Expedition to thrift stores

Yesterday afternoon was an interesting experience. We started out at 11:30 and got home at 5. Lynne had a list of thrift stores in areas that neither of us has ever lived in and that we have not visited in recent years. I did remember a couple of them, but could never have found them on my own. Lynne had Mapquest directions, but they were not always correct. Also both Lynne and I are what you might call 'directionally impaired'! No innate sense of direction in either of us.

Despite this, off we went. I wish I had counted the number of u-turns we made - probably 15 or more. We went back and forth on some streets three or four times. Some of the stores were no longer in existence. Others did not seem to be where Mapquest thought they were. We did eventually find and shop at 6 stores, including one that wasn't on the list, but that I remembered from years ago. Three of these were wonderful stores, huge warehouse places with lots of stuff. Basically, the ones run by the Salvation Army, Goodwill and Value Village were clean and organized. Others, were not so good. We were very successful in our search for props and got a lot of things, such as glasses, pitchers, ash trays, and the best find - two diner-type pedestal tables. We really hadn't expected to find those, so we were very pleased. I also picked up a couple more birdhouses for my collection. All the props are in my car and will stay there for a day or so, until I can get back down to Greenbelt Arts Center when the show people are there to let me in. Luckily, my van has plenty of room, so it's not a problem to drive around with the stuff in it.

It was really a fun day, despite all the u-turns. I got pretty good at quickly whipping my van around in a tight circle to beat the oncoming traffic! Saturday is not my first choice for visiting thrift stores or for driving around on major highways. Lots of people out shopping or just driving around. I wonder if the economic crash has increased business at thrift stores. Seems likely it would.

This morning, I worked out front for a bit. It got hot very early today. I also put up a sign in my back yard. I'll try to post a photo. I have had this piece of wood (part of a harness for a team, I think) for a year or more and finally decided to paint it as a garden sign. I think it looks great, although not many people will see it.

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