I can’t think of many things I enjoy more than a good road trip, and for me, anything short of a head-on collision is a good road trip. There are always things to see, people to meet, local restaurants to sample. What’s better than that?
Yesterday I was on the road to Gordon (Wisconsin) to pick up my sister Kim who had graciously invited me to another auction, after I begged her to let me come along. Our usual meeting place is Gordon’s ICO station on Hwy 53. I arrived there before Kim and bought a few newspapers and some nutritional road food, Hershey’s chocolate and a bag of cashews. My purchase rang up at 666 on the cash register, and after our initial surprised glance at one another, the cashier and I agreed we would not let it cast a pall on our days, although I did consider buying a pack of gum to change the number.
Got a chance to talk to the very nice man who gets up at 2:30 AM in Trego every day to deliver newspapers around small towns in Wisconsin. Every single day. I don’t even get up at 2:30 AM to toddle to the bathroom, so I don’t know how he does it, but I’m intrigued by people who drive places for a living, even when the roads are icy and treacherous. Hats off to them. (Though I hope they keep their hats on in winter.)
Our destination was a large auction house in Webster, Wisconsin. Kim figured how long it would take us to get there, but she forgot to factor in my lead foot, so we ended up with plenty of time to look around. “Show, don’t tell,” my writing instructors always advised me, so if you’re ready for more bad photography, I’ll show you what we saw first.
Was this my lucky day or what? A garage sale? In February? YES!
Kim bought a clarinet or flute or piccolo, or some shiny silver instrument in a beautiful blue velvet lined box. (What do I know? I was always in chorus back in my school days.) My find, which fit very nicely into the back seat:
ONE DOLLAR, people. No kidding. Score!
I bought this lovely brass headboard, for which I have no use. I think it would look great in someone ‘s garden next summer, so I will probably end up selling it. For one dollar, I could not pass it up. Frankly, I would not sit in a chilly town hall all afternoon to make one dollar for this lovely items, but that’s just me. I think it’s gorgeous.
After the sale, we followed another sign down a country road to find bison in a frosty field in Rusk, Wisconsin. This guy in the front couldn’t take his eyes off me, or else he was considering making a lunge for my big red car. Either way, we were both kept our manners, and I didn’t stay long enough to fully annoy him. But I thought he was a beauty.
It was still early in the day, so the frost hadn't burned off yet, and I think it added a lot to the photo.
On to the auction. It wasn’t a very good one, according to my serious-buyer sister (whose husband had gone to a separate auction in Amery, Wisc.) but for me they are all good ones, because I never really have a purchase in mind, but like to be surprised by what I find. This one was crowded, and at first we sat way in the back, but later walked up to the front for serious bidding. (Kim’s, not mine.)
You can barely see the auctioneer way up front, but he was there. Favorite auctioneer line of the day when the bidding slowed down: “Anyone else have the miserable winter cold? Raise your hand.”
I did see one thing I wanted, and my sister managed to get it for me for just $8. It is a Japanese salt and pepper set on a tray, with a little pot in the center that probably could hold preserves. Or M&Ms, at my house.
Isn't this gorgeous? I love it so much. Not a chip on it, either. Would love to know its history.
The day was gorgeously sunny. At one point I was standing at the car wrapping pieces of china in some of my 666 newspaper, and realized it was February 6, and the temperature was about 45 degrees. Amazing. One for the books. (In case you’re writing a book about weather. You can quote me!)
We didn’t stay too long at the auction, but decided to drive other places to see stuff. We were close to the town of Siren, so we went to have a look. This sobering sight was the most serious moment of the day:
I can not imagine a force so strong to have created that scene, nor the strength that wrapped it so tightly that it has stayed there for 11 years. I imagine there are happy days for Siren residents that are suddenly sobered by the memory of that storm. I don’t remember seeing any trees along Siren’s main drag, either.
But another “sign” quickly took our minds off the tornado.
No major purchases, but always fun to look at other people’s castoffs. I bought a movie whose name I’ve forgotten, and I’m too lazy to walk to the living room to look.
We visited another thrift shop, but came away empty-handed, and headed for lunch. We found this really good sports bar, Adventures, and the daily special was a fabulous patty melt sandwich, so my life was complete. The sandwich was served on marble rye bread with fries, and was so large that I took half of it home for dinner. Yum!
On the way out of Siren, we turned around to photograph this very tall cowboy with a stick that may explain why some cowboys walk the way they do. It’s a very tall cowboy, and I told my sister that the photo would be more impressive if she’d go stand by his feet, to which she replied “Why don’t you trot across that snowy field and I’ll take your picture?”, and so of course it never got done. But trust me. He’s tall. He should also be holding something, like a lasso for Rodeo Days, or maybe a very large basket of kittens. Though it’s hard to improve on a tall cowboy, most everything looks better with a basket of kittens.
I rest my case.
See?
On the road again, our next stop was the charming little town of Spooner, where Kim has friends who have antique shops. Walnut Street in Spooner contains a two block stretch of interesting shops, and if you love antiques, you must stop at The Red Door Antiques and More Shop, which sort of reminds me of Vic & Sade’s Little Tiny Petite Pheasant Feather Shoppe, but that’s another story for another day, though it, too, is an antique.
I didn’t take a photo of it, but The Red Door is not hard to find, and is surrounded by other interesting shops. The greeting from Kim’s friends Carla and her husband, Joe, was so friendly and cordial that you want to pull up a chair and settle in for a chat, but there wasn’t time. The shop is filled with floor to ceiling treasures from various sellers who like the same kind of stuff I do, and I could have spent hours wandering around there. Even if you didn’t buy anything, the wide assortment is sort of like a museum tour of your personal history, where every dish and tin evokes things from your childhood that you didn’t forget after all. I loved it. And I bought something that I love.
This charming old cookie cutter has a slightly off-kilter handle, which makes me think it had been used a lot. I love it’s fluted edges, and it’s deep and large enough to be used for baking scones or biscuits. It’s perfect. I like to imagine a farm wife using it for Sunday breakfasts.
Carla has the kind of job I’d like to have if I ever reach retirement. I’d love to go places to buy things to bring back to that lovely shop to sell. I’d love to spend some winter afternoons surrounded by the memories of past lives. Carla seems pretty happy to be doing it. So would I.
After reluctantly leaving the shop, we headed back to Gordon, where I dropped Kim off at her car, and made my way back to Duluth, completely forgetting to give her the $8 I owe her for the Japanese pieces. Got home while the sun was still shining, and had a lot of fun going through the day’s treasures, which also included a loaf of home made bread and some chicken stew from Kim. A delicious end to a lovely day.
Get in the car and go somewhere soon. Take pictures and tell us about it!
And say hello to the bison.
