Saturday, August 28th, 2010
Day 2 of the yard sale came and went. We are tired. The crowds weren’t quite as good as yesterday. Competition we figured. We also didn’t have as much stuff to sell today. Even so, we did all right. Most of “valuable” things sold.
We began packing up at 1:00. As we did, a truck arrived.
There’s a show on cable called Hoarders. I’ve never seen it, but my understanding is that this reality show follows different hoarders. Hoarders are far more ill packrats. Well, the folks in the truck are hoarders. They took all of our crap. All of it. We had already put away the stuff we weren’t going to put at the curb. We loaded up the bed of their pickup with the used candles, the VHS tapes of the Phillies from 2001, and other assorted garbage. We were packing it up to place at the curb. This kept us from having to see it slowly deteriorate over the week as it was picked over, rained on, etc. before the garbage men took it away. I can’t imagine what their home looks like. Yikes!
The big news, however, is that we succeeded! The goal of the yard sale was to reclaim the garage and make a little cash. We made plenty of money and the garage is clean. I installed the kayak rack and Lucy now hangs on the wall. She’ll like this far better than outside by the deck. Just think, the grass can now grow in that patch. Woo hoo! I hung her low in anticipation of the tandem that will hang above (if it isn’t too long).
The yard sale is over, we’re cleaned up, and we have some cash. Not bad for cleaning up.
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Friday, August 27th, 2010
Much to Gert’s surprise, a Friday yard sale did well.
I see a lot of folks having yard sales on Friday and there always seem to be people at them. We didn’t do much advertising. I posted to Craigslist. I was going to put a blurb in the Cumberland Reminder, but I balked at $36. We put up three signs on the streets near us to let folks know. We had pretty good attendance, made some money, and most important: we cleared a lot of space.
We have plenty of stuff to go at it again tomorrow. I think Gert is motivated to dig up some new stuff. It didn’t go well initially as she kept taking stuff off the piles, despite these items being stacked up for at least a year and some of it for many years. I wasn’t permitted to sell the ugly upfront picture frame over three panels that could serve as a dressing area. We’ll never use it for I loathe this thing.
We are tired. Gert had trouble falling asleep and was up until about 3:00 am. Little Buddy decided to wake me up at 4:00. Grrrr . . .
During the lulls in customers, I did some yard work and then turned to the garage. We now have a garage. It has been a storage shelter for the last year. I struggled getting the mower out every three or four days. No longer. I organized and swept. True, it is full of yard sale stuff now, but that is mostly on tables that will roll out again tomorrow at 8:00 am. I tossed a lot of junk. I conjured up my inner mother and hammered in nails to hang Frisbees and other toys. The baseball bats hang similarly to how Mom organized our garage a few decades ago. I hope to hang a bicycle from the ceiling. Beetle has two bikes and one of them is too large for her, so I figure that will get it off the deck. I have some beach chairs that need to go up too.
My FIL stopped by to check things out. Before I showed him where I was going to hang Lucy (the kayak), he said that the one wall would be perfect for the tandem kayak he is itching to get into my hands. I think I am going to have purchase a second rack.
The important thing is that we have cleared a few huge swatches of space in our house. Woo hoo! After much ado the garage is done and the basement took a huge leap forward. All the while, we put a few dollars in our pocket.
I still don’t know why the City of Millville feels entitled to $5.00 for us to have had this sale.
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Sunday, August 8th, 2010
We were very pleased to be back in New Jersey today. We enjoyed our tip, but we like our home too.
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Saturday, August 7th, 2010
About 25 years ago I recall seeing South of the Border bumper stickers everywhere. It seemed as though everyone had them. A few years later I began driving with some regularity to Florida. Usually those were solo trips. Once I pulled into South of the Border to see what it was all about. I don’t have much of a recollection of that visit as I didn’t get out of the vehicle. Yes, it was too cheesy even for me.
But when one drives to Florida with children, things seem to change. First off, the children were excellent! Portable DVD players are an absolute must for road trips with little ones. There was virtually no squabbling at all. And only once, within 45 minutes of leaving, did we hear, “How much longer?”
Anyhow, when one gets to North Carolina he begins to see the multitude of billboards advertising the tourist trap. They are funny and very much unique. Beetle got into looking for them. The way our trip worked out, stopping on the way down wasn’t convenient. We pushed well on the back trip. Even Fritz got into spotting the signs. We were all geared up for our stop in the faux Mexico in Dillon, South Carolina. Gert was looking up the dining options on the Incredible.
Eventually we rolled in exuberant to take on the . . . well, we really had to go potty. 
We opted for Pedro’s Diner. We learned they do things differently in South Carolina than they do in New Jersey. The political correctness apparently hasn’t settled in there. Smoking is the norm everywhere. We learned that right off as the two waitresses were seated at a booth when we entered smoking up a storm while they rolled the silverware. Pedro’s Diner is about as stark as a place can be. Even so, there were a few other out-of-towners there.
We did the potty thing and ordered our burgers. Service was prompt. No one will ever write about the deliciousness of the previously frozen patties here, but the reality was that everything was just fine. We ate and then asked if the rides were opened. Indeed.
Fritz has finally gotten this potty thing down pretty well, so we promised him a ride or two. That was a mistake.
We have all gone to traveling carnivals. I am sure you have even had conversations about how crappy and perhaps even dangerous those rides are. We have had ongoing jesting in our household over the years. Hey, it doesn’t keep us from riding, we just know some rides aren’t quite what they are at Disney. One need not worry about that however. South of the Border puts it all to shame. I have never seen such a poor excuse for amusement rides in my life.
Beetle likes the Music Express (bobsled) rides. Hang 10 was SOTB’s version. No music, no slope. Pretty much just in a circle. But hey, at least it worked. The rollercoaster, the Ferris wheel, the train, and a couple other rides were not operational. We had to wait at the carousel to ride; there was no one to operate it. The one boy who ran the Hang 10 also ran the carousel. Once he was done with the riders on Hang 10 he came over to get things going. Only half the lights worked on the thing. Beetle seemed bothered, so just sat in a coach. Fritz had a jolly time nonetheless.
Afterwards we headed to the Red Baron ride. My thought was all the riders would stick together and the operator would come along. No such luck. Upon leaving the carousel, a grandfather said to the two little ones he had in tow, “We can ride everything until 10!” He was serious too. That was two hours to ride all four rides . . . over and over and over again. Yikes!
We seemed to be the only ones at the Red Baron. We looked around. I thought I could make the ride go all by myself, but thought better of it. After some time another boy came over to run things. He looked like he had his act together as he approached. Of course, I was quickly reminded not to judge others by their appearances. It quickly became apparent that we entered the Twilight Zone.
The children ride free at SOTB, despite the signs at each ride. They rope the adult into purchasing a wristband. Gert was the sucker lucky one tonight. It was apparent, however, that the airplanes were a kiddie ride. This new guy in a slow southern drawl was loosing it trying to explain that Gert needed to ride with the children. He just couldn’t explain. He hemmed. He hawed. Eventually after much snickering, Gert climbed up and rode with Fritz. Of course, Beetle was left on her own, thus defeating the silliness of the “safety precautions” the boy wanted.
We left after that. We headed over to the Mexico shop. It would have been better labeled China shop as I am certain everything was made there. We once again used the potty before shoving off. While waiting I spotted the previously ubiquitous bumper stickers. I now understand. The small ones sell for a nickel, the full sized ones a dime. No wonder everyone purchases them. I picked up a few. I threatened Gert I would plaster her car with them.
She vowed never to stop there again. Sure, cheesy as all and cheap too. But the children loved it!
Now we’re asleep in North Carolina for the night.
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