re: World's (and probably the Universe's) Longest Yardsale

What I didn't tell you about being in Ohio is that I planned that little trip so as to coincide with the World's Longest Yardsale. If you aren't an Antiques Roadshow aficionado or addicted to purchasing other people's old things, you might not know that every year for four days in August, Route 127 (stretching all the way from Defiance, Ohio to Gadsen, Alabama- four states long!) fills with Antique dealers and garagesalers set up along the side of the road, and thousands of people come out to root around in the junk. I have a weakness for old stuff and an even bigger one for bargains, and since my tolerance level for dirt and sorting through piles of junk seems to be exceptionally high, this weekend was really a dream come true.

I have shared a few of my favorite garage sale purchasing techniques before, an important rule being to bring small change. I brought all my money in ones, because everyone knows that only douchebags haggle over a dress until they get the seller down to a quarter and then hand them a $20 bill to make change.

Luckily I am not the only one that loves sorting through junk. Stephen and Kristin can stop at yard sales for four days in a row too.

One of the things that I like best about garage sales is that unlike thrift stores, a) you can haggle and b) you know exactly who it is that used to own the thing you are haggling over rather than going home with a faceless object that only has an implied former life. You always know you are buying used stuff, but usually you don't have a clear picture of who exactly used it and where they lived. At a garage sale, you get to actually meet the person that purchased and poured over all of these romance novels, highlighting their favorite parts.

Or that wore this old underwear.

Or that actually needed pants this size.

(You can't be that surprised. I think the midwest is where deep-fried everything came from. We can't really get mad at them for being the geniuses to recognize that everything tastes better with a layer of deep-fry around it.)

I wish I had been able to meet Joey, the receiver of this valentine from his friend Darrell encouraging him to keep it in the closet?

There were some educational portions of the trip as well. Do you know how many different kinds of fun there are? At least 3: Family Fun. Fun of the Party. Clean Fun.

Oh man. There were just so many treasures to look at and buy. My heart starts beating faster even just thinking of them all now.











Needless to say, by the end of the trip our car was a little full of treasures. We would have bought twice that if we didn't have to all fly home.

My favorite find of the trip might be this little red guy. It appears to just be a mostly-normal-extra-cute suitcase ...

But then it gets all Clark Kent on you and turns into a table! Oh, the miracle of it all.

Maybe you are doing the math in your head and are going to want to roast on us, since if you tallied the cost of getting out to the Sale in the first place, gas and car rental, hotels and food along the way, and the $50 the airlines wanted for checking several pieces of overweight luggage...that $.25 we paid for a vase might not have been such a bargain in the long run. But then I would tell you about the icecream we bought from a Mennonite horse that churned the cream without the aid of electricity and you will feel foolish as you realize that the 127 was mostly about the experience.


(lots more photos too)