Vol 17 No 8 – 21 October, 2013

On 1 October Jim and I left Joe and Michele’s before lunch and stopped in Buffalo to have two new tyres put on the trailer.  Then headed towards Indianapolis.

On 3 October, we delivered at a new construction at Leach & Roche, early in the morning to beat the employees filling up the car park, it was dark and raining.  Just a few miles to load a used CAT excavator at MacAllister Machinery.  Delivered it on Friday 4 October at American Equipment near Rochester, New York.  

Indianapolis IN to Rochester, NY

Loaded in Buffalo that afternoon at the Ford Plant – picked up empty automotive racks for Monroe, Michigan.

After leaving Buffalo, our truck clicked over one million miles (1,609,000 kms).  A 1999 International 9400 Eagle, we have had it since May 2000, and bought it with 30,000 miles on it.

Started on the next million miles on the truck.

Had the weekend off and stopped near Cleveland, Ohio to visit Jim’s cousin Mary.  Dennis and Mary picked us up at the truck stop mid-afternoon on Saturday and we went to Mulligans Bar & Grill for dinner and catch up, we had not seen them for 6 years and we go through Cleveland often, just no opportunity to visit.  

Jim and I, Dennis and Mary in Cleveland.

Sunday we took the motorbike off the truck and went into Cleveland.

Wikipedia:  Cleveland is located on the southern shore of Lake Erie.  It was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and became a manufacturing centre owing to its location on the lake shore as well as being connected to numerous canals and railroad lines.

Our destination was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Been wanting to go there since it opened! (The museum dedicated on September 1, 1995.) 

Website: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best known and most influential artists, producers and others who have in some major way, influenced the music industry through the genre of rock music.  To collect, preserve and interpret the impact that Rock and Roll has made on our world.

There are seven levels in the building.

We looked inside Johnny Cash’s tour bus which was parked in front of the Museum.

Internet:  Internet:  Cash used this touring bus, the JC Unit One, for the last two decades of his career.  Cash bought the bus in 1980 and used it until 2003.  He sold the bus just three months before his death.  It was sold again and then auctioned on Ebay in 2005, and the buyer donated it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum – now its permanent home.

The bus was used for the 1991 Highwayman Tour which transported Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.

The first exhibit floor’s focus is on the beginning of rock music: gospel, blues, rhythm and blues, country and bluegrass. The areas that had a major impact: Detroit, Memphis, Los Angeles, Seattle, London and Liverpool.  Many interactive kiosks, films, a half hour film on Dick Clark and American Bandstand.  

The King of Rock and Roll!

Michael Jackson.

Stevie Nicks.

David Bowie.

Walking up to the Rolling Stones displays.

A Mick Jagger outfit.

Lots to read, look at and listen to, we spent three hours there and could easily spend two days.  It was pretty awesome!

Back in the truck and rolling Sunday afternoon to Detroit.  Delivered the empty auto racks Monday morning and up to River Rouge, south of Detroit to load at a shipping terminal and dock.

Nicholson Terminal was on a wharf and two old steam passenger ferries were in the dock area.  They were very neglected and tattered and strangely eerie – I was fascinated by them.

Steam passenger ferries: Columbia and Ste Claire at River Rouge.

Internet:  One of the oldest remaining steam passenger vessel in the country, the Columbia was built in 1902.   (The one on the left.) The Columbia and its sister ship, the Ste. Claire (built in 1910) were last used as Boblo boats in 1991. The steel and wood ships crisscrossed the Detroit River to ferry passengers back and forth to Boblo Island Amusement Park in the lower Detroit River.

Columbia and Ste. Claire represent the typical propeller-driven excursion steamer of the turn of the century.  Excursion steamers are steamships built primarily for passengers for day trips.  Columbia and St. Claire represent the “ocean-going” type of excursion vessel although they were used on the Great Lakes.

The SS Columbia Project is trying to restore the ship so it can be used as a heritage tour boat on the Hudson River (NY City).  They bought it for a dollar, but it is going to cost $13 million to bring back its charm.  More information here:   http://www.boblosteamers.com/

Restoration looks to be a fair way off!

We loaded and tarped batteries from wind turbines for GE Wind. 

Internet:  The battery technology enables short-term energy storage as part of the complete turbine system.  Integrating the battery into the wind turbine allows wind farm operators to benefit from wind energy storage without the high costs of farm-level battery storage installation.

Delivered Wednesday morning at GE Wind in Pensacola, Florida, a huge complex.  

Near where we delivered in Pensacola, FL

Then to Mobile, Alabama to load in the afternoon.  Loaded and tarped refractory material and delivered it the next morning in Jackson, Mississippi at Nucor Steel.  Then took a slow drive up to Newport, Arkansas.  The company where we were loading stopped shipping at 2pm and we could not make it before then, so scheduled loading for Friday morning.

Got to Newport mid afternoon and parked at a small truckstop on the outskirts of the town.  Walked about three miles to town and found a little bar, Skeeterz.  Thought we would get a taxi back to the truck. BUT no taxi in the town!  The bar tender at Skeeterz was getting off work and gave us a lift back!  Really nice people there, the owner gave us his business card and said that next time we come to town, give him a call and he will come and get us.  :-)

Website:  Newport was first incorporated in the 1870’s, but it originated many years before the Civil War.  The White River bought people to Newport in the beginning.  As steamboats came through it was the natural place to settle a town.  Railroads were soon added and soon it became home to various general stores, hotels, banks, saloons, and even an opera house.  With its location at the White River, Newport blossomed as the leading distributor of fresh earls.  People from around the country ordered pearl buttons from Newport.  The city experienced continued growth in the early twentieth century and one of the wealthiest cities in the country.  With such wealth in one location, Sam Walton moved to Newport to open his first retail store which he called “Ben Franklin Five-and-Dime”.  Sam Walton later became the founder of Wal-Mart.

This part of Arkansas is quite flat and rice and cotton are the main crops.

Arkansas ranks first among the six major rice-producing state, accounting for approximately 48 percent of the US rice production.

Fog over the rice field - the water and ground was warmer than the morning air.

Friday morning we loaded at Arkansas Steel – 16 skids of railway tie plates (the steel plates that go on railway sleepers that the track goes on).

Arkansas Steel manufactures a wide variety of tie plate sections, grader blades, wide flats and semi-finished products to meet the growing needs of the railroad industry.

Newport, Arkansas to Sanford, Florida.

We had space on the trailer and were not loaded to maximum weight and we were going to Florida.  Florida friends, Ron, Gina and Tim have the carburettor business, they rebuild and recondition them and stay very busy keeping old cars and equipment in operating condition and have customers all over the world for this specialized work.  A couple of years ago they were offered 70+ old carburettors, just had to be picked up in Stuttgart, Arkansas.  Stuttgart is 120 miles south from Newport, so we had the opportunity to pick them up for them.

Stuttgart, Arkansas – the Rice and Duck Capital of the World!  

Our contact in Stuttgart was Dean Oliver and rather than Jim trying to get the rig to his house in a residential neighbourhood, Dean took the carburettors to his work at the Rice Research and Technology Center.  We met him there and loaded a skid.  These are some of the rice storage silos near Stuttgart.

Got as far as Birmingham, Alabama that night.  Stayed in a small truckstop and Jim picked me a bouquet of wildflowers.

Arrived in Daytona Beach late Saturday evening 12 October.

Autoracks - photo stolen from Wikipedia, because I didn't have the camera ready.

Delivered the railway plates on Tuesday morning in Sanford, Florida about 40 miles from Daytona Beach.

Website:  Sanford is a railroad terminal in central Florida and the southern terminus for Amtrak’s Auto Train which runs between Sanford, Florida and Lorton, Virginia (a half hour drive south of Washington DC). 

Auto Train is an 855 miles long (1,376 km) scheduled train service for passengers and their automobiles.  

Although there are similar services around the world, the Auto Train is the only one of its kind in the United States. Passengers ride either in coach seats or private sleeping car rooms while their vehicles (car, van, sport utility vehicle, motorcycle, small trailer, or jet-ski) are carried in enclosed automobile-carrying freight cars, called autoracks.  The Auto Train service allows its passengers to avoid driving Interstate 95 in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, while bring their own vehicle with them.

We swung by New Smyrna Beach and dropped off the skid of carburettors to Hewitts.  Had a quick catch up and Ron mentioned that Dean Oliver (where we picked up the carbies) is a National Drag Racing Champion - cool, and I talked to him about rice.  ??

Wikipedia: The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body which sets rules in drag racing and host events all over the United States and Canada.  With over 80,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA is one of the largest motorsports sanctioning bodies in the world.

We had a week off before we leave for Australia.  Had a lovely dinner with Lis and Harvey and this is a photo of their street in DeLeon Springs - I enjoy the big Live Oak trees with the moss hanging.

DeLeon Springs, Florida.

Biketober Fest was from Thursday to Sunday - 16 to 20 October.  Joe and Jimmy were in town and friends from around Florida and other places.  Joe chose to ride Jim's 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado - always an attention getter!

Joe on the Eldorado at Oleander Avenue.

At Daytona Taproom, dinner and fancy beers - Joe and Kevin, Jimmy, Jim and Lesley.

On Friday afternoon Jim went with a group of guzzi friends to the vintage races and watched from the infield of Daytona International Speedway, then I caught up with them at Pantheon Pizza afterwards.  Weather was very hot, sunny and humid.

Jim and I got up early Saturday morning for a quiet stroll along Main Street to the Pier.

Main Street, Daytona Beach, Florida.

Hamburger Harry's dedication to all things hamburger. 

Main Street Pier with sunrise.

Looking north along Boardwalk with amusements and Atlantic Ocean (our neighbourhood).

Saturday lunch time we met Ron and Regina at the (World Famous) Ironhorse Saloon and Joe, Jimmy and Kevin found us there.

We have some interesting family portraits!!

Saturday afternoon, Jim and I headed to New Smyrna Beach and met up with Derek, John and Linda for the Breast Cancer Fund Raiser which was a Craft Beer Walk and Chili Cook-Off.

For $10 participants get 20 tickets to sample craft beers at the bars on Flagler Avenue.
A small mug (about 5 ounces at a guess) is provided for the samples and they 'cost' 1 to 3 tickets per beer sample.

On the Craft Beer Passport - there were 13 bars to visit and a choice of over 50 different beers to sample! (I counted 87 beers on the Passport!).

For the Chili Competition we were given a spoon and a list of the restaurants participating: 18 Restaurants had their own recipe Chili to sample - same operation as the beer using tickets to get samples.  Sample cups of their chili were given for one ticket.  We got there late and about half way through the afternoon, so did not get to all the bars and restaurants (probably a good thing!!)  Some of the Chili names: Ch Ch Ch Chili, Pan Head Pizza's Weapon of Mass Destruction Chili, Heart Attack Chili, White Shrimp Creole Chili (yum), Pumpkin Chili (ok), Barracuda's Pulled Pork Chili (was our favourite).

The Chili Competition required each participant to complete a ballot with their choices for the best chili.

It was a fun afternoon and for a good cause, and much quieter than Biketober Fest going on in Daytona Beach.  Was very hot and humid though.

Peanuts Bar - selection of craft beers.

A couple of chili's to sample.

The sample beer 'mugs'.  They had chords so they could be hung around the neck.

Sunday, Jim and I got up early and started the storage process for the truck and trailer.  We have to take off the licence place, get all the permits, transponders, all door signs, etc and return them to Landstar to cancel the contract.  This year Jim had to disconnect the Qualcomm Electronic On Board Recorder - that was a bit scary because it is hooked into the dash and the trucks computer.  After Jim took it out, the truck started, so that was good!  The trailer stays at the storage place we usually park the whole rig at during the year, but we take the prime mover (tractor) and park it at Ron and Gina's shop in a locked yard in New Smyrna Beach.  It is more secure there.

We fly out of Orlando, Florida Tuesday evening to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday.  :-)