Her Junkin’ Journey

28 Sep, 2012

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Written by Jennifer Sill (That’s me.  The blonde shopping in the feature pic.)

“What’s all the fuss about?  Why would you spend all that time tracing 300 miles looking at other people’s junk?”

Some of my friends just can’t believe that I’m SO excited to head out on Nebraska’s Junk Jaunt this weekend.  (To see the map and printable brochure click here.)

But I am.

I am SO excited.  Like a little kid as Christmas approaches, I am excited.  I get butterflies in my stomach.  Seriously.

The JUNK is not what I’m looking forward to (although I have gotten some GREAT deals on stuff from new jewlery & crafts to used kids clothes and toys.)  What makes it special to me is the JAUNT.

Here are some of the things that make it special.

1.  Junk Jaunt Bingo and other games

It is a tradition for my family to make a Bingo Board.  Before we leave for our ‘jaunt’ we fill the squares on the board with things we might find.  For instance: Husker Coffee Mug, Ladies bras or mens’ underwear or a Christmas tree.  (Each person comes up with something.)  We just have one card, but we try really hard to find the things on the board.

We also have made a list of ‘winner finds’ for the unexpected.

For instance:

1. Thing priced WAY too high.

2. Strangest item for sale

3. Funniest landmark

4. Best mom & pop stop along the way (for food/coffee/ice cream)

5. Best Buy of the day

Prizes given for taking pictures of the ‘winner finds’

So if you’re always looking for a story, you always will find one.

2. Signs of a great time:

One of our first “Junk Jaunts” we weren’t exactly sure we were on the right route until we found this sign.  Yup.  We have arrived.  Let the memories be made!

The first time we saw this guy we had to get our picture with him.  Thank you Cairo for your sense of humor.  We shared a giggle.

(If you’re not from Nebraska this is pronounced like the syrup not the city in Egypt. KAY-ro)

3. Finding the perfect ‘Cat’ch

From this stop my sister and I got our most memorable Junk Jaunt treasure ever.  Emma.  A kitty.  Yup.  We saw her on our way out.  We took her home on the way back.

My mom still shakes her head.  Who takes a cat home from the Junk Jaunt?  We do.

(Later Emma got pregnant and had babies in our house.  But she died and my sister and I raised the baby kittens with a bottle.)

4. Spotting the “Seriously?” Moment of the Day.  (Or being it)

Blahhahahahahahaha!  My family helped this guy load his purchase – a stove into this car.  Don’t believe it?  He drove away with that thing in the trunk.  He made it out of sight.  I don’t know how much further it stayed in there.

But I’m seriously not going to point fingers.  Some of our stories are similar….

(Check out the guy in the background.  I think he’s thinking, “Seriously?”)

For instance, my dad bought this ladder.  He had to improvise a system to attach it to the top of his Tahoe.

I’ve also placed a giant chair in my hatchback.

And we tied a huge ottomon to the top of my Avenger.

We’ve gotten pretty good at stuffing stuff IN the car…

5. The Junk

Here are us (as hoarders perhaps?) BEFORE.

 Here’s the junk all laid out in our yard that year.

So, the journey is what I’m looking forward to.  I’ll be sharing some of my finds along the way.  We here at HVFH would also LOVE to see YOUR special buys!  Just post them on our Facebook page (or e-mail them t0 me: jennie@HerViewFromHome.com).  We’ll share them with others!!

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