Day 3 - Saturday, 4/10/10 Tours orientation & Arts & Crafts Show

We started the day with the Welcome Breakfast and the Tour Orientation. They had scrambled eggs, French Toast Casserole, fresh fruits, pastries, juices, coffee, and tea. There were several representatives there from different tour companies to tell about the tours they offer. There are several we are interested in doing, but instead of telling you about them now, I am going to wait and do so on the day we do them......let me just say that some of you may be surprised at what we or more specifically Me (Barbi) ends up doing.

At 10:00 we meet with Peggy the Concierge to book our tours, and set up a tour of the resort at 3 pm in which for doing so we get one of our tours for free. And NO for those of you that may be wondering we are not upgrading or buying more Time Shares....LOL!

So we have time before that so Kevin asks me what I want to do? That was a dangerous question...LOL! I told him, "On the way in yesterday, I saw a sign for a Native American Arts and Crafts Show" I would like to go to that today or tomorrow. So off we go.

Well let me say, they had some beautiful stuff. First stop, jewelry, most stops jewelry!! Back to the first stop, Kevin spotted some man's bracelets that he liked. We decided to get matching ones. They are made from Sterling Silver and 12 carat gold. The base of the bracelet is made of Sterling Silver and the accents are in the gold. The feathers that stand for long life, shells that stand for protection, the circles are for the circle of life, the rain drops are for abundance.

From that booth we spot a picture of some Indian Cliffs, I tell Kevin those look like the ones we saw in Colorado. He says "Yea they do look like they might be" I say "I got to go look at it". So over to the booth we go. It is a large photo put onto canvas. They are selling it at the reduce price of $99 it is tempting but it is so large. We find the same picture in a smaller size and one of Sedona and get them.

Next is a booth that has Blown Glass Jewelry that a guy from Durango, Colorado makes. We were in Durango on our Colorado trip in 2006. Kevin spots a beautiful white Carnation flower inside a black glass. I get it with matching earrings.

While I look a a booth where a woman makes her own scarfs, Kevin goes over to a booth where a man named Scott August has some CD's.

Saucy Pepper, the Velvet Lady makes her own scarfs, she has a man she tells what colors she wants and he makes the material for her. Then she makes the scarfs. They have a seem and can be worn 4 different ways. As a shawl, scarf straight down, scarf diagonal, and drape in front. They are all done on black velvet with colors added in, I get one that has blues and pinks.

Scott August's music is done with Native American flutes, soft guitars and quiet pianos, Aztec drums, African kalimbas, and an exotic array of instruments from around the world. Kevin got three of his CD's New Fire, Sacred Dreams, and Distant Spirits.

Our next stop was a booth that has things made from copper by Sabia. They say that copper takes on an almost unbelievable look with the unique heat treatment that they have developed. Extreme high heat interacting with water create stunning colors and designs. Each piece in their line of earrings, cuff bracelets, pendants, neck wires, bolos, bowls and more, is hand cut, heated, finished and sealed, allowing for years of enjoyment of something never before produced. The latest addition to the line is what they call "Raku" copper. A precut piece is superheated past the point of melting, creating depth of color that almost seems unnatural. The copper is left with a flat finish and texture, resembling Raku pottery. While I am at this booth Kevin goes back to the car to put our purchases away, get a drink of water and sit a bit, as his feet are hurting.

I make a quick stop at the booth where we looked at the painting on the agate stone just to see how much they are. They range from $140-$250. The woman there tells me and a couple that are there looking that her husbands does the painting and the price is dependant upon the stone and what is painted. The fur animals cost more. The $140 one was a Bald Eagle and $250 one was a Moose.

I next notice some beautiful earrings with Celtic knots and a stone I have never seen before. They are made with chain circles (the name of them is escaping me at the moment) and I learn that the stones are Dragon's Eye stones, which is heat treated Tiger's Eye stones. Tiger's Eye stones were one of my mom's favorite stones. I was trying to decide what to get when I learned she didn't take credit cards and had given her back the necklace I was trying on. Kevin comes up about this time and decides to buy me the necklace when he hears I can't get it by credit card. Then we were talking as she adjusted the necklace to fit me as it is a choker type about what catch my eye and brought me to the booth, and I explained about the Tiger's Eye stones, my mom, and the Celtic knot and he bought me the matching earrings that brought me to the booth in the first place, so he gets me those too. He is sooo sweet.

For our last stop, we go to the booth next door that has hats that we had noticed earlier in the day. It is a Western Hat made by Head 'n Home, they are waterproof and squash proof. So you can fold them and put them in your suitcase for travel. They also have a mesh around the top so air can flow through so your head stays cool, and they come with removeable sweatbands on the inside. Now it is time to go back to the resort and have lunch before going on our tour of the resort.