Garage Sales and Guanacos

I love garage sales. Yesterday we set a new garage sale record, hitting three awesome piles in just three tries. The first sale was one of those "everything must go" sales where the family was moving. They were a little hampered by the sporadic drizzle of rain, but they covered most of the stuff with tarps every time it started to sprinkle. We found a sweet stand-up mirror that was part of a bedroom set going for several hundred, but the gentleman sold it separately to us for ten bucks.

Energized by our first purchase, we hit the road, looking for more posters on 900 E. Soon we got another bite and we were racing east up Cedar Avenue. From the outside it didn't look like much was going on - just a gazebo on a driveway with a selection that resembled DI's "as is" aisle. The earthy guy guarding it outside told us there was more inside, and as we crossed the threshold we met his equally earthy fiancee. She informed us they were getting married soon and moving to her parents' farm in Portland. Talk about living the dream! She pointed out a camping set with a tent, two sleeping bags and a backpack, originally marked $230, that they were selling for $40. We wrote her a check and hit the road again.

Our next destination was Wymount Central Offices. There weren't any signs directing people that way, but from the main road I saw what looked like a little market on the front lawn. We pulled in and found an international bazaar. Students from all different countries had graduated and were presumably headed back to their native lands, so they were getting rid of a lot of stuff. We met a Russian lady with a Ukrainian husband who was selling the same crib Ashton already purchased for a sixth of the price. We just bought the mattress from them and had a delightful conversation in Russian. We decided we should probably quit while were ahead, and drove home.



After that great start we drove up to Thanksgiving Point with Ashton's family to celebrate her sister's birthday. I love Thanksgiving Point! I get giddy as a schoolboy every time I go there. It was a lot chillier than I anticipated. I always forget about the wind coming off the mountain up there. We hit the farm first, anxious to see all the new animals. To be honest, I was more interested in the enclosures, taking recon photos with my camera phone so that I could build my own someday. We checked out the pygmy goats, guanacos, and llamas, and I decided I wanted all three when I have my farm, maybe even in Portland.