[unklernie]

I had parked my travel trailer at a public campground about 3 miles from the homestead. I went to the local town and visited the diner there for breakfast looking for information from locals. Since I was from out of the area I had to start out slowly but was able to gain the trust of a few of the diners after revealing that I was in the market to purchase antiques. Which was not a total lie because collecting old farming tools is another of my hobbies. After small town folk find you may have money to buy their junk, they usually come around. I was able to find out that the farmer who was working the ground for the trust was in Texas for the winter, and that the old farmhouse was going to be knocked down in a few months after the crops were planted. Since it was late winter, it seemed time was on my side.

I pull my camper with a large white van, something that you may see a plumber or contractor use, not exactly new, not exactly old. No name painted on the side of course. Knowing the farmer was not around meant access to the homestead was unlimited, and by having his name I could easily lie to any "do-gooder" confronting me there that I was working on the homestead to remove usable items before it was razed. Perfect.

Early on the third day in the area I pulled my van into the metal building and slid closed the door. The old home had a basement with access from an outside locked stairway. This is real common as these old homes were not originally built with basements, they were added later along with the access. A medium pair of bolt cutters removed the padlock and I walked down the steps. The basement was small and did not go completely under the home, it stretched form the front door area to the kitchen but did not extend under the bedrooms. A rather modern boiler which after a quick look revealed it was equipped for propane and could possibly be fired for heat. I have an extensive selection of tools and devices in the van and a spare propane tank and after a bit of fitting up I had the basement nicely heated. I turned off the valves to the rest of the home, no need to heat upstairs.

No electricity here, all my power tools run on battery, but for lighting I brought in a pair of deep cycle 12 volt batteries and some low draw LED lights. A solar charger placed outside, hidden by bushes will keep them topped off while I work. Ah yes the work. It seems the front half of the basement directly under the front entry way was never finished and the floor was packed dirt. Perfect for my purposes. Using a skil saw I cut and notched the joists under the front door entry just inside the home. From upstairs I cut the floorboards and hid the evidence with an old dingy rug. Back downstairs I put in 2 heavy pin latches with cables on each end, then 4 heavy spring loaded hinges on the other side. Made the appropriate cuts, stood back and pulled the cabled pins. Trotting back upstairs I dropped a 80 lb bag of redi-mix concrete on the entry-way floor. The floor was now a door, it dropped, the bag and the old rug fell through and then the door sprang back up. Again Perfect.

That evening I did a little blogging on a ghost watcher website just to set the second trap of the day...stay tuned