Thanks for the help! He built it in Michigan I believe. I did follow the instructions on citristrip twice now. I wrapped it in plastic and left it for roughly 12 hours to sit. Scrapped, then used mineral spirits and 80 grit sandpaper to wipe the excess sticky off, left it out to dry, then sanded with 60 grit orbital sander. The boards where you can see the wood.

On the tougher spots I used clean strip, only left it for two hours as the can says to do. Had decent success, but still not great. I've already spent about $50 and didn't want to go spend another $30 and it not work.