Today we headed to REI’s quarterly Garage Sale event, eager as always to indulge our inner consumer while upholding our outer austerity. Sure, we may walk out of REI with our arms overladen with outdoor gear, but everything had been previously purchased by other spendthrift shoppers and found inadequate enough to return to REI, who then tagged each item with a drastically reduced price and an explanation for the return:
On a Marmot Parka: “Customer says the neck is too tight.”
On a pair of chunky Dansko Mary Janes: “Customer says the heels feel squishy.”
On a DVD on how to deter bear attacks: “DVD was loose in the case and has scratches. And, customer was attacked by a bear anyway.”
Thanks to our willing to show up an hour early and wait in line with other Garage Sale enthusiasts — some of whom drive a reverse pilgrimage from the mountains of New Hampshire and Maine to Boston metro– we’ve done pretty well at the previous two REI Garage Sales. Our inventory of skis now includes backcountry skis, alpine skis, and cross-country skis, mostly retired rental gear at drastically reduced prices. As we waited in line this morning, we discussed other needs and wants. The gear that will be available at a REI Garage sale is a mystery beforehand, but Mr. P longed to buy a new hiking pack, and I fancied some cooking gear for camping. We agreed that the last thing we needed were more skis.
But wouldn’t you know? REI’s doors open at 10am and the first thing we see when we rush into the store are telemark skis — the one type of ski that we don’t have. Before we knew it, we were grabbing skis and pulling on telemark boots amid a frenzy of other excited would-be telemarkers.
We each ended up with K2 Super Stinx telemark skis and boots for $80, a steal. Now, to learn how to telemark ski…
