A blast of November weather in late April could not cool bargain hunters' desire to comb Dubuque streets in the early hours of a Saturday morning.
Despite a brisk, biting breeze, there seemed to be a blitz on the stacks of clothes, housewares and other knickknacks -- just about everything flying off the tables.
Low temperatures seemed to translate into even lower prices as homes across Dubuque opened their garage doors for the 15th Annual Community Wide Garage Sale.
As time dwindled and items started to disappear at Catherine VanPaemel's garage sale, it appeared as though this year's event was a great success.
Although it was the big-ticket items that raked in the majority of the money for VanPaemel, the toys were what held the greatest value for her 4-year-old daughter, Gabby.
"She's been garage saling all of her life," Catherine said.
While Catherine was preparing for the sale, Gabby decided to be her mom's biggest helper and priced some of her own belongings. One of those items was a Pocahontas figurine that she tagged for a cool $10.
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Even though they were old toys, Saturday's garage sale breathed new life into some of them for the 4-year-old. And after several trips from the garage to the mailbox, it was clear what an enraptured Gabby was doing: stashing away a treasure trove of her own.
"Somehow getting them out of the house and into the garage makes them new and more fun," Catherine said.
The VanPaemel's garage sale was scheduled to start at 8 a.m., but an early bird came calling nearly two hours before to get an inside scoop on all the deals.
"Calling at 6:15 in the morning was a little early," Catherine confessed.
Other than the early wake-up call and the less-than-favorable weather, the garage sale at 3839 Aurora St. went off without a hitch.
What was left after noon and whatever Gabby was unable to fit into the mailbox was donated to Goodwill.
"When we're done, it's not coming back," said Deb Peterson, Catherine's best friend.
Peterson came all the way from west of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for the annual event, sponsored by Dupaco Community Credit Union; KAT FM, KDTH, WVRE and KGRR Radio; and The Dubuque Advertiser.
Stopping by the VanPaemel's garage sale, Lisa Graff, her aunt, Mary Mills, and her daughter, Shantelle, 7, were in the midst of their laid-back shopping adventure.
"We are just leisurely enjoying the Saturday," Lisa said. "We started to map out our day, but then we decided to just wing it."
Shantelle spent the day learning how to spend and handle money as well as negotiate.
"She's a pretty good negotiator," her mom said.
Already having visited about 10 garage sales, Shantelle's favorite item of the day was a stuffed kitten she purchased for just a quarter.
The group planned to stop by another four or five garage sales before they went out to lunch together.
"The best part of shopping is spending the day with the girls," Lisa said. "Plus you get the shopping bug out of you."
