Base introduction

Sitting in the middle of Ethiopia with free time available at night and with internet access at hand I started looking for a unique piece of property to buy. The possibilities were limit less; tree houses, old churches, warehouses, school buildings, hangars and underground homes. That was this past August. Just about that time I stumbled upon an ebay auction that was featuring a 1960's Atlas F Missile Base for sale. I had never bought property before and had no prior experience with ebay. But was bound & determined to find something that was a renovation challenge and a place to call home. I started bidding and eventually there were 3 of us bidding up to the last minutes of the auction. I was one of the losers. A bit bummed out I started looking for something else. Found a US Government auction where they were trying to unload 4 offshore lighthouse located in Chesapeake Bay. The day I was to begin bidding the owner of the Missile Base emailed me and asked if I was still interested in the silo. A quick reply with my answer: HELL YES! Winning bidder could not come up with the cash in a timely manner. I flew back to the states in mid October. Dad and I got in his Lexus and drove from Columbus, Ohio to Champlain, New York to close the deal. Just before high noon on the 2nd day we arrived at the base whereupon I phoned the seller for our initial meeting & tour. Dad remained topside, I donned some hip wadder boots & we started our descent into the underground complex. Frame of main entrance door had been welded shut but 2 panels of door had been removed so we stooped & crawled through. We walked down a long concrete stairway corridor to a landing area which was submerged with 2 feet of water. Through 2 doors that were set in a series of L-turns. There are 2 blast doors for protection after the turns. Each door weighs about 2000 pounds. From the blast door vestibule there are metal stairs that take you even farther down. More with my next post.