Zach and Oliver's Adventures

Street art in Rockford IL

2012-09-13T10:42:00.001-07:00

Saw this on the way to lunch

Fallen Lights in Chanute Air Force Base.

2012-09-06T11:44:00.003-07:00

Beautiful City isn't it?

2012-08-28T13:49:00.001-07:00

Tripods do help!

2012-07-24T13:54:00.001-07:00

Rooftop Exploring.

2012-07-22T15:33:00.002-07:00

I went with some people who also share a love of urbanex. But tonight we decided to do something a little different. We wanted to go up to the roof. We climbed up through an abandoned parking garage, keeping extra quiet to not wake the sleeping homeless that were sleeping there. When we got to the roof we climbed up the ladder to the first rooftop. After walking around for a couple of minutes, we found an adjoining building also had a fire escape that went up another 6 stories or so. We jumped the small gap (but being up about 6 stories already it seemed like the Grand Canyon) to a staircase. We climbed up the stairs and then the last story had a ladder going to the roof. The town was like a different world... seeing everything with a birds-eye view gave me a new appreciation of the city that we live it. We will be going back tonight for better pictures with my new tripod.

Started out a bit blurry :/

This is from the roof of the first building.

Then these are from the top of the second building. The last two pictures are after we had come back down. That was the final destination.

The ladder on the right is what we used to get up to the top.

Strip Mall in Decatur

2012-06-18T20:20:00.001-07:00

This strip mall is in Decatur IL along Water street right behind the Culvers that I work at. It has been closed for awhile but still in decent condition.

Chanute Air Force Base Final Part

2012-06-16T08:55:00.001-07:00

Here are the last photos of the base, these include some storage buildings and even a sports center. Of course we also have the TV and video rental store, along with the attached restaurant.

Chanute Air Force Base Part 2

2012-06-15T08:35:00.001-07:00

These are the last photos of White Hall, they are the second story and the courtyard. The third floor was dripping white mold looking liquid, so we avoided that area. Next up are some more buildings around the base.

Chanute Air Force Base Part 1

2012-06-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

This area is going to be broken up into pieces because of the sheer number of pictures taken. The first few that we am going to upload are from White Hall. This place was very interesting, and probably very dangerous. There was a white somethings dripping from the ceiling and the outer walls looked to be bleeding the stuff from the inside out. Getting here was easy and so was finding our way around. We hope you enjoy these first few pictures.

Coming up is more from White Hall and inside the courtyard. The smell of musk was almost overwhelming in places, if you ever go here we could recommend wearing a face mask or bandanna to help cut into the smell.
Make sure to follow us to stay updated on our next pictures!

Chanute Air Force Base

2012-06-12T21:41:00.004-07:00

Preparations have been made and we are all ready to go. I also added a follow gadget in the left hand side above the ad so you can follow us now, you can also follow us on Twitter. Donations for gas money are in the right hand side now. I hope you guys are ready for some great pictures from this air force base!

-Z&O

Smith and Wesson Border Guard Knife Video Review

2012-06-12T13:20:00.001-07:00

Here is the short review of the Smith and Wesson Border Guard knife. (SWBG for short) This knife is very well made and holds nice in the hand, especially for Zach because of his bigger hands. The blade comes very sharp right out of the box and cuts very well. The serrated edge also saws well although I have not tested it's rigorousness yet. The plastic grip is a bit disappointing but not a deal breaker for me, although other reviews say that it will eat through your pocket if used in there to much. With it being so bottom heavy your swings will not chop as easily as other knifes but then again that isn't the intended purpose. The seat-belt cutter is a razor blade sharp hidden behind in its own area, but small fingers can still make it in there so watch the kids around this knife. Overall I feel like it is good, and will be a valued part of our collection. If you wish to purchase this knife please use the link below and a portion of the sale will go to us for gas money and for purchasing other supplies.

Abandoned Shipping Building

2012-06-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

We went off a tip from a friend to check out this place by K-Mart in Decatur. From the road it is very hard to see and easily dismissed but if you get up close and personal with the building it is quite nice looking. The graffiti on the backside of the building is quite interesting and some of it is very artful and well done. Obviously there are the token penis, cuss words, ect ect, but some of it is nice in its own way. On the inside it is trashed. Period. There is insulation and glass everywhere. We go into the building from an unlocked door on the backside and start out in a long hallway which has a few offices in front of it. Past the hallway we enter the main room, where all the shipping would have taken place. Now it is simply full of trash with a few gems hidden in the rubble. Monopoly money is scattered on one side of the room, and voided checks with account number and everything are in a pile in the middle. There was also a sonogram of somebody's baby and school pictures. Baby furniture also was piled up along the wall with the Monopoly money. There where beer bottles and other cans everywhere in the room as it looked nice and partied in. Definitely not a place that you want to go if you are looking for a mint condition find. Full album here.

Going off to Chanute Air Force Base tomorrow. Follow us on Twitter for up to date information!

-Z&O

Abandoned car in rural IL

2012-06-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

We found this car out by the other farm houses that we have posted earlier. We can't tell what kind of car it is so if you have any idea please leave it in a comment below. On Wednesday we are going to Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul. We are really excited for this trip and will probably break up the posts into several different posts, we plan to take many, many pictures. Follow us on Twitter to get up to the minute information on our trips, stay tuned!

These were found in a shed near the car, the trophy was standing like that when we found it.

Follow us on Twitter!

2012-06-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

We made a Twitter account and set it up for our blog! Now you can follow us and be first in line for updated posts and even get previews before anything else gets posted, just go here to follow us.

-Z&O

Best farm yet! High res photos inside

2012-06-11T06:21:00.000-07:00

We found this farm while out with our friend Colton one night. We really liked it so we invited our photographer friend Michelle Stephens to see if she wanted to do a photo shot there. The results are incredible.

We are tossing around a few ideas for what big place to do next, Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Il sounds really good, but we would need to raise a bit of gas money first. On the way we could go to a few places in Champaign though so that would be nice and convenient. Any ideas comment them below, and gas donations the PayPaly button is at the top of the page. As always thanks for reading and I really hope you enjoyed these high quality pictures, have a great day! Here is the full album.

-Z&O

Preview of a great rural house!

2012-06-10T11:02:00.002-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures to get you interested in whats coming up in the next few days (maybe as early as tomorrow morning!) Stay tuned for the full album!

This calender from 1929 has to be my favorite picture that we have taken so far.

Doll house out on the farm

2012-06-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

Our adventures take a turn out for the country in this next post. We go with our friend Colton who shows us this abandoned house that somebody still maintains a security system on. We couldn't go in but got some pictures of the outside. On the inside of the house there are a couple dozen dolls arranged around a couch. You can't see the dolls from the pictures we took but the outside of the house is quite nice looking.

This is a life size doll pressed up against the glass, scared us quite alot the first time we saw it.

I posted these last two, I know that because of the darkness you can't see much, but maybe you can adjust the brightness to see, they are quite creepy because the dolls all seem to stare at you as you look in.
Coming up tomorrow is a special treat for you all. No full album but there are going to be a couple of very high-res photos taken of the next location. They are being processed right now by the photographer who took them, and she is letting me take two a bit early to tease you guys. The rest should be up in a couple days after that!

-Z&O

Downtown Decatur Update

2012-06-09T17:55:00.005-07:00

Because of the messages telling us to go back downtown and get better (daylight) pictures I decided that on my day off I shall oblige.

These last few pictures are from the top of a parking garage downtown, thought you may enjoy the birds eye view of downtown.

2012-06-09T15:35:00.001-07:00

I added a Donation button through PayPal up in the left hand corner at the top of the page. Some people have asked about giving us gas money to fun further trips and I thought this would be the best way. If you do donate then know that your money will only be used toward supplies and gas for our different trips. Thank you to all of our viewers and thank you Reddit for getting us over 2,000 views in just a couple of days! We also got a hold of one of my Mothers friends who is a proffesial photographer and we took some pictures of an abandoned farm house that is absolutely beautiful. Look forward to those coming up soon, they are sure to be fantastic! It was also one of the few times that we could get out in the day time to take quality shots. I also added a poll over on the right hand side of what your favorite post so far is, make sure to cast your vote!

Thank you everyone for reading, donating, and voting... Stay tuned!

-Z&O

First Abandoned House "The Caretaker"

2012-06-09T06:42:00.002-07:00

This was a first for us, but for sure not the last. This house used to be the caretaker's home. He lived on the grounds and watched over them from his study window. The house is small with only 4 rooms and easy to explore. When he died the Church started to use the house as storage, but they let it get run down, since then nobody uses it.

Before exploring the house we made our way over to the shed, it was full of gallon milk jugs and dust. There were coffee can candle holders stuck on the walls and bits of wood and plastic lying around.

There was one chair and a barrel sitting in the middle of the shed, they also had a coupe of batteries around the edge of the shed. For some reason the floor was carpet and was not taken care of at all.

We got in through an unlocked window on the side of the house, then I went in and opened the door for the rest of us. The walk through did not take much time at all as there was very litle house to explore, but we tried to get some good pictures anyway. The bathroom had a great deal of mold in it so we avoided that room.

Overall this was a great first house for us to check out. There have already been a few more locations that we have been to that will top this easily, stay tuned! I try to post every day/every other day around 8:30-9:30 central time.

-Z&O

2012-06-08T14:41:00.001-07:00

I just bought this knife from Amazon for only $20 along with a mini pry bar and a new LED flashlight, I hope they make a good addition to my backpack that I am going to carry. What else should I add?

-Oliver

Preview of our first abandoned house!

2012-06-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures to get you interested ;) more are coming tomorrow morning around 8:30!

Abandoned School Playground

2012-06-07T21:02:00.001-07:00

We decided to look around for an old school yard. We found this little playground behind a church/school. This playground was the old one, a new playground was built and this went into disrepair fast. It has been officially unused for about 10 years. Old playground really strike a chord with me... thinking about all the good times that were had on the rusted slide or the squeaking swings. It makes me wonder about the cuts and scrapes that parents and teachers had to kiss on the little kids knees. The sandbox has fallen into a state akin to a mini garden, while the monkey bars have began to peel, showing the many layers of paint underneath. The swings don't look like they could take much weight and the slide with its wooden platform may not last much longer.

This place really brings me back. I went to school here between 2nd grade and 10th grade. This playground was not used while I was here but sometimes after school was over we would sneak down and mess around on it.
There is an abandoned house nearby that we are going to check out next. Stay tuned for more action!

-Z&O

Downtown Decatur

2012-06-07T01:42:00.002-07:00

Tonight we decided to walk around downtown and see what interesting buildings there were. We wanted to go off the beaten path to really see the underbelly of Decatur. We started out with the old Goods Furniture warehouse. We circled the building a few times but couldn't find any way to get in without breaking something we settled for some pictures of the outside. The camera gave us a bit of trouble in the beginning but we got it all straightened out. We also used our friend Lindsey's camera which takes much better pictures than ours. The outside showed alot of ageing and from what we could see through the windows; the inside did as well.

There was a fire escape on the side of the building that seemed to be intact, but even with my minor free-climbing skills I was unable to reach the ladder.

Right by the building was the underpass that turns into Water St. We went over to see what all we could find. There was a fork lift there that looked abandoned but we really couldn't tell. (No the keys where not in it) On the hood of the forklift was a Godfather's Pizza delivery car sign, I can't imagine what mileage you would get using that to deliver pizzas. There were a couple interesting signs but nothing else major was under the bridge.

This place was a great walk and was very fun to look at. I hope that one day we will be able to explore the inside of the warehouse. We will post right away if we do. Please comment if you like these pictures or follow out blog to keep updated. If you want to use the pictures all we ask is that you tell them where you got them. Publicity is all we want.

Next up is a abandoned school playground.

Peoria State Hospital

2012-06-05T02:37:00.001-07:00

This hospital for the incurably insane was used from 1902-1973. In the beginning of February 1902 patients who were characterized as "incurable" were brought in from other Illinois facilities. In its peak in the 50's it was home to 2,800 patients.
We arrived at 1:30 in the morning and see that the area is fairly well lit. We walk across the lawn and go up to the front door, just to see inside. What happens next is both scary and a blessing at the same time. We see a light and a figure inside the door way. Zach and I run away back off the grounds in case it is a security guard or other official. After poking around the outside and seeing other lights flash from inside the building we are certain that someone is messing with us. Right before we are about to leave Zach tells me that he sees a head poking out of the window on the second floor. We walk over and are greeted by two people asking us to hold a ladder while they climb down. We hold the ladder and a few short minutes later eight people are with us on the ground. They are very nice and introduce themselves to us. They had just found this way in that night, and let us borrow their ladder to scale the wall into the unbarred second floor window. They leave and we continue on alone. Walking into the first of many hallways gives us a feeling of stepping back in time, but at the same moment being drawn into the future. We see alot of writing on the walls and alot of destruction since its close in the 70's. As we wander around the vast expanse of rooms and hallways we find several interesting things; a bathroom, a area with coat hooks, and a few blocked off rooms. We venture up the third story, but after seeing how fragile the floor is, don't stay long. We come back down the iron staircase and exit through the same window that we came. We hide their ladder under a generator and cover it with some brush. We start to head back when we see them coming back. After chatting for a minute and showing them our pictures we part ways for the last time.

I hope that you all enjoy seeing this pictures as much as I did taking them. these are all first hand pictures and taken by either me or Zach. I hope you enjoy.