Some of the items available along US 40 during the National Road Yard Sale. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

By Ken Drenten

I recently traveled on US 40, the National Road, in Muskingum and Licking counties to visit a number of yard sales during the National Road Yard Sale week.

I saw a lot of vintage furniture, clothing, housewares, glassware, tools, toys, car parts and kitchen appliances. I saw an Arctic Cat four-wheeler (“Does Run”) offered for $1,000, antique clocks, vinyl records, DVDs and even the proverbial kitchen sink. One booth had nothing other than fishing rods, reels and lures.

It was a nice day to be outside. Our spring overall in Ohio has been rather rainy, stormy and gray. The day I went, skies were blue, clouds were fluffy white, a light breeze kept things cool and the grass and trees were the greenest they will be all year.

Driving on US 40 is usually a more peaceful alternative to the busy I-70 freeway. But during the week of the National Road Yard Sale, it’s a challenge.

A number of times, I drove along glancing at yard sales, considering whether it would be worthwhile to stop and if so where it would be safe to park. At the same time, the car ahead of me was doing the same thing, and another car was starting to pull out onto the road from another sale nearby. It’s a wonder there aren’t more road accidents during this week.

I would estimate that from Zanesville to Kirkersville there were at least 25-30 yard sales, many of them single-family sales and others obviously community-wide. I saw at least five times that number of signs posted along the road. These pointed the way to more yard and garage sales that were not located right on US 40.

I drove west from Zanesville along US 40 and turned around in Kirkersville, then on my way back eastward I stopped in Hebron. I missed a big yard sale just west of Jacksontown — I didn’t see the signs quickly enough. A few more miles down the road, I turned onto a segment of the old National Road in the Hopewell area and looked there.

I personally picked up only one yard sale treasure. It’s a toy football for $1 that I’ll keep in a backyard deck storage bin for when the grandkids come over.

You can see what I experienced in the new Traveling Ohio with Dusty Tires video linked in this article.

Ken Drenten is creator and editor of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

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