from montezuma to homer

my parents came to visit a few weeks ago because they wanted to visit their oldest daughter they'd heard about a 50 mile garage sale held annually in the finger lakes region. a 50 mile stretch from montezuma to homer, new york! they said it was a practice one for another one that crosses state lines across the mississippi.

i was pretty excited about the idea. in the last few years, i've really come to enjoy seeing what other people have treasured and now consider trash. (:

we did a little bit of yard sale-ing around my neighborhood friday and stumbled upon a church rummage sale. and ohmygoodness were we starting out right! rows of tables lined with tons of stuff... and the deal of the day was to get a plastic bag, fit as much in as you can, and pay $2. here's what i came away with for $2!:

after that success, we were ready to do some serious damage in the finger lakes on saturday. an early start, a little bit of a drive, some starbucks and we took part in our first miles-long garage sale! i went with a budget and a list of things i was hoping to find, including burlap, vintage frames, wooden crates and ceramic animals. i came away with nearly everything on my list:

i got these scraps of fabric for free! can't wait to use them on some yarn wreaths!

these guys are just waiting to be spray painted! ;)

there was so much to take in, and some folks had some really amazing finds. if you were in the market for a vintage motorcycle, you would have had plenty to choose from! [i'd love to have gotten one for my stud, but my budget was a bit too small for that!]

and then there were the things that made you go... huh?!

but my favorite find of the day was something that wasn't on my list. and i was so excited when i saw that the prompt for this week's inspiration workshop was vintage. i fell in love with this piece of luggage the moment i saw it. it was marked make offer. i'm so terrible at that; luckily my mom is a pro! well, $7 later i came home with a piece of vintage hartmann luggage.

i love the leather and the pattern inside. it's in such good condition, too. and i think it's so fun that it has someone's name in it!

the whole day was, in a word, crazy. there were literally miles upon miles of homes, churches, etc. selling all kinds of things. what seemed like hundreds of cars moved in packs [herds?] along a road that had a very small shoulder on either side. oh, and restrooms? practically non-existent. we had to travel for about 45 mins and get off the yard sale road just to find a porta-potty! where we also saw this:

um, ew. however, from time to time, the road would open up, and we'd catch a glimpse of lake conesus.

with my success in finds and the gorgeous views, i'd say if this was a warm up for a cross country adventure,  i can't wait for summer 2012! [are you in, mom and dad? (: ]