Great US HWY 36 Treasure Hunt Across Kansas

What a busy weekend but oh, what fun!

A friend asked me if I was interested in riding along with her and 3 others to the Great US Highway 36 Treasure Hunt across Kansas on Friday. Of course I said yes and was it a blast! The gals picked me up a little before 7 am that morning and the 5 of us headed west then south towards Norton our first town to search the many many vendors set up around town for antiques, flea market stuff and plain old garage sale finds. We could have spent the entire day just in Norton as there were over 50 different vendors in that town alone. After lunch sometime we left Norton and stopped at quite a few more on our travels east. By the time we were at Smith Center most of them were closed for the evening. I didn't have anything particular I was looking for but ended up with quite a few items and didn't spend much money in the process. It was fun to dicker for the best price and often times a very low price was arrived at. http://www.ushwy36.com/treasure.htm

I purchased this sewing basket and the contents for only $2 but didn't know for sure what was in it until the ride home. Discovered a small antique sewing kit worth much more than the $2 I paid for everything and was thrilled as I have a small collection of those old sewing kits of different varieties. Everything was there except the metal cap to hold needles in the little thread holder.

I decided to also keep a look out for pretty silver pieces of tableware. I was excited to find these pieces and used a little silver cleaner/polish on them as soon as I got home that night - which by the way was almost 10 pm. The two center cake servers are not old and probably don't have much silver in them even though they were tarnished but thought they were pretty. I think the other pieces I bought are old though. I didn't pay over a $1 for any piece and several of them were only $.50 or $.25 so got a real deal.

I just love different shapes and sizes of small glass dishes and relish trays and purchased these two plus got really good deals on the two sets of salt and pepper shakers. I have a collection of salt and pepper shakers that are fun to use when I have company - everyone gets their own set. Our grand kids just love to help set the table when they are here and decide who gets which set of shakers. Sometime I will photograph and show you the rest of the salt and pepper shakers in my collection.

Well that took care of Friday now on to Saturday. The saddle club we belong to sponsored a trail ride along the river and pastures making a big circle from the little town of Oak and back - think it is a 15 to 17 mile ride so it takes several hours. To answer your next question - No I do not ride.

I do however help with registration at trail rides and generally just socialize at the monthly meetings. We had 103 riders register yesterday and for the most part my husband reported everyone got along fine.

I helped serve the dinner for all the riders at a pasture along the way at noon and after the drawings were held my husband made me crawl up on the trailer they were using and presented me with a large decorated cake for my birthday. Of course he announced how old I was and made the entire group sing happy birthday to me. (Most of whom I didn't even know, nor did he - how embarrassing.) I cut the cake and shared it with everyone that wanted some but still brought about 1/3 of it home. I am not sure how he kept the cake a secret from me as he purchased it in Hastings 3 days before and had kept it in one of our freezers then sneaked it out that morning to his pickup.

After the trail ride we sat around Oak that evening and visited and had supper in the local restaurant/tavern. It is such a tiny town one guy even had his pickup parked in the middle of the street and some people were sitting on the tail gate and any vehicles that came up the street just went around. We had lawn chairs sitting on the street too and it was not a problem. It was such a pleasant evening and everyone enjoyed discussing the ride and resting a bit I believe. Was a nice way to spend my birthday I guess!

Got my sewing table cleaned off ths afternoon so maybe tomorrow I can sew a little. Don't know how it gets loaded down with all kinds of stuff but it happens so quickly I have to be diligent and unload it periodically.

Until Later.....Lynn