The Story of Haulin' Sass
It's the story of two women who both were born and raised in Walla Walla, WA. Besides the fact they had their home town in common, they were both born with a special gene, and often an annoying gene to their housemates: the love of junk and the lust to wander and find treasures.
While Shannon was growing up, her family had told her she was adopted from Mexico. She grew up to be a generous child as she would often treat her neighborhood companions to candy she would charge on her folk's account at the neighborhood market. After high school, Shannon ran away from Walla Walla for awhile. She would take several trips to Mexico to lay on the beach and drink margaritas in hopes to find her real family. Later, she would find out her family was just kidding about her adoption. She continued on her adventures as she would fly first class on jets with her poodle to where she would eventually land in St. Thomas. It was there she worked as a barista and opened up her own business with a line of sarongs that she sold to cruise line passengers.
Shannon would island hop, snorkle with schools of fish, become a radio DJ, hobnobbed with celebrities, and was even employed by a mouse - - Mickey Mouse. As she lived her whirlwind of a life, she actually lived through two major whirlwinds of hurricanes and lost all of her belongings twice. This was the start of her journey to find treasures. She would eventually find herself back at home in Walla Walla where she studied to receive her massage therapist license and marry a home town boy. She is now a step mother, prepares lunch everyday for her 91-year-old father who still resides in the house she grew up in. Shannon is also a pet wrangler to a 110 lb Golden Retriever.
Catie was told she was also adopted, as one day her father was at the county dump and heard a puppy yelping for help. Her father had been looking for a family dog and followed the sounds, but instead of finding a puppy, it was a baby girl. Perhaps this started her quest to run with wolves. She grew up to dress like a hippie, as her only peace march was in Seattle and it involved her leaving the march early to make it back to Walla Walla in time to change the news channel before her father could see her on national television. She would eventually move away from her home town to Portland, OR and would become the youngest person, and only woman, on a sales team of tough ol' cigar smokin' salesmen that sold a new-faggled athletic shoe out of the trunks of their cars. The shoe had an odd swoosh on the side and a waffled sole.
She would eventually move back to Walla Walla and become a wife and a stepmother. She worked for funeral homes and lawyers, but one day she found herself unmarried, so she hopped on a plane and flew to Sydney, Australia. There she lived in a Hasidic community, attended shul, learned to cook brisket and matzo balls, and listened to her mateys play harmonica on the beaches of Manly and drank wine at the pubs in Paterson with the men from Snowy River. She came back home and would go back to school to learn about enology and viticulture. So Catie planted vines, bottled wines, and wrote about wines. She now owns two puppies that she chases around, which seems to satisfy her thirst to run with wolves.
Shannon loves to read and cook and even authored her own cookbook. She enjoys spending time at the family cabin in Priest Lake, ID. She retains useless Hollywood gossip and stops for yard sales.
Catie loves to read, cook, and has written several published articles about wine. She enjoys running away to undisclosed places in the woods. She watches old black and white Bette Davis movies and bores people talking scientific-geeky-stuff about wine.
For both women, retail runs through their veins, as well as the quest to become a nomad - - a Bohemian, while keeping their strong Walla Walla roots. They are truly sassy "gypsies at heart." Follow their 1967 Fireball camp trailer filled full of sass!
