127 Road trip Take 2 - Day 3

It started to pour as we were eating breakfast and continued to pour off and on for a couple of hours :( Around 10:30 things started to clear up and we finally made our way out to the sales south of Florence.

Wildlife saved: We rescued a turtle that was about to launch itself into four fast lanes of traffic.

Possible Jerry Garcia sighting: Imagine an old large-sized dude with really long grey hair and beard. He also looked like a hippy. Wish I had a photo.

Fellow Big Lebowski fan: Imagine a tall, skinny 30-ish dude with REALLY long straight hair, wearing a "The dude abides" t-shirt. Again, wish I had a photo.

New learning: Americans get thirsty! So much so they need a 3 L bottle of pop!

Seen: Big ass jar of marbles!

Alternative spellings:  Saw a sign for "sewer" machines as well as these below

Distance travelled: probably only 10 miles. At the most. Really.

Fun finds: Strawberry Shortcake dolls, Pacman patch, red Nintendo game, Snork, mermaid smurfette and of course more video games!  Also... an original 1966 Hot Wheels in the bargain bin for only 50 cents!

127 Road Trip - Take 2 - Day 1

We had so much fun on the 127 yard sale last year that we just had to do it again. We started off early by shopping at Savers outside of Toledo (this is the US Value Village).

We almost got into big trouble when I dropped our credit card down the skinny space beside the parking break. Luckily that day was saved by my ingenuous idea of using the sticky part of a ladies pad to retrieve it!

Here's a quick summary of our first day of salin':

Highlight of the day: house just off the 127 on the north side of Sherwood, Ohio which had dozens of bins full of every kind of toy you can imagine! Fisher Price, Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Bright, video games, Teddy Ruxpin... it was like an out door 1980's Toys R Us with garage sale prices!  Loved it. Doubt anything will ever top it.

 Some people were willing to trade:

Cool finds: Fisher Price Sesame Street set, Tupperware spice jars, glo friends, Jarts (these are for you Bill!), and LOTS of video games!  We estimate that we accumulated roughly 50 games... and these were later added to by our friends who really managed to wring a deal out of the vendors.

Friend finds that they generously gave to us (Thank you! :) Smurfs! Video games!  Pac Man Tray, Jaws 3D cards, and so much more!

New vocabulary: 

"dip" = chewing tabacco (there is a misconception that this doesn't exist in Canada. It does. But most of us are too smart to chew it).

We say "bag" they say "sac".

Interesting people:

Met a woman who is 43 yrs old AND a grandma! She was very nice and friendly and thought that when she visited Canada in the 1980s we hadn't been born yet. I think we have our sunglasses to thank for hiding our wrinkles from her.

Drive thru booze stores:

For when you're too drunk to get out of your car.

Food missed: Donuts in Celina :(

Glad we didn't buy: used rat traps

Wish we had room for:

Wedding leftovers:

Loved the free sugar cookies from Julie and Freddy Peebles wedding. Big thanks to Julie's mom for letting us park way too long in her driveway.

Deja vu: Saw the Atari console and games set that we passed on last year. It is now on sale for $100, down from $125.  Thankfully I picked up a good condition unit for $40 in Peterborough last year.

Priciest non-road vehicle item: 1950s John Deere toy tractor for $1150.

Miles travelled: Too many

Money spent: Too much

All of our day 1 booty. Probably day 1 - 4 booty because the car is bursting already!

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"