us 50 sale summary

I put 300 miles on my car last weekend driving around the US 50 sale.
I left my mom's house Friday morning, May 16, and headed east on Interstate 275 to begin shopping at the US 50 exit in Milford.   Big mistake.  Not only was it pouring down rain, there were no sales at all anywhere.  The first place I stopped at was a sale on Shady Lane Road in Miami Heights, a good 30 miles west of where I started.
I've noticed before that the sales don't become prevalent until after you get past Versailles in Indiana.  But there were always a few in Sayler Park, Addyston, Lawrenceburg and Dillsboro to stop at, and this time there was almost zilch.  I'm not blaming the weather, because by the time I got into Sayler Park the rain had let up.  I don't know if the US 50 sales are ignored in cities in general, or if Greater Cincinnati in particular just doesn't set up.
Things improved after I reached Versailles, and I continued shopping on Friday until I reached my destination of Seymour, Indiana.  On Saturday, I drove as far as Brownstown, Indiana, and then turned around and stayed a second night in Seymour.  There were dozens the second day.  Indiana has greatly expanded the curbs along the highway so there were plenty of places to park on both sides of the road.  The biggest--and most dangerous--annoyance were the occasional drivers who were obviously annoyed with us shoppers and instead of slowing down when seeing us getting out of our cars, actually speed up!  What does a speeder hope to accomplish by killing us?  Okay, the driver has made his point, but at what cost not just to me but to him?
Things I noticed as I drove:  a sign for butcher hogs for sale (no, I don't need any, thank you); two different places that had rabbits for sale, and one of the sellers wanted to know if I wanted a kitten (no, my cat would be too jealous if I brought home a buddy).  One sign made me laugh.  It said "GUY STUFF."  I mostly saw knickknacks.  I ignored the Boyd's Bears and Precious Moments.  If I'd seen any Lenox or Department 56 I might have bought them, but I didn't see any for sale.
There really wasn't a lot of Barbie stuff for sale, and I saw only one old item, a Barbie case which I already had.  I came home with some 90s dolls, two of them still in the box.  I passed up Chatty Cathy, Dolly Surprise, Niki in a case and two Journey Girls.  I ignored the umpteen contemporary porcelain dolls I saw, which were basically a dime a dozen.
So here were my purchases:
1.  A late 1950s/early 1960s gold painted comb, brush and mirror plus the flat mirror that holds them.
This was purchased at the estate sale in Miami Heights.
2.  Jewelry box
3.  Landline phone with an incredibly long cord
4.  A fuzzy heavy sweatshirt and an apricot sleeveless knit shirt
5.  11 books, two of which were Grolier Barbie novels
6.  A Christmas door decoration of two candy canes
7.  Battat Our Generation Elizabeth doll
7.  Nude dolls:  Tyco Friends Ariel, Pajama Fun Courtney, Gymnast Stacie, Donna Martin and Cool Crimp Skipper, plus a Barbie, Ken and Kelly friend I have yet to identify, and the dresses that a few of them were wearing.
8.  NRFB Nascar Barbie for $15 and NRFB Mrs. Albee Barbie for $7.
Some details along the highway that I noticed:  The abandoned, rusting train cars that sat on the highway paralleling US 50 between Holton and Seymour for decades have finally been removed.  Holton looks much better as well.  As you may recall, an F3 tornado went through the town two years ago, and when I drove through last year it still had many houses needing to be rebuilt.  All but one of the houses have been either rebuilt or repaired now, and there is a brand-new civil defense siren above the town.  US 50 when you leave the west end of North Vernon has been moved to a new and rather dangerous intersection where you have to make a left turn where there's a lot of traffic and no red light. Lastly, Seymour is twice the size of what it was even 10 years ago.
With my purchase of Elizabeth (brunette), I now have American Girls Kirsten and Julie (in the matching pajamas), Heidi Ott's Meet the Friends Beth (blonde) and FibreCraft's Springfield Collection Olivia (redhead).  Kirsten and Julie were bought new, but the others are from garage sales.