Heading west from Montana or east from Washington atop Interstate 90, we always stop at the historic silver mining town of Wallace, Idaho. Our diversion has nothing to do with silver, though. The entire downtown of Wallace is on the National Registrar of Historic Places. We enjoy walking around absorbing the history and finding a place to top off our coffee cups. But now, we stop for the cannolis, too.

A few weeks ago, heading east toward Seattle, we made our usual exit 62 stop. We parked by the quirky bordello museum, then walked past the stone chateau of the former Burlington Northern depot and a few regular haunts, before entering a different place. And there on Cedar Street, behind the counter of the D & G Bakery, we met Anne Alexander.

When asked about her specialties, Anne responded: “I'm known for my little
cheesecakes,” her Italian New Yorker accent coming out heavy with each syllable. Two bites into a delicious mini huckleberry cheesecake sample, Jolica said to Anne: “That was awesome. Any chance you make cannolis?”

Cannoli was my Italian grandma's specialty dessert, and I'll admit to being a cannoli snob. They're hard to find because making them is labor intensive and they demand precise timing. Anne said, “I make the best, but I need at least a day's notice.” No worries, I said, letting her know we would be back her way again in 18 days.






Grandma used to say the perfect cannoli starts with a shell made from wheat, eggs, sugar and other “secret ingredients.” She would lightly fry the shell, then add a filling of cream, ricotta, chocolate chips and more “secret ingredients.” The keys were the texture and the timing.

Seventeen days later, we gave Anne the reminder call she requested , but
she didn't need it. The shells were done, and ready to be filled when we arrived. She said, “we will have them like the Sicilian's do: with a shot of espresso, a slight twist of lemon, and a few drops of Sambuca.”

The bakery was closed the day we returned, so we knew we were in for a special treat. Anne's husband John joined us to clank glasses and savor an absolutely wonderful dessert. And then another. And one more for good measure.

We visit a lot of silver mining and manufacturing villages, mostly for, well, the silver. But not this one. We'll happily return and not even think of the precious metal Jolica uses to make the Lavaline. We'll just keep coming for the caffeine, and now, the cannolis too.

• Fine silver (99.9% pure) is generally too soft for producing functional objects; therefore, the silver is usually alloyed with copper to give it strength, while at the same time preserving the ductility and beauty of the Precious Metal. Other metals can replace the copper, usually with the intent to improve various properties of the basic sterling alloy such as reducing casting porosity, eliminating fire scale, and increasing resistance to tarnish.
• For more information:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_silver

They buzzed us in and within seconds we were surrounded by streams of the most amazing boa's - and I don't mean constrictors. Peacock, chicken, ostrich, whatever kind of poultry feather that you might desire is there. So I decided to go with some semi-natural, some dyed lime-green and some purple - definitely 70"s. And some natural bronze, deep-green, and beautiful off-white and chocolate browns. It is very interesting how they sell them. Someone stitches them like a hula skirt and then rolls them like a crown of feathers. They're sold by the yard execpt for the peacocks, which are sold individually by length and eye size.

So I picked a half-dozen colors and planned to design the earrings in the upcoming train from New York to Miami. Before we left New York City, though, we enjoyed designer Mexican food at Dos Caminos with our good friends Liz and Sal and a great room and rate at the Indigo in Chelsea. And we did stop twice before rolling all the way to Florida on Amtrak's Silver Star: once for a Fat Tuesday celebration with our friends Jen, TJ and Jack in Middle River, Maryland and once more to deliver jewelry to Cindy, the owner of Progressives Salon in Rockville, Maryland. She is a new account for me and as I could tell in a few seconds, a very successful business owner who's team provides hair, nail and spa services in additional to terrific retail space.

A few miles from the downtown hotels is the Holidome and an adjacent collection of Barnum & Bailey Big Top tents, where another thousand vendors display gemstones in every color across the spectrum. Each aisle offers constant distractions: shimmering blue topaz here, sparkling drusy there, and oh those piles of pearls.

Jolica in a Sea of Pearls at the Tucson Show Gem

I have a shopping list, and I have a budget, but I could easily lose both and simply fill a cart on every aisle.

I know what my clients want, so I have a good idea what I’m going to buy on this annual biz-binge fro the start. Ultimately, though, I don’t create final designs until after the shopping is done. We do have that 1,589-mile drive back home, so that gives me almost 24 hours of creative time on the ride from Arizona back to Washington.

And shopping wouldn’t be any fun if I didn’t get to look for, buy and experiment with new items. Two years ago, I found Japanese Porcelain beads. Last year I met nephrite jade pendants for the first time. This year I discovered opaque aquamarine cabochons from Brazil and Amethyst Stalactites from Uruguay.

Amethyst Stalactites from Uruguay

Each Tucson trip also gives us a chance to catch up with our friends
Mike Gerrard and Donna Dailey, travel writers who live in Arizona part-time, England part-time and highways and byways between the rest of the year. The two write guide books and travel websites, including www.pacificcoasthighway.com