Coast to Coast member Loretta Rawlins is no stranger to the steering wheel of a truck towing a trailer. She has logged more than 80,000 miles towing a succession of fifth wheels. She now travels in a 37-foot Keystone Raptor that sports a "garage" in back, and she trades driving duties with her daughter and business companion, Esther Dukart.

Loretta and Esther travel the country selling antique and hand crafted jewelry and metal wall art. Also on board is Loretta’s yellow Labrador, Pam.

Before buying her latest rig, Loretta stored merchandise in her RV’s shower and every available nook and cranny. Now she transports her stock in style. Three computers help manage the inventory and bookkeeping, and there’s a queen-sized bed over the RV’s garage for Esther and a bedroom for Loretta. Last winter, Loretta’s teenage granddaughter traveled with them and worked on home-schooling assignments at one of the computers.

Loretta and Esther are licensed to sell at craft shows and markets in Arizona and Texas. Coast to Coast caught up with them in Quartzsite, Arizona. In a space rented for four months at Rice Ranch South, one of the town’s bustling shopping areas, the pair set up their store in front of Loretta’s fifth wheel.

Western Wall Art by R. A. Guthrie, Robert Sheilds and the Lazart Company covers the walls of their booth. Esther displays her hand made jewelry along side cases of antique necklaces, broaches, bracelets and earrings.

Loretta spends most of her day manning their storefront on the Internet. She shops on e-Bay to restock their inventory and has purchases shipped directly to their selling site. The merchandise arrives in lots of several hundred pieces, which she Esther sort, clean and price before presenting their new collections to customers.

Loretta has traveled since childhood. "My late husband and I had fold-out trailers, crank-up campers and motorhomes," she says. "After his death, I kept on traveling. My membership in Coast to Coast in very useful as Esther and I hop from one area to another with our business."

The mother and daughter often stay a full week in a Coast to Coast resort, utilizing its space and amenities to relax while they replenish their stock. When clubhouse space in available, Esther makes her jewelry. "Typically, we’re working, going to shows or sight-seeing," says Loretta.

Loretta joined California’s Emerald Cove Resort in 1998 and became a member of Coast to Coast. Among her favorite Coast to Coast affiliates are Cutty’s Okoboji Resort Club in Iowa, Indian Waters RV Resort in California and Castaways RV Park and Campground in Texas.

She uses a computer mapping program to figure her mileage between stops. She consults the Coast to Coast directory for parks along her route.

Loretta started out teaching school in the Houston area then shifted to a career as a medical technologist. When not traveling, she sometimes returns to the hospital setting to work. But she says she’s the most at home on the road with her yellow Lab at her side.

"God has truly blessed us in our business on the road," says Loretta. "We could return to regular jobs, but doing business in different places across the country suits our desire to travel and see different places.

Loretta Rawlins and her daughter, Esther Dukart, mind their business on the road. No stranger to the wheel of a truck towing a trailer, Loretta logged over 80,000 miles before her daughter started traveling with her and sharing the duties of an antique and handcrafted jewelry business that also sells western wall art.

Loretta has traveled since childhood and continued to RV following the death of her husband. "We had fold-out trailers, crank-up campers, and motorhomes," she says. "After my husband died, I just kept traveling."

Currently, she owns her third fifth-wheel. The 37-foot Raptor by Keystone sports a "garage" in the back to carry their stock of antique and handcrafted jewelry. Bins and cabinets organize the inventory. Stacked boxed hold shipments of the wall art that are delivered to their door.

"We seek companies that will drop ship inventory to our site – whether we are in our booth in Quartzsite, or in our newest location, Cascade Flea Market in Idaho," Loretta says.

Before buying her newest rig, Loretta stored merchandise in the RV’s shower and in every available nook and cranny. The current fifth-wheel carries three computers for bookkeeping and managing inventory, and boasts a queen-sized bed over the garage for Esther and a separate bedroom for Loretta. During the past two winters, a teenage granddaughter has traveled with them and worked on home school assignments at one of their computers.

Loretta and Esther are licensed to sell at craft shows and markets in both Arizona and Texas, and now in Idaho. Workamper News caught up with the duo in Quartzsite, Arizona. In a space rented for four months at Rice Ranch South, one of the town’s bustling shopping areas, the pair set up their store in the front and down the side of the fifth-wheel. Western wall art by artists such as R. A. Guthrie, Steel Images, Neil Rose, Kathryn Darling, and Robert Sheilds, as well as other pieces from the Lazart Company, covered the canvas walls of their booth.

Wherever they set up shop, Esther displays her handmade wire-wrapped jewelry alongside cases of antique necklaces, broaches, bracelets, and earrings. Esther estimates that she crafted over 900 pieces in the past year. Loretta spends most of her day manning their storefront on the Internet and working on photography and graphics for their web site: www.western-wall-art.com. She also does the company’s bookkeeping and drives the truck that hauls their home on wheels from place to place. From their store on the web, merchandise is mailed directly to their customer by the companies they represent.

Loretta shops e-bay and other online vendors for their inventory, which is shipped directly to their selling site. The jewelry arrives in lots of several hundred pieces, which Loretta and Esther sort, clean and price before presenting their new collections to customers. They bought 20 books to study their vintage stock from jewelers such as Albert Weiss, Eisenberg, Trifari, Charel and Schriener.

"I will not buy a piece over the internet unless the seller can send me photographs of the front and back of the jewelry," Loretta says, "For every original piece on e-bay, there are at least 50 knockoffs. I look for pieces signed on the back and for aspects such as stones soldered rather that glued in the prongs. Some pieces in my Schriener of New York collection have carved glass."

Loretta knows the dates a particular jewelry was produced and can show her customers the pieces in the books that document the jewelry’s authenticity and value. She also has pieces from certain home party jewelry makers, such as Judy Lee and Sarah Coventry. Many of her pieces have original boxes. Loretta wears her vintage jewelry, demonstrating that despite the value as collectibles, the jewelry is a practical and enjoyable investment.

Esther enjoys the selling aspect of their on-the-road business. "When someone walks up to look at our displays, I usually ask where they are from – or compliment their jewelry or jacket," she says. "Once conversation starts, I can tell them about the jewelry that I make using different glasses, stones, and sterling silver wire. One of our side benefits comes in the great people we meet."

Loretta says that the word-of-mouth advertising is effective, especially in their Idaho market. "One customer returned to our booth five times, each visit bringing new customers," she explains. "Another time, a customer called from Anchorage, Alaska. She remembered Esther’s ear vines and ordered eight pair for Christmas presents."

At Rice Ranch in Quartzsite for four months and at Cascade Flea Market for four months, Loretta and Esther work seven days a week, but they take time off whenever possible to explore their surrondings. "When the wind gusts over 20 miles per hour, or when it rains here at Quartzsite, we close our booth and make the most of that time for sight-seeing," Loretta says. "We took our time and about seven weeks to travel from Idaho to Arizona, typically driving less than 200 miles a day, if we moved at all."

Often, Loretta and Esther stay a full week in a membership park, utilizing its space and amenities for down time to relax and replenish their stock. When a clubhouse is available, Esther makes her jewelry at one of the tables. "Living on the road full-time, my memberships in different park systems are very useful and economical as we hop from one area to another," Loretta says. "We don’t usually participate in the park’s activities, because we’re typically working, going to shows, or sight-seeing. But having a nice place to park at reasonable rates makes life on the road easier."

Two women traveling alone have their challenges, Loretta admits. Once she pulled up a steep grade into a park late on a hot afternoon. "My truck started slipping, due to the heat melting the asphalt," she says. "The park’s security person came out and looked at me as though I was a woman driving her first rig. However, he soon realized the problem, and although I had blocked the driveway, I managed to get the truck and trailer straightened out. I remembered to leave that park early the next morning before the heat hit the blacktop road!"

On another stop, Loretta’s satellite system would not work unless she parked in her site backwards. A woman of resourcefulness, she figures out what she needs to do – and how to do it.

Calling the Houston, Texas area home, Loretta once taught school. Later, her talents shifted to a career as a medical technologist. Whenever she leaves the road for an extended time, she returns to the hospital setting to work. However, she is most at home on the highways with her yellow lab, Pam, at her side. Each travel day, she used a mapping program to figure out her mileage between campgrounds.

Both women could settle down again in Houston and work at traditional jobs – or operate their Internet sales from from a house with a foundation. But the lure of the road is in their blood. Their faith in God and their belief in returning a portion of their earnings to Him in tithes and offerings is the core of their successful business. "We feel blessed to have the opportunity to travel and do our business from sites across the United States," Loretta says.