This week our daughter, Jennifer, and her 2 children (our grandchildren) Tyler and Emily came to visit from Southern California.  This trip had been planned for a few months and we were all looking forward to going to Yosemite National Park for sightseeing and some day hikes. 

Unfortunately, there is a major fire (Ferguson Fire) near Yosemite that has necessitated the closing of the park due to its proximity, the amount of smoke in the park,  and the need to keep the roads available for fire-fighters.

Our town is very small, without a lot of entertainment choices; so we needed to come up with a different plan to amuse ourselves. Tyler came to the rescue.  He suggested a competition in which we would visit the thrift stores in the neighboring town (Oakhurst, about 25 minutes away), and purchase an item that we thought was the “coolest thing we could buy for $5.”  My husband, Rick, (Grandpa!) would be the judge, and the winner didn’t have to help with dinner that night.

That sounded like a great plan, so we headed out. We visited several thrift stores, as well as a few antique stores scouring the shelves and trying to make the best choice. After all, there was a lot at stake here!

Jennifer selected a carved wooden pencil that said Yosemite on it. Emily picked out a metal storage box that resembled an old-time Ford truck. Tyler picked out a small vehicle. And I was able to buy 2 items for my $5: a white metal bucket and a vintage flour sifter.

The items also had to be something that Rick would use, or that we could give to someone that we know would like them.

When we got home we assembled all of the items on the counter. Rick looked and looked and finally made his choice – Emily’s metal storage box. She was pretty happy to be the winner.

Rick immediately put Jenn’s Yosemite pencil on his “Yosemite shelf,” Emily’s Ford truck in the library, and Tyler’s small vehicle in his car display cabinet.  

My bucket and metal sifter?  He said he knew I bought those the minute he saw them and while he thought they were interesting, he wouldn’t have picked them for himself.   I put the vintage flour sifter on our hoosier where I have other vintage kitchen items.  The bucket I’ll find something to do with. For now, it’s just sitting on the counter waiting for some inspiration to hit me.

In this day and age, when it is so easy to be caught up in all of the electronics available, the expensive theme parks, and all of the other entertainment opportunities out there, it was fun to just use our imagination and create our own fun.

If you ever have the opportunity to play this game, let us know how it turned out!