Road Dog first pick of the block Mississippi

Yesterday was the first pick of the block. The first pick of the block really sets the tone for the entire two weeks on the road.

I woke up refreshed, confident, feeling good and strong about getting to work. The only drawback was this ridiculous acid reflux I seem to be getting all the time lately, am I just getting old? So I’m trying to focus on changing how I eat and auto correcting in the process of traveling. My manager Haley was kind enough to go out and buy some groceries so I don’t have to eat road food. There is rarely much nutrition value in road food and it’s usually pretty high in fat and sodium and right now my body is just not digesting those things well. But that’s really a sidenote to everything else. Other than that I’m feeling good.

Haley and I left the hotel at about 8 AM, maybe slightly later, we got lost a couple times on our way to the pick which isn’t exactly unreasonable since none of us have ever been to any of these places before, it can be a little bit difficult to find where we’re going to some days. We pulled up on sat and immediately ran into John, the householder we were picking from with the rest of the crew. We looked through his two large storage units and there was plenty to Peru’s! Both storage units were really packed with incredible high-end vintage. It was so damn cool to be able to walk into a pic and know that we had hit the honey hole right off the bat.

I can’t go into too much detail about what we picked because you will see it on the show but I am going to tell you that I was able to find a really beautiful early black and yellow John Deere advertisement piece for my son who is currently working at John Deere as a welder. That was his dream job. He had always talked about working at John Deere since he was a little boy. Both of his grandfathers and his grandmother all our long-standing employees of deer who have really worked their way up and he is so proud and happy and excited to join them.

I also found this really beautiful porcelain sign that is small but mighty. It’s white porcelain with black lettering that reads “Clinton”. I grew up in Clinton Iowa so it was kind of exciting to see that, I picked that for my sister Annie who still lives in Clinton. I’ll send it to her as a gift, don’t tell it’ll be our secret 🤫

When we stopped down for lunch, I found some cute little surprises. Zachary‘s diner had sent a nice little note on my box and sent me a cute little T-shirt from their establishment. It was a sweet little surprise yesterday and so welcomed!

It was a long packed day! Our crew did not get back until really late to the hotel because the load up and exit interviews lasted quite a while. But on the upside we got some really good vintage! I think it’s gonna be a super exciting episode and I think that this pic alone is going to fill an entire episode. I cannot wait for you to see it!

Robbie was so wonderful to work with all day, he always is though. I always love working with him. He always brings a lot of heart and energy, a protective presence, a lighthearted air, always a hug or a kind word if you need one, always full of positive energy. I think it’s really cool that I get to work beside him and see his interaction with other people, he was actually in control of this pic! It was such an uncomfortable feeling to not be the one giving the lead, to not be the one in control of where we’re going, it really gave me an eye-opening experience to let the guys feel when I’m always the one that’s in control. It was a little bit anxiety inducing and quite comedic all at the same time. I actually really liked it! I got to just kick back and pick and not worry about all of the details. It was actually quite refreshing. It’s pretty cool when you can work with somebody and know that they’re in control and trust that they’re going to pull through and trust that they’re going to treat you fairly. Good job Robbie! I’m happy to give up a little bit of control to you. What a beautiful day you created for us!

Towards the end of the day, the EMT arrived to take our nose swab Covid tests. We take spit tests and nose swab tests about every other day while we are on the road. So do the entire crew and anybody we are working with. Anybody within their household is tested and anybody who they are in contact with within the last 3 days. I still am incredibly careful about how close I get to anybody since we have to work mask free but, it’s nice to know that production is doing its best to keep us safe in the process. I think that everybody is really thankful for this on the crew and the people we run into on the road while picking. The set is pretty locked down, if somebody comes on the set that has not been tested, somebody wanders in from the street, somebody’s just curious and wants to say hi, somebody wants an autograph etc. I pretty much just go hide in the RV until they leave because I have such a hard time telling people no. That way I avoid any tough interaction and I don’t put anybody else at risk be it on the crew or the persons we are picking from. It is difficult though, you do want to say hi to people, you do want to make them smile and give them acknowledgment but at this time in history it’s just not the right time for that.

I Haley and I had a really great drive from the pick back to the hotel, we laughed our asses off the entire way! I love those days. Those days when you just get each other going and keep on laughing until your stomach hurts. Those are the days! Those are the moments!💗

Once we got to the hotel, we made a beeline for our rooms and brought up all of the groceries. It was so exciting! I got to go through all of the good food that Haley purchased for us so that we don’t have to put ourselves at risk by eating out at restaurants and it was delicious! I also took some Prevacid for my ridiculous acid reflux which made it a possible for me to sleep through the night which was so desperately needed. So it looks like everything‘s coming up Milhouse!

we’ll see what today brings.

Have you ever been out picking? Have you ever wondered what it’s like? Do you have any specific questions about the pics?