Trailers

Thirty years ago, my grandparents packed up their household goods and various collections of antiques onto two 53-foot trailers and one 40-foot moving van, and then parked the trailers and truck behind my dad's shop. Their plan was to find a perfect place to live and open up an antique business. The plan never reached fruition and my grandparents passed away several years ago.

I never understood why my dad didn't want to empty the contents of the trailers, find the family photos that were stored on them, and sell anything he didn't want to keep. I now understand completely why he avoided dealing with the trailers all these years.

As the Administratrix of my father's estate, I've been forced to take care of the trailers, no more procrastination, no more avoidance. Due to a number of reasons, the trailer project began in December.

We had no idea what we were getting into. There was actually some talk of getting the trailers unloaded in five days or so. We took time off from work and scheduled a four-day block of time in which to unload the contents of the trailers and relocate them to a warehouse on the other side of town.


Day One

The small truck.

Day one was full of surprises and frustrations. We found some awesome furniture on the small truck. We discovered that my grandfather had a supreme talent for packing as much stuff onto a truck as is physically possible. We began to rethink how much time the project would take.

Day One, when we thought it made sense to unload into a staging area.

As the Administratrix for the estate, I have to create an inventory of the trailer contents for the probate court. I had planned to inventory everything as it came off the trailers. I quickly abandoned that plan. The inventory will be created after we get everything to the warehouse, match up legs to tables, unpack all the boxes, and organize the various bits and pieces.

A chair in need of repair.

Day Two


On day two, it snowed. I've since become adept at judging weather forecasts. We can't unload the trailers during snowstorms, but we have to reserve the truck and crew a week in advance. Tricky.

Fortunately, on the first day we transferred a large number of boxes to the warehouse, so we had the crew unpack the boxes while it snowed outside. The warehouse space happened to come equipped with shelves, which filled up quickly.

Books! Books on gardening, on antiques, on old houses.
Cook books, mystery novels, and nature guides.

Days Three and Four

When my grandfather parked the trailers behind my dad's shop thirty years ago, he left them in an open lot. Since then, trees have grown up all around them. It's lovely, but raises challenges.

Also challenging was the snow on the ground. It wasn't deep, but it was slippery.

The solution to the slick snow was found on the trailers: moving blankets create a surface with enough traction for carrying furniture. They also helped keep the crew's feet from slipping on the rental truck's ramp.

Our first look at the white trailer. As we would discover, many of the contents suffered water damage over the years. Most of the damage is surface: mildew and warped veneer. A few pieces of furniture were rotted out from water damage. The trailer was designed with small skylights, which unfortunately leaked.

Unloading the trailers was a little like working on a Jenga puzzle, trying to figure out how all the pieces are interwoven, deciding which thing to take out first.

By the end of our four-day project, we realized that it was actually more of a ten-day project. Two months later, we are finally closing in on finishing the job. We've lost time to the many snowstorms this winter, and we lost some time when we needed to take my father's things from his house to the warehouse. If all goes well, we might actually finish this weekend. Here's hoping!