Celebrating the Day

U.S. Route 40 in Red

This week's event is not a party or a traditional celebration but one I enjoyed immensely and wanted to share with you all. It was a wonderful, late spring day. So, indulge me if you will with this story...

Mom had called last night and wanted me to go with her garage sale-ing early this morning. We live not too far from U.S. Route 40 as it passes through Indiana. This week, Wednesday through Sunday, is the 10th Annual U.S. Route 40 Garage Sales event. All she had to do was ask -- I was in for sure!

We set out around 7:30 this morning and were barely out of the driveway when one of my sisters called asking if we were going. We detoured by her house, picked her up and set off for our day of bargain hunting.

Having just moved into a new house (and having sold all our furniture when we moved from Florida) I had a long wish list. Mom is re-doing her guest room and my sister is always got her eyes open for a treasure she can't live without. We all very much enjoy garage sale-ing.

The Historical U.S. Route 40

We started out about 10 miles from home on U.S. 40 and headed east. I found out this annual event is very well attended.

The whole of U.S. 40 runs from Atlantic City, New Jersey to near Park City, Utah. It used to run all the way to from the east coast to the west coast (San Francisco, CA) but after some changes in the 60's and 70's, it now, officially, ends in Utah.

The Garage Sale Event is hosted in 7 of the 12 states that U.S. 40 runs through -- Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri (St. Louis.) The event promoters boast 824 miles of garage sales.

Our Journey & Our Finds

Nail Keg in disrepair

Now, we didn't travel even 10% of the way but found tons of sales along a portion about 30 miles long. We had a blast. Some of the loot we found and purchased includes: Mom: 2 night stands ($2 each), books, red kitchen garbage can ($2).

My sister is a chef wanna-be so she found a large Wolfgang Puck skillet for $4, a glass baking dish for $1 and some cookbooks.

Though I didn't find any big pieces of furniture I could buy (found some but too expensive for my budget) I did find a small refrigerator for $2 (yes, it works!) I plan to use in the family room wet bar, a goose down comforter for $5, and a large flash light for $4.

My favorite purchase was an old, falling apart nail keg. The metal strapping on top was completely loose as well as the 2 stabilizing wires. The wood ribs were flapping due to nothing holding them in place except at the bottom (that metal strapping was still in place and was holding).

Nail Keg as Garbage Can

The owner saw me looking at it and approached me saying the keg was falling apart. He told me I could have it for $1. I, of course, jumped on that! As soon as I got home, I repaired it as best I could with few tools (I needed Diana's tool cache) and it now sits in my office/craft room as the garbage can. I am looking at it now as I type -- the vintage feel is perfect for me!

Share Your Next Event

I had so much fun today. I look at it as a celebration of family. Mom, sis and I had fun talking, comparing, visiting and solving the world's problems as we perused U.S. Route 40's garage sales today. Events -- no matter the size, shape or occasion -- are a part of all our lives.

I invite you to write on Squidoo about your experiences. I am the Party Planning Contributor and would welcome your ideas, suggestions and experience with planning your particular event. But remember, Squidoo is a platform where you can write about ANYTHING -- we have categories for it all.

Happy Sunday and I hope to see you soon on Squidoo!

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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