A Journey to the World’s Longest Yard Sale

Panic - an expression I would come to know well as we barreled down the interstates and highways. After all, the 12 passenger cargo van was a far cry from my little Prius and it took some getting used to. Paging through Ki Naussauer’s "Flea Market Style" magazine months prior, I came across an article about the World's Longest Yard Sale, a nearly 700-mile goldmine of treasure hunting opportunities. With slight hesitation, I invited my mom, grandma and daughter along to see what it was all about, bravely ignoring the fact that my mom and I despise driving long distances. I trusted that the invaluable treasures and trinkets found would make the 25 hours of driving worth it.

We began our journey with our sights set on Covington, Kentucky, an ambitious 10-hour day of driving with pit stops. The van, as I mentioned, took a little getting used to. Left turns & changing lanes became much more exciting/scary for my passengers. My mother, as much as I love her, is a professional backseat driver in typical driving scenarios; add the van/bus to the mix and I just wished she would take a nap. (She did not.)

Despite adversity and bouts of bickering, we made it to our destination! The sales, as assumed, were a ton of fun. We saw a lot of cool stuff, got some neat ideas and picked up lots of goodies. We spent hours at large clusters of sales that were much like mini flea markets. There was a lot to see, drink and eat, but the individual sales, once we got into the neighborhoods, were really the best. We saw a wider array of stuff and the prices were generally much lower. I was inspired by all of the "upcycled" furniture, and now I’m eyeing up my childhood dresser (which is currently "homeless") as my first project.

Overall, I would say the trip was a success; we came home with some cool stuff but, more importantly, we enjoyed our time together. Will we do it again? Maybe. If we do, I may add a few things to my packing list like a fully loaded iPod (internet was spotty most of the way, so relying on Pandora and the radio was a mistake); a cooler - I don't even want to tell you how much junky gas station food was ingested in those five days; and a driver. We're currently trying to recruit my cousin, Jason, to drive next year. We may need to bribe him.

Places to check out if you’re down around Kentucky ya’ll:

• Four Roses Distillery - A unique distillery with an interesting history and tasty bourbon.
• This awesome historic log cabin we booked for a few days found via www.airbnb.com.
• We spent a few hours glazing pottery at Elements Clay Studio. This pretty little shop was very warm and welcoming. A great place to spend an afternoon!

A photo gallery of my excellent finds: