HWY 127 - Day 4

Disappointing.  At approximately 11:30am, it started to pour and showed no signs of letting up.  We did manage to hit a few yard sales before the rain, but don't have much to show for it.  In fact, many participants had decided that since it was a forecast of rain, (and the last day of the sale), it wasn't worth opening up their yard.  At least half the tables were covered in a thick tarp to protect their junk.  The picture below is me stomping in a puddle some where in the middle of Kentucky trying to get the mud off my shoes.

This is a breakdown of the contents of all items to be found at the yard sales.  As you can see, there was an overwhelming amount of clothing and glassware.  The upside to this was that it was easily avoided, the downside was that it took up nearly 50% of all shelf space and resulted in many drive-bys as we had previously decided this would be under the "junk" category.  The mandatory Christmas decor ration per table was enough to make even the most optimistic person feel a little depressed.  While on the topic of Christmas, I never liked getting books as a present when I was a kid.  I mean there you were on Christmas Day in the middle of the winter break... and someone had the audacity to give you a book?!  Was I supposed to read this on my vacation from school?!  It seemed like cruel and unusual punishment, and as such usually the books (and most often clothes as well) ended up getting buried in my closet never to be seen again.  However, we did end up with many books (none which I chose). The tools and guns were pretty cool... though I wasn't allowed to buy any guns no matter how convincing my explanation for needing one was.  Lastly, came the "good stuff" which made up a mere 1% of all items at a yard sale.  These were items which warranted a request of "how much are you asking for this?".

This trip isn't for the amateur weekend yard saler.  You need to have the stomach to filter through all the junk.  On the plus side, you get to meet some real characters, and as long as you have an open mind and are just out to have some fun it can be a real blast.  We will definitely consider doing this trip again in years to follow.

Here is a picture of what we found before the rain came at 11:30am.    At 12:30pm, we turned the car around and headed home.  Currently we are in a motel near Toledo Ohio... about a 6.5 hour drive from home.

A few license plates, and some Strawberry Shortcake dolls.  A very anti-climactic end to a really fun trip.

In Summary:

Day four distance travelled (before we had to turn around): 70 miles
Total money spent: $35.25
Appalled to see: slave collar from 1852
Annoyed with: woman who wouldn't let me look through her small bin because it was "organized"

HWY 127 - Day 3

We didn't travel very far today as the Kentucky 127 stretch really knows how to do a yard sale!  Instead of acting as individuals, communities would band together and take over a vacant lot to make one HUGE yard sale.  Interestingly enough however it was our least productive day.  We also have some additional observations which must be stated.  There are three types of garage sale vendors in Kentucky.  The first type has a buddy who knows a guy who can get a decent deal on a certain item; lets use nail clippers as an example.  This type of vendor will order 40,000 of them thinking that if he/she manages to sell them all they could make a few thousand dollars.  However, what ends up happening is that most people don't really need an additional nail clipper as they don't often break.  He/she may sell a few, but then there are 39,975 left over.  Not being one to give up, this first type will store these for the next year, pull them out again and sell a couple more, store them a year and so one.  This pattern continues for the next 20 years whereupon they are pulling out a rusty box of nail clippers still trying to make to make that unattainable profit.

The second type actually has some cool stuff.  Unfortunately they store it all in miscellaneous boxes with no organization what-so-ever.  They don't even know what they have (which can be a good thing when it comes to negotiating... but good luck finding a complete item if there are several pieces).

The third type are my favourite.  These guys think every piece of junk they have is worth a fortune, and will back up their claim with a bunch of BS like, "oh that's really rare", or "I could probably get twice that on Ebay".  There is no point in haggling with these types because the won't budge.  If this type actually sold everything they had for the price that they were asking, they would be multi-millionaires.

  Today I did some personal reflection, and I'm quite angry at myself for passing up that Atari.  It was even the one that I wanted (with the fake wood siding).  The trouble was the $125 price tag which I'm sure I could have haggled down a bit.  I wish I could say that was the worst of it... but oh no... it would only get much worse..

What I have in my hands here folks is a genuine 1956 Chevy hood ornament.  The price was $35 dollars and I balked.  While in the shower that night, I realized what a mistake I had made.  When on Earth will I EVER FIND ONE AGAIN?!!  I am a moron, and henceforth I declare myself incompetent and am seeking a power of attorney to handle my monetary affairs.  I'm so stupid stupid stupid!

This is a shot of one of the busier sales.  This went on for at least 1 km all the way to the local elementary school where they let us use their washrooms.  It feels weird being in a strange place, and walking on people's property and schools as if it is a normal everyday thing, but you get used to it.

It is so bloody hot down here, and the humidity is killer.  It hasn't really rained here for months so it is really dusty and dry.  The picture above is of a candle set that has melted in the heat.

Some of the larger community yard sales have portolets.  We thought it was kind of funny that they felt the need to make them gender specific.  I guess it is important to only see your own genders poo.  There is probably a law about that down here.

Alas our days haul.  Not nearly as productive as previous days.  Of course the best find was a complete Tonka crane/scoop in decent condition.  The guy wanted $65 for it, but I offered him $40 and he took it.  I paid MUCH more for it than my previous Tonka purchases, but the other cranes that I have seen were in much worse shape, and not nearly as common as the mighty dump.  Also, this version is from 1965 (I think based on the smaller wheel size and silver clam shovel)

The Atari joystick and paddles were just a reminder of what I had a chance to buy.

Ask and you shall receive... those are genuine tupperware popsicle makers.  I'm not sure if these were what you had in mind as when I was a kid I remember we had the ones with orange tops?!

The Nintendo was purchased from a type 2 vendor.  He wanted $40 for it, I offered $10 and we agreed on $15.

That's all for today; tomorrow is the final stretch.  Not sure what we are doing after that.  Perhaps come home?!

In Summary:

Distance covered on Day 3: 71 miles

Money spent: $72.25 (all except $4.25 by ONE person)

Should have bought: Fraggle Rock drum, mounted buck head, ram skull

Appalled to see: 1920's KKK ceremonial dagger (ONLY $165)

Wanted to buy: cute baby chicks

"Sport" to try: Cornholing (get your your mind out of the gutter)

TIP of the day: do not park sideways on a steep incline. You might have to drive over three front yards to "escape" (after embarrassingly burning rubber and bottoming out)