Strangely enough, our gross sales were only down one year throughout this mess, and only 2% at that! Amazing results when you consider the fact that nobody “needs” the things we sell. We are expecting to have a very good summer and fall this year, and our vendors have been stocking up on great stuff all winter. If it has been a while since you have been in, stop by for a visit and see what has changed!

For those who have not attended one of these events yet, you will not want to miss this one! This is the only sale Cheshire Antiques over does. 20% off most items in the store, Santa Claus (bring your camera), and surprises, make this event well worth coming to. Keep an eye out for the dates of this years fun, we should have it posted in a day or two.

NOW LEAVING KANSAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight we are in Oklahoma City with Internet access so we are able to send out our update. Two days ago, we decided to travel East into Missouri to check out Kansas City. We ended up staying at an RV park near Platte City and experienced the most severe lightning storm that either one of us has EVER seen. We awoke at about 11:30 to a continuous onslaught of bright flashes in the sky. For the next two hours the sky continued to be lit by a nonstop strobe of lightning. THere was the occasional rumble of thunder in the distance, but most of it was lighting in the sky accompanied by a pretty good downpour of rain…it was QUITE the experience!!!!

In the morning, though we had lost a few hours of sleep, we headed into Kansas City and Independance Missouri to check out a couple of Antique Malls. I had hoped that the antiquing would be better here than in Kansas, but it was about the same. I did find a couple of vintage carved ivory bangles for just a few bucks, but that was all. We then crossed back over the border and headed back into Kansas towards Wichita, where we plan to hit a large antique mall. We camped at a beautiful state park in El Dorado, and the pictures you see attached are of the sunset over the lake. The funny thing about a long trip into uncharted territory is you never know WHO your are going to meet and WHEN you are going to meet them!

So there we are, in a virtually empty “off season” campground. We can have ANY site we want and have NO neighbors. so we pick this fab site right on the lake. We get all situated, pour a cocktail and start to cook dinner…..and then pulls up a pickup truck with a trailer and three men…..RIGHT NEXT TO US!!!! They basically threw up their their camp in about 15 minutes and then took off again….only to return with a boat on its trailer. THEN…they left again and returned wiht another boat and truck and country music blairing. It is at this point that we realize we are going to have to move our camp. Patty did not feel comfortable just MOVING 5 sites down as she felt it is NOT GOOD to piss people off in an unfamiliar state…Randy however wanted to just pull stakes and move. So, Patty went over and politely explained that we had been driving all day and needed to get to sleep so we were going to move and did not want to be rude.

Turns out they were just three good ol Kansas boys who had been out on the lake fishing all day and were ready to just have dinner and retire themselves so there was no need for us to move. And so We met them all and they were VERY nice. We had an extended conversation with a fellow named Todd. This guy is the QUINTISCENTIAL Kansas Farm Boy!!!! Very blonde hair, very tan, kind of a “cross-eyed thing” going on…and just downright sweet. He had MANY stories to tell us as we stood there in the moonlight sharing his Keystone beer and getting wolfed on by mosquitos…but it was so riveting that we didn’t care!!!

So here is the best story of them all. We talked about the Kansas tornados and Patty brought up the devastating twister that wiped out the entire town of Greenberg in 2007. She asked “how do you deal with such a terrifying force of nature. And Todd replied nonchalantly “Well, hell, you just climb down into the storm cellar” and patty asked “but what about your homes being ripped from their roots?” and he again replied so very matter of factly “That’s what the insurace is for!” as he laughed and swigged his Keystone beer. And then he added on that when the Greenberg twister hit….and mind you…..the Greenburg twister was a mile wide history maker……he had JUST been transferred to another jail for time spent on a DUI. And as he laughed VERY heartily he said that The jail he was transferred from had been leveled by the twister.

Okay, we just CANNOT make this shit up!!! LOL!!!! I ended up going off to bed while Randy spent an addtional hour chatting it up with his new best friend from Kansas…..So I guess Kansas wasn’t so bad afterall because really nice people can make it all worth the while!

Today, we hit a HUGE mall in Wichita and Patty ended up unearthing a few treasures before we then headed South to put Kansas in our REAR VIEW MIRROR for GOOD!!!!

There are quite a few Antique malls in greater Oklahoma City area that we will hit tomorrow before heading off to big “D” on Wednseday….(that would be Dallas!)

We are now just past two weeks into our trip and we have seen new territories, met new people…hell, we have even seen the confederate flag proudly flown from a residence in Southern Kansas….South Haven to be exact…..now what are the odds of that?

Stay tuned!!!!
P&R!!! Cheshire Antiques

Dealers

We spent our first night in an RV park near Farmington about 20 miles oustide the City. If you have ever been to Utah or KNOW anything about Utah, then you know that alcohol is basically “frowned” upon. In order to buy any kind of alcolhol, you must obtain a type of permit….I know, this is stuff that you cannot make up! So there we were in the jam-packed, “Family Oriented” RV park on Labor Day weekend with our beer and wine…which I might add was HARD EARNED after 9 hours on the road….and suddenly all surrounding eyes were upon us. Randy equated it to “The Stepford Wives” LOL!!! Geeze its not like we busted out the Everclear! And as we quietly sipped our drinks and ate our dinner oustide our camper at a picnic table, the children that were playing all around us when we first pulled in were suddenly wisked away and it got a whole lot more quiet but for a few adults sitting around chatting amongst themselves and glaring in our direction. We eventually just slunk away and hid in the camper till bedtime.

In the morning we headed into Salt Lake City to peruse the shops that WERE open….many were closed due to the holiday. For a first day, it was very good. Patty found some fab costume and Victorian jewelry, as well as a very collectable perfume bottle. The plan on this trip is to put some of these item up up for sale on the internet as we find them…..this way we keep the cash flowing and are able to keep buying without the worry of depleting the reserves.

So Patty has cleverly packed her computers and photographic equipment so that she can list while on the road. The photos below are of us at the campground in Farmington…which by the way is now EMPTY!!! Wooohoo!!!

By Tuesday night, Patty will have listed about 6 of the items she found today.

*BE SURE TO VIEW ATTACHED PHOTOS!!!

Stay Tuned as we are off to Provo on Tuesday!

Today was a sort of Down Day as we got checked into our campsite, did laundry, showered and I spent the afternoon and evening putting up e-bay listings,

And it then occured to me that what my friend Mary said was so true…..we are basically living the life of Gypsies right now! LOL!!!! We travel from town to town and state to state buying goods and then peddling them on the Internet…..not bad work if you can get it!

Tomorrow morning the fun begins again as we head down into the Denver Antique District where there are multiple shops to be scoured. On Saturday there is the Denver Antique Flea Market in the morning and then more shops in the surrounding Denver area. I am very optimistic that these next few days will likely be very profitable and accompanied by some good stories as well!

We spent our first night in an RV park near Farmington about 20 miles oustide the City. If you have ever been to Utah or KNOW anything about Utah, then you know that alcohol is basically “frowned” upon. In order to buy any kind of alcolhol, you must obtain a type of permit….I know, this is stuff that you cannot make up! So there we were in the jam-packed, “Family Oriented” RV park on Labor Day weekend with our beer and wine…which I might add was HARD EARNED after 9 hours on the road….and suddenly all surrounding eyes were upon us. Randy equated it to “The Stepford Wives” LOL!!! Geeze its not like we busted out the Everclear! And as we quietly sipped our drinks and ate our dinner oustide our camper at a picnic table, the children that were playing all around us when we first pulled in were suddenly wisked away and it got a whole lot more quiet but for a few adults sitting around chatting amongst themselves and glaring in our direction. We eventually just slunk away and hid in the camper till bedtime.

In the morning we headed into Salt Lake City to peruse the shops that WERE open….many were closed due to the holiday. For a first day, it was very good. Patty found some fab costume and Victorian jewelry, as well as a very collectable perfume bottle.

So Patty has cleverly packed her computers and photographic equipment so that she can list while on the road. The photos below are of us at the campground in Farmington…which by the way is now EMPTY!!! Wooohoo!!!

By Tuesday night, Patty will have listed about 6 of the items she found today.

Stay Tuned as we are off to Provo on Tuesday!