Geocaching in Merrillville Indiana

Last weekend we took a road trip to Merrillville, Indiana to go geocaching.  My mom had heard about a cool geocache on one of the geocaching FB pages, so I looked it up and planned the day around that geocache.  Mom and dad joined us and we took off at 7:00am.   First things first, so we stopped at Cracker Barrel and dad bought us a hearty breakfast.  Thanks Dad!

I'm not going to give out the cache names because I want to show some of the cute and creative caches we did.  The first cache was near a wind turbine.  This was the first time I've gotten up close and personal with one.

We always enjoy caches that take us near war memorials....

Can you spot the cache?

How's that for a big banana??

This was one of my favorite caches of the day - it was very well built....

R2D2?

This cache was named after Gilbert Gottfried....

Another cute bird house cache by the same people who did the other birdhouse cache...

Mr. Potato Head takes on a whole new meaning....

Pigeon with a cache....

Along the way we stopped at Albanese Candy Factory.   I've driven past this place before but never stopped so we made a detour so we could each grab a bag of candy....

We spent quite a bit of time here looking at all the goodies....

And finally my favorite cache of the day - a really nicely done cache at Chicagoland Popcorn.

This was the cache my mom had heard about and it was an immediate favorite for us....

Afterwards we went inside to check out the huge variety of popcorn flavors.  You could sample any flavors that you wanted....

I picked caramel sea salt popcorn and Louie got the cheese popcorn.  We brought a bag of chocolate covered popcorn back for Chablis.

We ended up getting 20 geocaches in about 5 hours, as well as stopping at the candy store and the popcorn place.  I'd say it was a pretty good day!

Estate Sales 7-27-2015

The estate sale pickin's were a tad slow this week.  I didn't get much but I'll show you what we did pick up....

A cute little chest that will get repurposed - love the hardware on it, don't you?

A vintage bait box that I may use for decoration at the lake house or I may sell.  I'm  not sure yet.  The fish basket is for my boat because I just broke my old one.

This tray is even better in person - the green is bright and vibrant and I loved the graphics with just the right amount of rusty goodness coming through....

My favorite buy of the day was the vintage Woodland Picnic jug - I've actually never seen one like this before.   It cleaned up great and is headed for my shop....

Louie bought the Sketchers gym shoes for me to re-sell.  Brand new, in the box - size 7 1/2 women's in case anyone is interested.  Otherwise they are headed to Ebay sometime this week....

That's it for this weeks sales.  We spent Saturday geocaching with my parents in Indiana, so we have a post coming up on that.  See you later!

Thrift It, Gift It, Facelift It

How many of you know Tania from over at the Little Vintage Cottage?   If you aren't familiar with her or her blog, go over and check  her out - she's the queen of thrifting and remodeling and she does some awesome things.  Anyway, a couple weeks ago she invited me to participate in a Thrift it, Gift it, Facelift it challenge - say that 3 times real fast!!  

There are 6 of us participating. A couple of the bloggers I already knew and a few I didn't, so it was a good chance to meet some fun new people and swap some stuff.  Here's the list of characters....

Vicky - Life on Willie Mae Lane - http://lifeonwilliemaelane.blogspot.com/

Kimberley - Seaside Ave. - http://www.seasideave.com/

Donna - Distressed Donna Down Home - http://distresseddonnadownhome.blogspot.com/

Cecilia - The B Farm - http://www.thebfarm.blogspot.com/

Tania - Little Vintage Cottage - http://littlevintagecottage.blogspot.com/

Kim - Snug Harbor Bay - http://snugharborbay.blogspot.com/

So today I got my gift from Vicky from over at Life on Willie Mae Lane and here's what was inside....

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this yet - it's a creamy white color and made of yarn.  I'm still spinning ideas on this - no wait, I think I just had an idea!!

Hmm..... no idea for this yet either but I like the brassy finish on it....

Candle stick holder and a pedestal base.   I have 2 ideas....

Drawer pull that I already know what I'm doing with....

10 little silver tart tins - so cute and dainty.   I'm working on an idea....

Love the silver plated cake server.   I definitely know what I'm doing with this!

And my favorite piece is the cloche - ok, I know it's probably really called a cheese server, but I've always wanted a cloche, so I'm calling it that.  My gift, so I can call it whatever I want.  LOL!  I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to do with this too.

We all have a couple of weeks to work on our Facelifts and then we'll all be back to share what we've come up with.  So stay tuned!

Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Geocaching

Last month when my parents were visiting us at the lake, I wanted to take them to see the Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Toyland.  Chablis and I had been there before and I did a blog post about it here.  It's hard to believe that was almost 2 years ago already.  As an extra added bonus, there's a geocache hidden there now too.

There is so much to see here and if you come, be sure to allow yourself at least an hour to walk around and explore....

Mom and dad struck up a friendly conversation with this guy....

We made a beeline for the geocache - first things first, right??

The last time we were here I got a guided tour from Keith, who owns the place and has a long history with this property.  This time, we got the tour from Keith's daughter Brooke, who is just as cute as a button and sweet as can be.

The store has been here for years and originally belonged to Keith's grand parents

Inside the store we met Keith's wife - Dianne.  She's a fountain of information and was so enthusiastic about sharing everything with us.

Honestly, I could spend an hour inside the store alone.  There is so much to see and touch..

If you're in the Kentucky Lake area, be sure to book mark some time to visit Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden located at   9351 US HWY 68 W.
                    Paducah/Calvert City, KY 42029  
                               (270) 366-2301 
Here's the link to their website and  FB page.  Open from 8 am to 8 pm.