Two of those are Ralph and Maryann Seiler. Maryann-without-an-"e" (as I call her) was one of the first jewelry related people I connected with on FB. Maryann and Ralph live in Arizona and make a living creating "cabs" - cabochons, which are stones without holes. They purchase raw slabs and cut then polish them into absolutely beautiful stones! They are very reasonably priced for the quality stone that you receive, and I love everything I have gotten from them.
Tuesday I read on FB that Ralph and Maryann were travelling in their RV and stopped in Topeka, KS meeting with Dawn Blair, another FB rock friend. Jokingly, I asked if they were coming any further West. Maryann responded that they were going to be in Kansas City the next day and then could come on to Columbia.....really? I was so excited - how often do you get the chance to meet your virtual friends? So we made plans to meet in the afternoon and she would contact me when they got closer.
So around 3:30 I headed out to the Midway Truck Stop (which has its own TV show, by the way) and found the RV with Arizona tags "Rock2cab." For the next hour, we chatted like old friends! Ralph and Maryann entertained me with stories of their trip and stops along the way, and enthralled me with all of the cab beauties laying around within a fingertips' reach....it was hard not to just reach out and touch all the pretties.....
As we were wrapping up our visit, I asked to see one of the rocks that Maryann had just posted on FB this week - a beautiful Gary Green or Larsonite cab that looked like the surf. While Ralph got it out, Maryanne mentioned that I get $20 off just for coming to visit. Woo hoo!! I was more than willing to visit them for free! Plus, I got to pick a discount chip - 25% off! I didn't find out until later that there was a 50% off chip in the basket, I would have dug harder.
I picked 4 rocks and I can't wait to start working with them! The Gary Green cab is the one at the bottom.
Before we left, Ralph took a photo of Mary Anne and Maryann. Don't judge our hair, it was a very windy day!!
I had a great time meeting Ralph and Maryann. Ralph reminded me of my dad. I told him not to worry, that was a good thing!
You can see their work at www.cabochon.ws
