Dave and Linda arrived in Daytona Beach Monday night 28 September, they flew into Orlando from the west coast. Nikki and Jules had a few more days in California before heading back to Queensland.
Tuesday Jim and I had business to take care of and Dave and Linda helped. Dinner at
DJ’s Deck on the Halifax River - shrimp, grouper and hush puppies.
Wednesday morning the four of us headed north - Dave and Linda had a rental car, a blue Dodge Caravan. We were on holiday for two weeks with them! The car held us all and our gear comfortably.
First destination was Savannah, Georgia. We arrived mid afternoon and after finding motel accommodation we spent a few hours in the River District and found a great place for happy hour at
Vics on the River. Then dinner at
One-Eyed Lizzy’s. 
Thursday morning we were picked up at our hotel as part of a Historic Trolley tour. A 90 minute tour of the Historic and River Districts. Lots of information and stories, it was very entertaining and we had a great tour guide.
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Savannah was settled in 1733 by British colonists. In 1864 (Civil War era) when General Sherman marched in, the mayor of Savannah gave Sherman's men run of the city in exchange for leaving it untorched. As a result, Savannah is one of the few major cities in the South with antebellum charm and architecture remaining intact. Savannah has one of the largest historic districts in the country. Southerners joke that in Atlanta, the first thing locals ask you is your business; in Charleston, they ask your mother's maiden name; and in Savannah, they ask what you want to drink. It's partly that ethos that keeps the city tourism industry flourishing, along with a little help from what locals call "The Book:" Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (also a feature film).
Many films and books have been set in Savannah - the “Legend of Bagger Vance“, “Forrest Gump“, “Something To Talk About“, “Glory“, “Three Faces of Eve“. Savannah's Hollywood history began in 1915, with the filming of the silent movie "Under Southern Skies.”
Forrest Gump’s bench where he sat an related his life story is located at Chippewa Square.
A lot of superstitious things in Savannah - supposedly the “most haunted” city in the USA. I liked the fish downspouts - they are still on some old buildings. They were believed to stop spirits from entering a house via the spouts.
We had lunch at a City Market restaurant. Dave and Linda went on the Riverboat Cruise, Jim and I explored some of the squares, monuments and fountains and the Colonial Cemetery for patriots of the American Revolution 1775 to 1783.
Returned to River Street late afternoon. A popular cobblestone street along the south bank of the Savannah River, is lined with numerous tourist-targeted shops and restaurants.
The Historic District is on a bluff above the riverfront and is connected with River Street via stairs or ramps.
The view of the river is wonderful, and the Spanish moss creates a spooky atmosphere.
A must for Savannah visitors is the candy shops along River Street. Fudge and their world famous pralines - yum!
Pralines in America - As originally inspired in France, early pralines were whole almonds individually coated in caramelized sugar, as opposed to dark nougat, where a sheet of caramelized sugar covers many nuts.
French settlers brought this recipe to Louisiana, where both sugar cane and pecan trees were plentiful. During the 19th century, New Orleans chefs substituted pecans for almonds, added cream to thicken the confection, and thus created what became known throughout the American South as the praline.Back to
Vic’s on the River for happy hour again, had dinner at a
Bennigan‘s near the motel.
Left Savannah Friday morning (2 October) and headed north west, bypassing Atlanta, Georgia and took some back roads through north Georgia and spent that night in Calhoun (there are Outlet shops there!).
Only 70 kms from Chattanooga, Tennessee and we headed there Saturday morning. (Chattanooga is the fourth largest city in Tennessee.) First stop was the
Chattanooga Choo Choo, of course!
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The tune made popular by the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the late 1940‘s became world famous.
The song tells the story of traveling from New York City to Chattanooga. However, the inspiration for the song was a small, wood-burning steam-locomotive which belonged to the Cincinnati Southern Railroad. That train is now a museum artifact. From 1880, most trains bound for America's South passed through Chattanooga. The “Chattanooga Choo Choo” did not refer to any particular train.The Station was erected in 1908 with an 85 foot cast iron dome rising majestically over the lobby, the Terminal Station served thousands of passengers until 1970 when the trains stopped running. In 1973, after a 4 million dollar renovation, it was reopened to the public as a hotel. Authentic private rail cars were furnished as unique sleeping quarters. Holiday Inn welcomed the hotel into its family in 1989 after another 4 million dollars were invested.Dave, Jim and I went to Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls and caves. Linda doesn’t like heights or confined spaces - she went to the Tennessee Aquarium.
Ruby Falls is the nation’s largest and deepest waterfall open to the public. Located over 1120 feet beneath the surface, inside Lookout Mountain. It is a thundering 145 foot waterfall - hundreds of gallons of water rush over by the minute and amaze visitors.The tour is an elevator ride from the top of the mountain to inside the mountain. A walk through a cave system to Ruby Falls. Awesome! It has been about ten years since Jim and I have visited, but well worth a re-visit.
After that we went to the nearby
Tow Truck and Recovery Museum. Enjoy restored antique wreckers and equipment, industry related displays of collectible toys, tools, unique equipment, and pictorial histories of manufacturers who pioneered a worldwide industry. The industry's first wrecker was fabricated approximately three and a half miles away from the museum at the Ernest Holmes Company.
Automotive and history buffs alike will enjoy a tour of the nostalgic museum. The collection of tow trucks dates from the earliest days of the automobile. The museum has a variety of antique toys and memorabilia. Caught up with Linda again and found a barbeque restaurant for a late lunch. We found the MoonPie® Bakery which is where the MoonPie® originated and are baked. Two round cookies with marshmallow in between then the whole thing is coated in chocolate. Been popular since early 1900’s (and yummy).
The weather turned cooler and wet on the Sunday morning - we were headed to Lynchburg, Tennessee, home of the
Jack Daniel's Distillery.
On the way we stopped in Monteagle and found a flea market to fill in an hour. That was fun and we got some deals.
Jack Daniels Distillery - the oldest registered distillery in the U.S. It’s where Mr. Jack first crafted the recipe for Old No. 7. It’s where the pure, iron-free cave spring water flows. And it’s where every drop of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Sippin’ Whiskey is still made today. The Jack Daniel Distillery was licensed in 1866, and a National Historic Site.The Distillery is located in a dry country - no alcohol is sold in the county. We took the free tour of the distillery, and the whiskey making process - very interesting! No free samples at the end though - it was Sunday.
There were two statue's of JD - the original marble one is now in the Visitor Centre and the bronze one is beside the spring.
We learnt the differences between Tennessee Whiskey and Kentucky Whiskey, other than the obvious - distilled in two different states..:
A special process unique to the Tennessee whiskeys is "charcoal mellowing". The process of dripping the fresh whiskey through containers packed with sugar maple charcoal. (Jack Daniels drips through ten layers of charcoal.) This gives it a flavour and aroma all its own. For the Tennessee whiskey only American white oak makes for the right whiskey barrel. Its porosity and unique chemical compounds react well and distinguishably with the Tennessee whiskey.(If the liquor is not filtered, it is bourbon.)
The town of Lynchburg (the sign says "Population 361"- must be an old sign!) revolves around the
Jack Daniels Distillery. ALL Jack Daniels whiskey is distilled in Lynchburg, Tennessee. We had lunch at the Iron Kettle restaurant (coleslaw made with mustard is interesting and tasty on a burger). Had a look around the town centre. There is a Harley Davidson t-shirt shop, there. Also the Tennessee Walking Horse Museum, but was closed on a Sunday. Great Distillery tour and town.
We headed in to Nashville and found a motel near Broadway Street - Honky Tonk Row. That evening we walked the few blocks and had dinner and happy hour/s at
Broadway Brewhouse, then to
Roberts Western Wear and bar. We discovered the
Chris Casello Trio playing there and ended up staying for several hours. They were great, sing along old time country and rock and roll, and swing instrumentals. Jim bought their CD. (The “Flintstones” instrumental is awesome!) Excellent entertainment.
We didn’t have a late night, but a memorable one! A "Yabba Dabba Dooo" time!
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Nashville is the capital of Tennessee on the Cumberland River.
The downtown area of Nashville features a diverse assortment of entertainment, dining, cultural and architectural attractions. The Broadway and 2nd Avenue areas feature entertainment venues, night clubs and an assortment of restaurants.The next morning we went to Opry Mills Outlet shops. Then walked to the Grand Ole Opry theatre. There were no shows on, but we took some photos out the front and visited the shop for souvenirs!
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The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music radio program and concert broadcast live on WSM radio, every Friday and Saturday night, as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays from March through December. It is the oldest continuous radio program in the United States, having been broadcast on WSM since October 5, 1925.
We spent several hours in the Gaylord Opryland Hotel which is very impressive. Jim and I had been in the area several times a year when we were hauling tradeshows to the Opryland Convention Centre. People think we are odd suggesting a hotel as a “must see”, but this is spectacular!
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It is the largest non-casino hotel in the world and the largest hotel in the United States outside Las Vegas.
Another expansion is proposed, but at present there are 2,881 rooms. Many have balconies facing the inside. The hotel is contained in an atrium. Exotic trees, plants and flowers throughout. The “Delta River” runs through the hotel, it contains water samples from more than 6000 rivers throughout the world including every registered river in the United States.
It also has catfish and other fish swimming in it! A boat ride is offered as a tour of the hotel. Cascades, waterfalls, fountains, features - it has to be seen.
Brochure:
Enjoy a ride on a flat boat through 4.5 acres of beautiful gardens and waterfalls under a domed glass ceiling.Dave and Linda posed with the Fall decorations in Opryland Plaza.
Then a few hours at the Opry Mills mega shopping mall, then back to the hotel and Broadway Street again.
We ate at the
Big River Brewery and Grille - Jim and I tried their six beers in a sampler. Nice beers!
Didn’t have as long a night as the previous one - dinner and wandered around the bars on Broadway and listened to music. Tried to get Linda to buy a pair of cowboy boots but could not convince her they looked great on her!
The next morning we walked back to Broadway to take some photos and wait for the Ryman Auditorium to open to do a tour.
Note: There are audio speakers all around Nashville with music playing constantly. On street signs, traffic light posts, ‘rocks’ in gardens - the most unusual places, but there seems always to be music.
A guitar pick is the symbol for tourist stops in the city. Many beautiful art and music decorations in the streets.
Ryman Auditorium was home to the Grand Ole Opry until 1974 when the show moved to the Grand Ole Opry House nine miles east of downtown.
The Opry plays at the Ryman during the winter months and it is used for concerts. Many big names have autographed their posters and are all on display.
The tour was great - we had our photos taken on the stage - the
Hume/Casey Quartet!
Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Sr, Patsy Cline, Tootsie Bess and countless others whose songs and lives shaped the image of this city and molded the music home grown in Nashville.
All very old and a bit spooky - many ‘ghosts’ of past performers believed to be wandering around.
There were several glass cabinets displaying the stage outfits of Porter Wagoner, Marty Robbins, Hank Williams Sr, Little Jimmy Dickens, the Cash/Carters, Minnie Pearl, the cast of “Hee Haw”. It was an awesome experience, just being there.
It started to rain heavily on the road to Memphis - pleased we were in the car and not out sightseeing.
We got a motel for two nights near downtown Memphis, a few blocks and walking distance to Beale Street.
Beale Street is known as the “Home of the Blues” and contains many interesting shops, restaurants and entertainment.
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It first rang out over the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta. It migrated to the streets and clubs of Memphis. It went on to influence the sound of music all over the world. Memphis is the Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock ‘n Roll. And it is all on Beale Street.
Beale Street after sunset ROCKS!
We walked up and down the three blocks and decided on B.B. King’s Club for dinner. I had Memphis style ribs - wow!
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Traditionally Memphis Style ribs are smoked "dry", meaning that only a dry rub is applied.In
Memphis the quality of the ribs and the flavor of the meat are much more important than any sauce or seasoning. This is an old tradition that dates back to the early days of barbecue when a barbecue shack really was a shack. As times changed the tradition held out because these really are about the best ribs in the world.After dinner we wandered Beale Street (30+ night clubs, restaurants and novelty shops). Had drinks in
Silky O’Sullivan’s and listened to a ‘blues’ piano player, then ended up at
Blues City Cafe. Live music:
Gary Hardy and the Memphis 2 got our attention. They performed a Sun Studios Revue and Johnny Cash Tribute and are two times Beale Street Musician of the Year. We had a great time there and stayed much longer than we had planned!
The next morning we walked from the hotel to
Sun Studios - “The Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll”.
Brochure:
“They say “the tour gives you goosebumps”. Stand in the very same spot that Elvis first recorded, your tour guide will tell you the inside stories of B.B. King, the Howlin’ Wolf, and Ike Turner (all before Elvis). We had a fifteen minute wait before our tour. Jim was wearing a moto guzzi t-shirt and he requested a Howlin’ Wolf CD to be played. The salesperson asked him if he had a moto guzzi. Of course Jim said “Yes“. The young man lifted up his shirt and showed his moto guzzi belt buckle.
He has a 1974 moto guzzi Eldorado. Cool. His name is Eldorado Del Ray. Even cooler! Eldorado is a rock ‘n’ roller and has a CD “Eldorado and the Ruckus - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”. Of course we have the CD, now. How cool is THAT!!!!
Our tour guide to Sun Studios was great too! David totally loves his job and took us through the priceless memorabilia and history of Sun Records, Sam Phillips and the recording artists.
The most famous being Elvis Presley, also Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, (the Million Dollar Quartet), Roy Orbison, and Charlie Rich. Blends of Blues, country music and rock ‘n’ roll. There were out takes from recording sessions of artists jamming.
The tour guide, David Brookings also has several music CD's, we bought the latest one of his also!
There was a free shuttle bus from Sun Studios to Graceland - Home of Elvis and is Memphis‘s most popular tourist attraction. More than 700,000 people walk through Graceland in a year.
We went on the Graceland Mansion Tour first. A shuttle bus across Elvis Presley Boulevard to the 14 acre estate and were provided audio headphones so we could go through at our own pace. The digital audio guide features the voices of Lisa Marie and Elvis.
Though Elvis owned several homes after he became successful, Graceland was always home. It was his refuge from the outside world and literally and symbolically became his tomb.
Website: You will see he music room, living room, dining room, kitchen, Vernon and Gladys bedroom, Jungle Room, TV Room, Pool Room, Vernon's Office, the Trophy Room, Charlie Hodges Room and the Racquetball building where you can see some of Elvis Jumpsuits and his large collection of gold records and awards.
Graceland was built in 1939. Over the years it served as a home and a church. Elvis bought the place in 1957 for $100,000 and immediately began decorating and outfitting it to suit his unique tastes. He rearranged and remodeled the house over the next 20 years, accommodating the changes in his family and staff.
The tour ends at the Meditation Garden, where Elvis is buried. Also Gladys, Vernon and Grandma Minnie Mae.
Back across the street from Graceland Mansion is the Elvis car museum. His famous Stutz Blackhawk, Ferrari, Mercedes and the very famous Pink Cadillac and his many flashy motorcycles are also displayed in this fantastic museum.
The Sincerely Elvis exhibit are things from Lisa Marie’s childhood and a lot of clothing from Elvis and Priscilla.
Next we walked through Elvis’s private airplanes: Lisa Marie, named after his daughter, also Hound Dog II.
Website: The Lisa Marie features a luxuriously appointed living room, conference room, sitting room, and private bedroom, as well as gold-plated seatbelts (!), suede chairs, leather covered tables, and 24-karat gold-flecked bathroom sinks. Elvis called this his “flying Graceland”. On Hound Dog II, customized by Elvis with a yellow and green interior, the popular 70’s color scheme. This plane was primarily used to fly Colonel Tom and his staff from city to city during the King’s concert touring.
That was a full day! We went back to the Beale Street area for dinner. The evening before, Dave had seen (and smelled) barbeque smoke stacks near the hotel and it was very enticing! We sniffed around until we found Charles Vergo’s Rendezvous - world famous since 1948. It was started when Charles discovered a coal chute in the basement of his diner. The chute acted as a vent, enabling him to set up a grill. After perfecting his technique, Vergo added ribs to his menu.
The restaurant is in an alley, so it took a bit of finding. On a typical weekend night the alley can be full of customers waiting to be seated and the wait can be hours long! We were early and had no wait, seated right away. The ribs were awesome too! Authentic Memphis-style ribs. I have decided that I like dry ribs.
It was Bike Night on Beale Street - every Wednesday during summer. It was a cooler evening and a couple of rain showers probably kept many bikers away. We enjoyed it though. Less than 100 bikes of all makes and one moto guzzi. An outing for dinner, music and tyre kicking.
We stayed a couple of hours, listened to music, looked at the motorcycles. Then back to the Motel Bar for a drink.
Met some locals and wanted to talk about Australia.
The next morning we headed to the Visitors Centre, then to the Mississippi River Museum. We took the monorail suspended beneath a walk bridge over the harbour to Mud Island - one third of a mile at 7 miles an hour. It was a short trip!
Website: At the Mississippi River Museum and Riverwalk, you can take a trip down the mighty Mississippi River through stories, artifacts, and activities featured at Mud Island Park near downtown Memphis. Various sections of the museum include Exploration & Settlement, which focuses on the lives of the first settlers along the Mighty River; Riverfolk / Theater of Disasters, which honors those whose livelihoods depended on the river, and the events when everything didn't go as planned; and many more.
Memphis is truly the Home of the Blues, so you'll also see exhibits focused on the music of the Mississippi River in the Music Room.
Plenty of history, entertainment, and education is packed within the walls of the Mississippi River Museum.
We all especially enjoyed the full scale paddle wheeler inside the museum. It looked and felt like we were on the river - surrounded by water and noise. Music and memorabilia was excellent as well.
The Mississippi River winds its way 4,106 kms (2,552 miles) as it travels from the headwaters in northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. The river begins 1,475 feet above sea level. The Mississippi is the longest river in North America and passes through ten states.
The Mississippi River provides transport for more than 472-million tons of cargo each year.
We ran out of time to walk along the ‘to scale’ model of the Mississippi River and surrounds. We viewed it from the monorail area above. It is a five block long replica of the lower Mississippi River - the last 1600 kms (1,000 miles) concluding at the Gulf of Mexico.
Along the way are information boards depicting historical events and geographical transformations. Somewhere we have to go back to.
The monorail was broken when we went to return to the Visitors Centre, so we had a nice walk.
It took all afternoon to drive to Tupelo, Mississippi. Trivia: Elvis Presley was born in east Tupelo in 1935. There is a museum and tours, but we weren’t in Tupelo to see Elvis.
Our next adventure was to travel part of the Natchez Trace.
We had a visit from Jimmy in Tupelo! He had loaded in Coolidge, Georgia, so he got to the motel about 8pm and we all had a few drinks and catch up. Jimmy left after breakfast the next morning. It was odd - none of us has ever had loads to Tupelo. Dave and Linda had not seen Jimmy this trip, so were happy for a quick catch up.
Our first stop that morning was at the Natchez Trace Visitor’s Centre. We watched a twelve minute video on the history and features of the Trace. We only wanted to travel 160 kms (100 miles) of the Parkway. Jim and I had always wanted to travel the Parkway, but no trucks allowed and had not had the opportunity while on any of our motorcycle jaunts.
As we were leaving the Visitors Centre we saw Smokey Bear! There was s fire education demonstration for a few bus loads of school children. Linda and I bailed Smokey up before he got to the kids! He posed for a photo with us. I think we startled him considerably. (Hard to tell really...)
Website: The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 715 km (444 mile) long parkway. The road links the cities of Natchez, Mississippi, and Nashville, Tennessee.
Native Americans, following the "traces" of Bison and other game, further improved this walking trail for foot-borne commerce between major villages located in middle Mississippi and central Tennessee.
By the time of European exploration and settlement the route was well known and established as the fastest means of communication between the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico settlements. In the early Post Revolutionary War period of America's south-westward expansion, the Trace was the return route for American flat-boat commerce between the territories of the upper and lower Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland River valleys. The Americans would construct flat-boats, load their commerce upon them, and drift upon the rivers, one-way south-southwestward all the way to New Orleans. They would sell their goods (including the salvageable logs of the flat-boats), and return home via the Trace (for the middle section of their return trip), to as far away as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The present day Natchez Trace Parkway commemorates the ancient trail along a parkway with many historic and scenic stops along the way. A lovely, quiet two lane road. The best part was stopping where the old trail is near the road and walking along it. After centuries of travel, the path has been worn and the sides are almost waist height.
The Old Trace ran through the heart of Choctaw and Chickasaw country, and through swamps, rivers and rolling hills. There are many native towns and mounds (burial sites) built over the previous 2000 years.
We got off the Trace and stopped in the town of Kosciusko for lunch. Then on to Meridian, Mississippi and spent the night.
A large storm system was going through and we experienced several severe but short rain storms after Kosciusko.
Saturday morning we got an early start and spent an hour at the Flea Market in Mobile, Alabama.
For the remainder of the day we didn’t do much other than drive to Marianna, Florida and stayed the night there. The storms seemed to be behind us.
The photo of Linda and I having desserts at the Mexican Restaurant in Marianna. Nice place and near the truckstop, so we will have to remember that.
On to Daytona Beach the next day - a leisurely drive on partly Interstate and back roads - no more rain. (We found another Smokey Bear at at Forestry Dept.)
We did drive through Tallahassee. It is the State Capital of Florida and a lovely city of moss draped oak trees.
Back in Daytona Beach, Jim had work to do on the truck and trailer. Dave was lucky to spend a whole day helping him with that! Linda and I checked out summer sales at the shops and got bargains.
Dave and Linda went to St Augustine to the Gator Farm and had a great time - even got to hold a baby alligator (with it’s mouth taped shut).
Jimmy ended up with a load to Florida and spent three days in Daytona. He was in and out, but we did see a bit of him. Friends of his from New York were there. He arrived Tuesday morning and left Friday morning.
Thursday morning Dave, Linda, Jim and I went to De Leon Springs State Park (about 60 kms from Daytona Beach) for a unique breakfast.
De Leon Springs State Park: Native Americans visited and used these springs as long as 6,000 years ago. In the early 1800s, settlers built sugar and cotton plantations that were sacked by Seminole Indians. By the 1880s the springs had become a winter resort.
Linda and I drove to Deland and Jim and Dave rode bikes. The Park is lovely - huge trees with Spanish moss, swamps, fish jumping, lots of wildlife.
Old Spanish Sugar Mill Grill & Griddle House: Our pancake batters and oven baked natural grain products are prepared from grains stone ground on our own French buhr millstones . You prepare pancakes on an electric griddle, at your table, so that they are piping hot and just as you like them. Delicious food and a most unusual experience!
We had a few dinners out at some local restaurants: Bonita Maria's (for $1.50 margaritas), Moe's South West Grill. When the hoards of people arrive for events, it is difficult to get a seat at restaurants, so we eat at the house.
Then Thursday evening on Main Street for some culture. A few thousand bikers hanging out - partying. Great place to people watch!
Joe had a load to South Florida and got to the house Friday afternoon and he rode a bike to Orlando airport to pick up Michele. They were staying for the weekend and Biketoberfest.
Website: The first Biketoberfest was held in 1992. It was created to attract visitors to the area during the tourist off-season. Held on Daytona Beach's famous Main Street, an area lined with lively bars that have served generations of bikers.
It has become a large event extending into two weekend now. Hundreds of thousands of bikers and visitors converge. Not as big as Bike Week in March though.
We had a couple of trips to Main Street and hanging out at the house.
On Saturday, a group of friends rode to Flagler Beach for gourmet burgers at the Turtle Shack. One of our favorite eateries. Jim rode the Eldorado he had just put back together and it did not miss a beat, so he is ecstatic about that!
The Turtle Shack photo is Jim and I, Dave and Linda and Joe and Michele.
Saturday afternoon outside our house were 15 moto guzzi's and one harley davidson (it sneaked in...)
Dave and Linda left early Sunday morning. Returned their rental car and flights to California then to Queensland.
Sad to see them go, we get used to having them around and are always fun and we have had many adventures with them.
Sunday, Joe, Michele, Jim and I went back out to De Leon Springs State Park for pancakes. They had never been, and we had a fun morning. Stopped at Lis and Harvey’s in the town of De Leon Springs on the way back. Mostly to say our good-byes before we leave for Australia as opportunities were getting less and less.
Monday was spent looking for a load - we had to get back to work! Lined up a load for the next morning. Spent the day cleaning up around the house, laundry and packing for Australia. Joe took Michele to the airport, then he left in his truck.
I cut off this month’s Casey Capers early as it is getting lengthy! We leave for Australia on 16 November, so I will do the next four weeks up until then in the next episode.
There was a shipment in Buffalo, a truck went to pick it up but could not load it because of the height of one crate. We got over there about 9pm. By then it was raining and extremely windy and we had to tarp. That was cold, wet and COLD! (2 C) We finished at 11pm and found all gates chained and locked! We sat for half an hour. Jim banged on doors and rang bells - could not get any one’s attention. Eventually a forklift driver was going between buildings and he rounded up a key so we could get out.
Headed south to Crawfordsville, Indiana and loaded two steel coils that afternoon at Nucor Steel.
We deadheaded 300kms that evening to Pulaski, Tennessee (south of Nashville) to load a partial (LTL) shipment on Wednesday morning - used machinery.
The leaves in Connecticut were past their peak, but still pretty.
It was cold, but sunny for the weekend. We visited Jim’s mother and sister and his niece, Kristin’s family. Kris dressed five month old Liam in his monkey costume. His first Halloween and he didn't like it much!
Headed back into the USA empty and via Detroit to Fort Wayne, Indiana to load steel bars the next morning, 5 November. Delivered them the next morning in Auburn, New York. That morning we discovered light snow had fallen during the night. None on the ground, but still on the trailer and tarp.
The party was held it at the Whistle Stop Inn, in Alden, beside the railway track. A train theme throughout with model trains operating around the ceiling and trains on shelves all around. A lovely country restaurant and they catered, we decorated in Autumn colours. About 70 people attended, Jim‘s cousin Marianne travelled from Oregon, others came from Pennsylvania, most from the Buffalo area.
Other friends showed up - Bob and Patty were out on their motorbikes. The weather was awesome - many people were out on motorcycles all weekend. Had beers and buffalo wings with them. Afterwards, we said our goodbyes to Jim’s mom, sister and brother in law. The last chance before we head to Australia.
Had a busy few days and a lot of business to finish up and packing for Australia.
