Bill Myers - November 2, 2008

My wife Sonya had been suggesting we take a long hike to enjoy the fall weather, so I surprised her by getting into the motorhome and driving her to Canton, Texas.

Canton is the setting for First Monday Trade Days, one of the largest flea market / swap meets in the US.

With 4,000 vendor stalls spread over several hundred acres, I figured we both could get plenty of exercise hiking the grounds. Plus, it would give me a chance to see what the 100,000+ visitors to Trade Days were buying.

After two days of walking through the vendor booths seeking hidden treasure, it became obvious that the second most popular item being offered at Canton was food (especially anything fried on a stick).

And the most popular item?

Electric shopping scooters - which rented for $50 a day.

People of all ages rented these scooters, and used them to travel from booth to booth.

I spoke to one of the people renting scooters, and he told me, 'no matter how many scooters we bring, the demand far exceeds the supply'.

Like the sign above his shop said, 'Why walk when you can ride?'

Which again proves you will never go broke making it too easy.

When we get home, I'll post photos from Canton Trade days at bmyers.com.