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Day 2: The Start of the GMC OnStar Hidden Treasure Adventure

I made it home safely on Sunday night after an exhausting but fulfilling week. I apologize for not posting in real time, but there was truly no way for me to do it. Sleep was a bit of a priority for me ;-). But, we’ll just roll back our clocks and I’ll take you along for an adventure of a lifetime!

As you know, GMC flew six of us (Brooke from All Things Thrifty, Donna from Funky Junk Interiors, Lindsey from Better After, Cy & Traci from Beneath My Heart, and myself) to Michigan to take part in the World’s Longest Yard Sale and for a charitable cause. After our arrival in Detroit, we toured the OnStar command center, did some quick shopping at the Habitat ReStore in Detroit and then headed to our hotels for the night.

The next morning we woke up early to start the adventure! We each drew a piece of paper from our GMC organizer’s hand. On the paper was a room name. The room corresponded to a REAL room in a brand new Habitat for Humanity house in Birmingham, AL. The owner, Alexcia Moore, was set to receive the keys and move in on Sunday, August 5th.

Alexcia and her two children had been renting and living with very little furniture and appliances. The kids’ bed broke a while ago and so they were sleeping with mom in her full size mattress. Her furniture basically consisted of her bedroom set and a living room set. Alexcia didn’t have dishes or any appliances other than a microwave. The kids had very little toys and really needed new backpacks and some supplies for school. The biggest item on her wish list was a TV. GMC and OnStar decided to partner with Habitat for Humanity in Birmingham to furnish the Moore’s home with our help.

We had only three days, $250 each, and over 700 miles of yard sales along Rt. 127 to furnish and decorate our chosen room for the family.

Here is how the rooms got divvied up:

Donna – Master Bedroom

Cy – Both Bathrooms

Traci – 3 year old little girl, Jurnei’s room

Lindsey – 6 year old little boy, Jaydon’s room

Brooke – Kitchen and dining area

Brittany – Living Room

Talk about challenging! We had no idea what Alexcia’s style was and we only had a vague idea of what her existing furniture looked like. The blueprints above were helpful, but it was hard to picture the space we would be filling in a few days. But, as DIY bloggers, we were up for the challenge!

With our mission accepted, we set forth across the beautiful rural countryside from Hudson, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama. Our trusty steeds were a trio of GMC Yukon XL vehicles that could hold the majority of our finds.

We found some great antiques at the first sale we stopped at. A whole box of antique bottles was purchased for $8! I think there were about 16 bottles inside!

I really wanted to buy some of these pulleys to take home, but they weighed a lot and I already paid a $90 fee for my over-the-weight limit bags (thanks in part to my DIY survival kit):

(and craft survival kit) I brought with me.

We hung out at this fabulous yard sale for quite a while and had some fun hamming it up.

Clockwise from top left: Me trying on a gorgeous pair of cowboy boots that were too big, Donna signing her name on the “Where did you travel from?” wall, Lindsey in a tug of war for a cute stool, and Brooke calling in reinforcements.

Around lunch time, Funky and I rolled into the cutest town of West Unity, OH. The people there were incredibly friendly and it truly felt like we had stepped back in time (the spell was broken by a resident who mentioned she got an idea on Pinterest. Pinterest truly is a global phenomenon.)

The locals pointed us to the nearby church where they were serving ice cream, BBQ, beans, slaw and the most fabulous dessert spread I’ve ever seen! I mean seriously..America’s Top Chef cannot compete with a church lady’s homemade cake!!!

We had been having so much fun that we had completely lost track of time. As we calculated the miles we still had to drive, we quickly realized that we needed the speed of Superman and Speedy Gonzalez combined to get through the 127 Sale to make it to the first checkpoint in Florence, KY by 6pm. The only possible way to do that involved heading off Rt. 127 and navigating to the nearest highway (which was not close!) We barely made it after running into lots of traffic in Cincinatti, OH.


That evening we settled into the most amazing gem of a hotel. It is the Springhill Suites in Florence, KY. The pictures don’t do it justice! Beautiful and relaxing, which was good because it was another early to rise day on Day 3.

Join me tomorrow to learn some Tips for Surviving the World’s Longest Yard Sale. There will be lots of shenanigans and lots of gems.

Follow along our GMC Hidden Treasures Adventure by reading these other posts:

Disclosure: I was invited by GMC and OnStar (in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity) to join them on an excursion along the World’s Longest Yardsale. All my travel expenses were paid for. This is not a sponsored post, this is simply a post to update you on my experience. I was not told what to write about. All opinions are my own.

7 replies
  1. Dana
    Dana says:

    Looks like fun! Me and a friend took part in the yard sale fun this past weekend too! I’m in Chattanooga and the sale runs through nearby. I finally got the old wood ladder of my dreams!

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] to read more about my adventures along the World’s Longest Yardsale last […]

  2. […] tight peeps… Follow along our GMC Hidden Treasures Adventure by reading these other posts: Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 (the Reveal) Lessons on Being a Junk Warrior  Make Your Own Warrior Bracelet […]

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