Vol 17 No 1 - 30 March, 2013

Jim and I left Chinchilla on 4 March after an anxious weekend watching flood water.  The highway between Chinchilla and Toowoomba had been closed the Friday, Saturday and most of Sunday – we left Monday and stayed that night with friends in Brisbane who took us to Brisbane International Airport the next morning.

 

Airport time 3 hours prior to flight. Flight to Auckland, New Zealand 3 hours.  Airport time in Auckland 5 hours.  Flight to Los Angeles, California 10 hours.  Airport time in LA 8.30 hours.  Flight to Orlando, Florida 4.45 hours - arrive 6 March at 6.10am.  Drive 1.5 hours to Daytona Beach.  7 hours later drive 2 hours to Fort Pierce for a Dwight Yoakam concert!!  I booked the tickets two weeks prior not sure if we would feel like attending.  It was worth the effort!

Sunrise Theatre, Fort Pierce.

It was at Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce.

Website:  The pristine, beautifully restored, intimate 1,200-seat Sunrise Theatre is located in Historic downtown Fort Pierce.  Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Sunrise opened its doors on August 1, 1923 as the largest theatre on Florida's East Coast between Jacksonville and Miami. It quickly became the center of all St. Lucie County's cultural activities. The theatre closed its doors on September 8, 1983, due to the decline of the downtown area and a refusal to convert to multi-screen operation. 
In 1997, the Sunrise Theatre was purchased by the St. Lucie Preservation Association, Inc. and today, after reopening on January 6, 2006, the theatre is completely renovated to its original splendor with state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems and is owned and operated by the City of Fort Pierce.

It was a beautiful theatre, and even though we had balcony seats at the back, there was no need for video screens, it was a good position.  The concert was different to the one Estelle and I went to three months prior in Toowoomba – many songs from his new album, but more of his older hits.  Jim and I both enjoyed the evening.

Dwight Yoakam.

Wikipedia:  Dwight Yoakam is an American singer-song-writer, actor, and film director.  Most famous for his pioneering country music. Popular since the early 1980s, he has recorded more than 21 albums and compilations, charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Song charts, and sold more than 25 million records. Yoakam has recorded 5 Billboard #1 Albums, 12 Gold Albums, and 9 Platinum Albums.

Drove back to Daytona Beach that night – needed coffee at Waffle House!

 For Bike Week not many people were coming down from the cold north.  Joe was around for 5 days in between delivering in Florida.  Our German, working in China friend, Arthur visited via Germany.  Arthur visited Jim and I in Chinchilla and was stranded there during the January 2011 flood (Chinchilla friends will remember him).

Jim bought another moto guzzi before he came to Australia last year.  A 2003 Stone, he has named her “Stella”.  Arthur had the use of her around Daytona Beach and activities while he was there.

Bike Week for us in the last five years priority has been getting ready to go back on the road – truck and trailer inspections, six months of mail to sort through, and tax information to the accountant.

There are some Bike Week events we check out – a stroll through the exhibits on Beach Street, the Motorcycle Tradeshow outside the Speedway is always fun to see all the new bikes, and stuff.

Main Street Daytona Beach - Bike Week 2013.

A truck and motorcycles!

Lots of beautiful motorcycles.

Arthur rented a Harley Davidson for five days, because he had people to see in other states.  The bike was brand new with 1 mile on the odometer.  Five days later he bought it back with 1947 miles on it! (3130 kms) and three of those days were half days on the bike!)   We waited for him to return the bike just to see the look on the rental company’s face!  Most week rentals of harley’s for Bike Week clock up less than 100 miles (160kms) The rental guy looked and smiled and said to Arthur “Sir, I want to shake your hand”.  “Do you mind me asking where you went?”  Daytona Beach north to Charleston, South Carolina to Gainesville, Georgia, to Key West, Florida and back to Daytona Beach.  We laughed – it was ready for its’ first service! (or past it?)

Jim went to the AMA Flat Track races at the Speedway one night. Friends stopped by for beer and hot dogs.

The last weekend of Bike Week a friend from Tampa, Florida visited.  Dave was on his Triumph Rocket 3. 250 hp, an awesome machine!  He started it up out the front of our house and the windows rattled!  The only other thing that has done that is the Space Shuttle!

Dave and his Triumph Rocket 3.

Weather over the ten days was warm and sunny, cold, and a couple days of rain.

The rental house in Deltona needed the septic drain field replaced – that involved digging out the old one, getting the soil treated by an environmental company, then replacing the soil.  We bought the house in 2004 as an investment, it has been rented all but two months since – that has been great. With the Real Estate crash it is now valued at half what we bought for it.  It had been seven years since we have been to see it, and we needed the GPS to find it!  We have put money into it – new roof, new fence, complete re-plumb, and last year it had new exterior stucco siding and paint.  It is looking nice, and we hope prices come up in the next couple of years so we can sell it.

The Deltona rental house.

For work, we are back at Landstar.  Jim went to Orientation on 20 March, the Qualcomm was installed the next day.  An Electronic On Board Recorder (EOBR) for tracking the truck.  Electronic log book, it will take some getting used to for Jim!

We loaded the next day in Winter Garden, Florida an excavator transfer between two Auction Centres.

Winter Garden FL to Mays Landing, NJ

Delivered it on Monday 25 March at Lyons Auctions in Mays Landing, New Jersey.  Woke up that morning to heavy snow falling!

Snowing in New Jersey.

Next day loaded in Taneytown, Maryland – three large evaporative coolers and delivered them the next day in Charleston, West Virginia.  Over to Worthington, Kentucky and loaded a 20 foot shipping container converted to an office.  Delivered that to Detroit Edison in Michigan the next morning. 

Mason, MI to Orlando and Davie, FL.

Loaded that afternoon in Mason, Michigan going to Florida.  Arrived in Daytona Beach mid afternoon Saturday 30 March.