The Unearthed We6.... Literally.

Myself and my lovely soon to be wife share a common bond, well many. Abandoned things such as homes, barns, out buildings has brought a sence of childhood do our relationship. We adore the look of these places and some times we find great items. Some might see it as wrong, not getting permission to hunt these places but the places we stumble across and pick out burried treasures are forever forgotten. Before or after vandals have escaped their fun, we explore and mainly observe the decay and what used to be, nature has a way with the past if there's no one tending to these things, so we intend on tending to items from time to time. Our home base in Orland Park, Illinois has a lot of stories behind a great deal of the pieces we've uncovered this past year. They're little reminders, all across the house, each one telling a story.
The unearthed We6, like all the rest have a funny story of how they were brought into our home, well almost home. We're currently in a little retreat, a getaway of sorts, a small vacation that has lasted five days. Yesterday, we turned a relaxing day and retreat into back aches for days. Two days ago, we stumbled across a small home in the valley of a beautiful part of the country. Our abandoned spitty scences kicked in, we scoured the property for signs of established living but came up with the conclusion that no one dwelled in this home any longer. We hadn't entered this small, rundown home because it seemed the leftovers from whomever lived previously were recently abandoned (1yr or less) and hadn't had that "look" we like when finding true abandoned. The pick or possible finds would just be too easy. We decided to have a look around the peramiter of the small home, a line of trees and brush separating this from the neighbors is where we'd start. Four, collapsed, thrown together scrap wood sheds with used car parts, woodworking tools, lawn devices that had sunk two feet or more into the earth was where we started. Working our way back towards two camper, rv tops for pickup trucks was where we discovered some interesting finds. I only use the word interesting because of the thought process that went behind keeping whatever items were in these rv tops. The question that I kept asking myself was, what came first, the tops or the stuff? It later became clear that the tops were an afterthought, keeping these items out of the elements were of some concern and I'm glad that thought came into play.
The furthest rv top housed a Montgomery wards riding mower, the wheels were questionable, seeing as they weren't seen. Those rv tops have a door that allows you to enter from the bed of the truck, these are the doors we're using to see what's inside. Did they dig a hole first to allow clearence for all of this stuff, I asked...? Seriously, you couldn't see the wheels of this thing, burried up to blade. From behind the mower, the American, red and white symbol peered through the sliding glass window of the rv top, the We6 coca cola cooler was discovered.
We have in the past, pressed our luck so not making the same mistake twice, we decided to leave till we could make positive this wasn't still someone's property besides a bank, I don't care for banks. The following morning, 11:32 am: we enter the property once more, no traces of anyone entering from the stick I placed by the door, a quick glance inside, from outside, nothing. We move towards the rv tops.
My girlfriend is the best, I feel I should point this out here and anywhere I can, she already knows there things but you don't. When I get something on my mind, I can talk about for days, I love research. I love the adventure of these things we do. I love a great deal and I love a great find. When I can see a profit from something, I'll make that happen. This isn't for profit, the items we find together, stay together. Care in point, we'll, back story then care in point; I'm a part time furniture maker, a maker of a lot actually, not your typical builder. I make from scratch, design, sketch, draft, prototype. From there, if anyone is interested in a real product I'll make it. I seldomly make from salvage, I'm really great at it but it's not my focus any longer. I get more out of original designs more than anything and people seem to really enjoy that. I'm a restoration expert when it comes to classic cars, muscle and got rid builds but that's just a hobby for me. The hunts we go on is another, the deals I make on other furniture flips I find is another. I have too many hobbies to be honest but they all take me places.
The patience my future wife has with me is definitely something to write about, always wanting more from a find, she brings me to reality. I get a little tangled some times and she's a great balance for me. A few weeks back I wanted to go to this antique flea market I went to last year, it's an all night type of market, 4p.m. to 4a.m. and this year I've got an idea... I collect, I find, I trade, I barter. I have leftovers and I'm running out of room, the house is clean lines, a mix and match of era's but the flow is just right. I constantly being new items in and sell off the one's that filled a gap. The leftovers remaining this time, for perfectly stacked on a four wheeler cart I borrowed from the neighbor. Tetris comes at an all time high when I see the arrangement that needs to be, a wwii telescope, in box, with lenses and wooden tripod, Bausch and Lomb. A 1920's, wooden library cabinet, 16 drawers, 6 missing, Yawman and Erbe. New in box, circa 1973 turntable, built-in speakers, GE. Three straps, a for sale by owner sign up top, 45 minute drive and my booth on wheels has mixed feelings. Getting in for the price of any other person does seem a bit unfair to the vender but you can't hate the player, only the game. We've walked the entire outdoor market, slow and steady for myself but you could see the patience was running thin with the lady. Two hours into it, we bought a few items and threw them up top. While deciding what to eat and if we should just sit, our first sale, Record player gone.
We decide to eat and have a seat, setting up shop while doing so. People really showed interest in this thing we were doing, I'm sure it'll be banned next season. Four hours into the mix, we're both getting itchy, we still haven't seen what's inside the buildings, it's dark and we don't have flashlights like the other 1200 deal seakers. I feel like people just see us as big buyers, no one seems to be taking interest any longer. I get the idea to move closer to the outdoor light posts and shine Steve Jobs lantern on our things, we're back in business.
Cut this down a bit, we gave it one hour to sell the things on the cart, the last twenty minutes, everything sold. We shared a laugh, got pizza and played nice. This type of patience she has can only be measured by love for the other, she's the find of my life and I'm almost positive she knows it. It's really great when you can find someone that at least pretends to be into these things when you know they don't like doing them in the first place. I think the attention you can give someone trumps any type of bad taste from something you're only kinda into.
Yesterday, standing beside my lovely lady, in this thick brush, staring into the rear window of the rv top, wondering how the neck are we going to get this out?! I know my strength but I've never known hers till then. We decided it was best to both lift the top of the rv and push it over the cooler, with a standing tree in front, we just made it, the hardest part is not over. Along with the mower and it's unknown whereabout wheels, the cooler is also burried. We get some gloves, found items for digging and we jump right in. The option to rock this thing back and forth a bit becomes clear after I try and hulk it straight out, there's too much dirt packed away underneath. The side access door is taken off, the top dismantled and put to the side, we pry the beast up with a fence post near by and inch the cooler closer to the surface. I take a screw driver and break away the settled dirt inside the motor enclosed steel, draining it from a good 150 lbs we can now rock this cola machine up to the flat land. We now have the option of very little, or at the time seems this way.
The machine and its former domicile are pushed behind and I'm between trees and brush and the only exit is through it all. Defeat slowly sunk in but I know there's always a way better, my exact words were, "I'm gonna find a dolly." the impossible really, I'm still curious as to what my ladies thoughts were when I said that, I know she said something like, "okay" but how did she mean for that to come out? I have a good chance of finding something in one of the scrap wood sheds but even I know, that's highly unlikely. The second shed in, I see it, orange handles and it's holding the roof up, I take my chances through a small gap where there's no roof. Jimmy is something guys like to do, I'd really like to know where and how this expression took place but we definitely do, do it. I Jimmy the dolly out and show up with that and an ear to ear grin as she says, "are you fucking kidding me?!" her words, not mine. We laughed for a moment and rushed straight over to big red. Three tries, one we're out of this spot, two we just broke the rusted dolly bottom and three, just give it a different angle and she'll just sit, the forest opened its branches and we were on flat, level, green land. The smell of victory rushed through our veins. Next step, loading; my lady had already proven to be more than a super model, she was a super strength model now, from the rocking, prying, dolly pull and maneuver, to the sideways lift into her Tucson hatch which I have to clean, the burried, very dirt treasure was ours! The overall excitement for this hour long haul was at its end, seriously, only an hour.
I think the coolest part about this particular find is that she's going to help with its restoration, it was her idea, I love the fact that she wants to learn how to do something, there's some patch work to be done on the two inner lids, instead of ebaying this item, I'll teach her how to weld patches, body full them, prime, paint and clear. We'll media blast the chrome but 're chrome if need be. Our adventures together are one of a kind, the items we some times get are just a small token that really don't mean much when it comes down to possession, it's the variable that we both found in one another and I couldn't imagine doing any of this without her.
Till next time, we'll post our journey into the restoration but that won't be for a few months, I've got a few personal vehicles I'm building and we both work. Thanks for giving this a view and letting me tell a little story.