Willy-O...I live in central California, not far from the coast. Here is a page full of manzanita pics, most too leafy to show the wood itself but one good one

http://www.bahiker.com/plantpages/manzanita.html

In a forest of old growth manzanita the witchy, contorted way it grows makes you feel like you've wandered into an Arthur Rackham illustration from a book of fairy tales. Even unpolished the wood is smooth and lively to the touch and the cut ends, even from a chainsaw, are like polished glass. Small wood lots more plentiful than large, so large works of art in this wood hard to come by, but the artfully twisted nature of the branches make them ideal for some things, and at least half of the stuff out in my woodpile would look good just being displayed like sculpture.

Bill...gorgeous work!