Dispatch From the World's Longest Yard Sale
Tales from the road
I am currently on the road, knee-deep in junk amid days scouring the southeastern U.S. for the 127 Yard Sale. I’ve dreamed of going to this sale for years and I finally made it happen.
The 127 Yard Sale is a series of just that — yard sales — from hundreds of vendors, stretching six states and 690 miles. My best friend Brittany and I took off a few days ago, driving first to Atlanta to pick up a Mazda CX-50 that the brand so graciously lent me for the adventure. The car is amazing. It drives so smoothly, connects wirelessly to your phone (so you can easily navigate and listen to tunes), and it’s got lots of cargo space for treasures we find along the way.
We’ve taken the Mazda through Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, crossing time zones four times as we zig-zag across the states, looking for sales.
We are having a blast. And if you don’t already, I highly encourage you to follow my TikTok, because I’ve been cataloguing the adventure there quite fully.
Next week, I’ll share everything we saw (and bought!) but this week, it’s all about the little details that make a road trip so special: what we’ve been eating, listening to, and doing to keep ourselves entertained. And all the tools that have come in handy along the way.
The Snacks We’ve Been Eating
Jerky: I’ve been eating mostly plant-based in recent weeks but on a road trip, I will absolutely indulge. We tried to keep our car snacks healthy, getting protein from Chomps beef sticks and Vacadillos air-dried, chili-lime beef.
Bars: We stuck to That’s It fruit bars and RX chocolate and peanut butter bars.
Water packets: To add to water, we stocked up on Gymbiotika’s citrus-vanilla vitamin C and Acaí+ packets. This kept our immune systems and our energy up, and ensured we were well hydrated.
There are, however, occasional detours, and when you’re in middle-of-nowhere, America, there are likely still fast-food standbys available. Below are my personal favorite road trip fast-food orders:
Buccee’s breakfast tacos and Beaver chips. The breakfast tacos with potato and bacon are absolutely delicious, to be honest. As are the Beaver chips, which are just homemade potato chips served in a little brown paper bag. The candied nuts are also insane but I will take down the entire sleeve so I have to watch myself.
Taco Bell’s cheesy bean and rice burrito. No notes.
Chick-fil-A’s kale crunch salad. This is undoubtedly the healthiest fast-food order you can get. It’s literally just kale, cabbage, and a light vinaigrette dressing, with a packet of crushed almonds for crunch. It’s delicious and doesn’t make me feel like I ingested a bomb (add the grilled nuggets if you want more protein without the trans fat).
Cookout’s banana-fudge milkshake. I am sure this has a week’s worth of calories but gosh is it good.
I am not really a McDonald’s girlie but I will admit to eating a lot of Filet-o-Fish sandwiches in high school (I was a pescatarian and when groups of us would go late-night, that was my order). Get extra tartar sauce, add pickles, and also order a soft-serve with hot fudge and a single packet of iodized salt to sprinkle on top (trust me on this…it creates that whole salty-sweet combo that’s rich and delicious).
Would love to hear from you all… what are your road trip faves? Any songs I should add to the playlist? Or snacks I should stock up on? Secret fast-food items you think are worth the order?