By Monica Pryts
SHENANGO VALLEY — When cousins Jane Vasconi and Barbie Witherup set off Aug. 6 for the World’s Longest Yard Sale, they didn’t really know what to expect but knew they were in for a good time.
“It looked like fun,” Mrs. Vasconi of Hermitage said of stumbling across a Web site for the sale, held along U.S. Highway 127.
A self-proclaimed “yard sale addict,” Mrs. Vasconi, 54, recruited Ms. Witherup, 49, of West Sunbury, Pa., for the four-day, girls-only road trip through Tennessee, Kentucky and other states.
According to the Web site for the annual event, the yard sale spans 654 miles from West Unity in Ohio, to Gadsden, Ga. Also called the 127 Corridor Sale, it has headquarters in Jamestown, Tenn., and more than 4,000 vendors selling goods.
The Web site also has a clock counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds to the 2010 sale, which Mrs. Vasconi and Ms. Witherup already have in mind.
The two women are always on the lookout for a good bargain and yard sales are the best places to strike up a deal, they said during a recent visit at Mrs. Vasconi’s home.
Except the hunt isn’t always about the treasures you find; it’s about the people you meet, the places you visit and in their case, spending time with a close relative.
“Everyone thinks we’re sisters,” Mrs. Vasconi said.
They learned a lot along the way. Mrs. Vasconi did better driving through the crowded areas of the yard sale, maneuvering her red Mini Cooper into tight spots, while Ms. Witherup handled the longer stretches of highway driving.
They also discovered they’re expert packers because they were forced to make all of their purchases fit into the tiny car. They packed very light with a cooler, flattened boxes and bubble wrap.
“We just knew it had to be small and flat,” Mrs. Vasconi said.
Of course finding that special item on your list is always a great feeling, the women said. Ms. Witherup was in search of pieces to add to her collection of jadeite glassware and found four mugs and a batter bowl for $100, which she said was a good price.
Mrs. Vasconi collects elephant figurines and found quite a few to display in her home. They also bought other decorative items, clothes, jewelry and gifts for friends and family members.
“We found all kinds of stuff,” Ms. Witherup said, adding they haggled with the vendors to bring down the prices, which is expected.
They lost track of how many sales they visited because many of them were multiple vendors set up in one spot like a neighborhood, field or parking lot.
“I didn’t think to count,” Mrs. Vasconi said.
They started in Crossville, Tenn., and headed back north, ending the trip in Covington, Ky., after 261 miles.
They didn’t run into any car trouble and recommend reserving hotel rooms in advance, as well as have a set destination with a place to sleep at the end of each day. They had a global-positioning unit but used directions they printed from the Internet because it was easy to follow the signs for 127.
Their travel gear included T-shirts printed with a map of the sale, mugs and a car window sign decorated with the 127 Corridor theme and white shoes they had signed by people they met along the way.
“People were super,” Ms. Witherup said.
The women recalled “Don the Victrola guy,” another man named Cletus and countless others who made the trip a memorable adventure. “I’m a memory maker,” Mrs. Vasconi said.
The food they ate also made the trip a great experience. They sampled pinto bean soup and special Southern bread at the Simple Treasures Teahouse “somewhere in Tennessee.”
“They had the best blackberry lemonade,” Ms. Witherup said.
They also ate barbecue, the South’s claim-to-fame, and especially remember a fully-stuffed baked potato with cheese, bacon, pulled pork, butter, sour cream and barbecue sauce. “I’m on Weight Watchers and gained two pounds,” Mrs. Vasconi said.
Until August comes around again, the women say they will satisfy themselves with local yard sales and even hosting one or two with their families.
