. Each one then acknowledged his story and told him its only going to get better as he gains more knowledge. A couple of the men reached into their pockets and produced pocket polished stones telling the boy these were our first finds when they were his age. I can only imagine how connected these men made this boy feel as he walked off with a new stride of confidence. Kind a gets you right here!
From Dalles I proceeded to Rufus, Oregon to my friend Don Hildebrandts for the night. Recently he has come into a quantity of old stock Biggs Jasper. I wanted to see for myself how beautiful this material is, as I had only seen the lesser grades which were discarded by earlier miners. Rarely do you see old stock Biggs, unless it is from an estate sale or someone has decided to sell part of their collection. I picked out a few really nice pieces and helped Don finish cutting the huge rocks into manageable pieces for resale. You can look for Don at Quartzsite, Arizona in January 2009. I would suggest that you get there early I dont think this stuff will last long. I left the next day for Burns, Oregon.
