Day one. Settee, check. Coffee tables, check. Luggage, check. Vodka and Crown, check. Two excited girls on the road, check! Tonya and I set out to get as far as we could on our way up to New Jersey. Somewhere in Virginia we decided to push all the way to Atlantic City. It wasn’t exactly on the way or part of the original route, but something we really wanted to see and it was only 2 hours (or so my GPS said) from my first delivery. 16 hours later, we made it to Atlantic City. We stayed in a comped suite at Harrah’s, thanks to Tonya’s Total Reward points. Atlantic City was everything we thought it would be and we can’t wait to go back and stay. But, we had a mission and had to get up and going the next day.
Day two. Loved Atlantic City, New Jersey…not a fan of New Jersey drivers, or the toll roads. Trying to stay on budget, I decided I was going to beat the toll roads and find an alternate route that wasn’t going to break the bank. My GPS said 2 hours to Montvale which was where I needed to drop off the coffee tables. It said only 2 1/2 hours when I told it to avoid the toll roads. Save $15 and add 30 minutes? Sounded good to me. Long story short, it still took 4 hours and about half way there, we were back on the toll road. New Jersey 1, me 0. After delivering the coffee tables, I set route for Livingston to drop off the settee. GPS said 30 minutes and at this point I didn’t care if it was toll roads or not. GPS doesn’t understand New Jersey traffic either and an hour and a half later we were there. New Jersey 2, me 0. Both clients loved their furniture and we got some good information about possibly getting in to see New York City the next day. We headed back into the truck and talked about what we wanted to do next. Going into the city meant staying two nights in a very expensive part of New Jersey and the cost of getting in and eating once we got there. I disliked the thought of being so close to New York and not being able to see the city, but Tonya (and my budget) kept telling me no. We got back on the road and drove as fast and as far as we could from New Jersey. New Jersey 2, me 1.
Day three. Woke up in the Pocono Mountains. I’m from the state of Washington and I know a mountain when I see it. I’ve always heard about how people love the Pocono Mountains and that it’s a great place to visit. It is a beautiful place but people, those aren’t mountains! They are large hills with trees. Ok, now that we have that out-of-the-way. We decided to take it slow and try to see as many flea markets, thrift stores and antique malls as we could. Apparently we weren’t far enough away from New Jersey and New York. They are very proud of their antiques in the Pocono mountains and we couldn’t afford those prices. Back in the truck and back on the road. We went through Hershey, Pennsylvania and threw some money at the Hollywood casino. Back in the truck and back on the road. We stopped for the night in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Day four. We got up early and found some really neat thrift stores and some really great buys. Finally! A place we can settle down and find some deals! I scored a beautiful leather suitcase, a vintage percolator (because one can never have too many percolators), the grooviest pair of retro hanging lamps and Tonya found an old lamp she just couldn’t live without.
Sophia (at Sophia’s Thrift Store) gave us the number of a friend of hers that would let us go junkin’ in his barns. She advised us to carry a big stick. Jimmie is a hillbilly and likes pretty girls. She also told us not to tell his wife that Sophia sent us. Uh I think we’ll move on?
We contemplated making it all the way home, but decided there was a big flea market we wanted to see near Roanoke, Virginia. We stopped near Roanoke at a Howard Johnson that was advertised as being voted the nicest motel near the Appalachian Trail. It went on to say they had breathtaking views and an award-winning full breakfast buffet. We saved a lot of money on that room, but needless to say I kept my gun on me at all times and slept with it under my pillow, on my rock hard bed. I was able to fall right asleep and then I woke up in a panic at 4 am. Did I lock the truck? Did Tonya do her nightly bed bug check? Did we deadbolt the door? Unbelievably, I did forget to lock the truck (don’t worry, everything was still there) and Tonya had taken care of everything else. Whew! Our breakfast the next morning was powdered eggs, cereal and fruit. Hardly award-winning. Oh and this was our breathtaking view-
The Poconos were more breathtaking than that!
Day five. We still have 400 miles to get home and the truck is only half full. Might as well hit a couple more flea markets. Happy’s Flea Market in Roanoke made us truly Happy. I found an old metal baby bed and some antique egg beaters. Now, if any of you have ever wanted antique egg beaters, you would know they are ridiculously expensive. They go anywhere from $9 to $25. I made it a mission (and a joke) that I was going to find them for a dollar- if it’s the last thing I do. I actually found them at Happy’s for $3 and the nice lady gave me two of them for $5.
Success! Not exactly a dollar but close enough.
We went on to find an old baby stroller, a floor lamp, a vintage metal top table and a VERY large picture frame. NOW the truck is full. Did that stop us from that last flea market? No. Leave it to Tonya to find an old metal cabinet that she HAD to have. She talked the very nice old man down to $35. He started at $50. Yay! And after a little unpacking and rearranging, we were on our way again.
We made it home, safe and sound and now my garage looks like an episode of Hoarders. Time to get busy, create some masterpieces and sell some treasures. Stayed tuned to find out what happens with all the goodies we collected…