Joe don't missunderstand me, the route you did is OK for me too. I just wanted to encourage you to integrate some tuts like Gidon did. You can group a sequence of SUp actions on one image to confirm the text description. It's just a matter of balancing text and images.
I like also the Fine Woodworking forum. Really great.
As you know each person is different from another and the way you learn things could be very, very different. I've started with SuP a year ago or so. Could you believe me, I've never used the documentation ? But I ran a lot the videos with some personal trials on my computer. Then I asked question on some forums and Dave Richards helped me to understand a method of drawing with SketchUp for woodworking. I'm really not a specialist but I'm selfsufficient for my needs. Before using SUp I've never used any CAD software. So I wasn't badly contaminated
So keep ongoing your good job.
I already posted some few things you can see there:
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=3562
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=3466