Every year along the 690 mile stretch of roadway, some of which runs through Albany/Clinton County, yard sale enthusiast get their pocketbooks out and go on the hunt for the bargain of a lifetime.

This year, most local sales took place at the junction of U.S. Hwy. 127 and KY Hwy. 90, next to the newly constructed Dollar General Store.

One couple, Brenda Schultz and Ray Schultz, has been setting up at the 127 sale for 18 years and are looking forward to many more in the future.

In addition to selling their wares, one of the main objectives for the elderly couple is to have plenty of fun during the sale, and their chosen outfits on this particular day certainly proved that.

While he wore a t-shirt that depicted the rear of his pants falling a little “too low”, her oversized shirt included a print of a bikini clad girl.

“Some one from out east got him that shirt and the women just follow him around. So someone got me this shirt and we wear it once a year together,” Schultz said. “Stuff is getting harder to sell. They want that low price we had 17 years ago, but we have fun.”

Brenda Schultz said one of the best things about the sale is meeting people.

“It kind of disappointed us when we had to move and we didn’t know it until we got here, but it’s okay,” Schultz said. “We have had a ball and we have met so many nice people. People from all over. We had one group from Guatemala to come and get bicycles.”

“We’ve had many years and had many friends,” Ray Schultz said. “They know ya and they come looking for ya.”

Both Brenda and Ray said this is the only sale they participate in all year.

“We don’t go back with anything. We have a auctioneer friend of ours and whatever we have left we give it to him and he sells it for us,” Brenda Schultz said. “We start over every year. It’s a lot of fun. If the sun is with us we will be here next year.”

Tammy Culp is in her eighth year working at the 127 Sale and shared a tent with the Schultzs.

“We are normally on the other side of the road, but this year they moved us to this side of the road,” Culp said. “We came on Saturday and I think it’s off to a pretty good start. There seems to be more vendors in the front than what I remember in the past. I think people are looking for things they can re-purpose. We have a lot of glassware, outdoor buckets and we have a sleigh. I’m selling my entire inventory. We aren’t coming back next year.”

Culp said if someone wanted to buy her entire inventory then she would sell it all.

“If someone wanted to get a good start on next year then we are selling our entire inventory,” Culp said. “It’s hot. I think it started out a little slower, but it’s picking up.”

Another epicenter in Clinton County is at the Mountain View Roadside Park.

Park Director Bobby Reneau uses the 127 Sale as one of the biggest fundrasiers for the park.

“We were down a little bit on booths, but we had the traffic,” Reneau said. “There were several vendors who have already said they are coming back next year and a couple of them said they wanted an extra booth for next year.”

Despite the hot temperatures, Reneau said the parking lot was full most of the time.

“I don’t think the weather hurt us. It rained everyday, but all but one shower came at the end of the day when most of the booths were shutting down anyways. One shower came in the middle of the day, but it didn’t last very long.”

Reneau said despite being down with booth rentals he felt it was a productive weekend overall.

“I don’t know what to do about getting more booths here,” Reneau said. “You can’t make them come and set up. The ones who were here seemed to be well pleased. I think it went good. We were just down a few booths.”

The 690-mile yard sale extends from Hudson, Michigan to Gadsden, Alabama. Headquarters for the event is at the Fentress County Chamber of Commerce in Jamestown, Tennessee.