Vol 18 No. 5 - 31 July, 2014

Monday, June 30, in Buffalo - we took the truck to the Detroit Diesel workshop thinking that if we decided on an engine overhaul – they would guarantee it nationwide.  A head gasket was needed for the coolant issue.

After getting the truck sorted, we had to wait until it could be assessed further.  Had time to fill in around downtown Buffalo. There are street cars – light rail, beautiful architecture, Buffalo is an old city between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario – lots of history.

Had lunch at Pearl Street Grill and Brewery, a beautiful, historic building.

Interesting beer names and taps.

Website:  The building dates back to 1841, in the heart of what the world unaffectionately called “the most evil square mile in America”, Buffalo’s Canal District.  We are proud of our history and the hard-edge character of our building, our restoration features well-worn warehouse floors, oak claw foots, and belt and pulley market fan systems to maintain the historic ‘feeling’.

Under the watchful eyes of Lake Effect Man and his buddy, the Brawler, we offer guests 8 bars, on four levels and serve authentic and ethnic Buffalo pub foods.  Our ‘Murderers Row’ typically includes 17 of our Microbrews on tap, and you won’t want to miss the authentic, historic deli in the ‘bowels’ of the 1841 section of our building.  Here at Pearl Street Grill & Brewery we are “Real” Buffalo and proud of it.

Rode around some old areas of Buffalo.

Grand Island bridge over the Niagara River.

Later found out the truck bull gear had a rattle.  Discovered that the Bull Gear rarely lasts past 850,000 miles, so we wanted that replaced as well.  Considering the truck had more than 1,024,000 miles on it.  First I had heard the term “Bull Gear”:

Internet: On a Detroit Series 60 Engine: the Bull Gear is the large gear in the front of the engine that is driven from the crankshaft gear.  The Bull Gear turns the camshaft, water pump, air compressor, power steering pump, fuel pump and accessory drive which in turn drives the alternator and air conditioning compressor.  If the two taper roller bearings in the Bull Gear fail, your engine is wiped out.  The valves will hit the pistons, all of the gears in the front of the engine are stripped, and all of the items listed above will come to a halt.

A bit of work to be done and would take extra time because of the 4th of July long weekend - availability of parts was an issue with businesses closed. Also the garage wanted the same mechanic working on it - resulted in the truck being there a lot longer than we would have liked.

A bit of a gamble but we decided to wait and hope to get another 200,000 miles before an overhaul is needed.  The engine is still running well, Jim gets an analysis of the old engine oil each time the oil is changed and they are within specs and no indication of engine wear.

Joe got back in time for the Thursday  evening parade in Warsaw, NY to see Baillie march and play clarinet in the Attica High School Band.  Very impressive - Baillie's second year in the Band.  We all stayed for the carnival after the parade.

People throwing candy for the children in the crowd - the children and Joe!

Friday was the 4th of July and a holiday, and most of the festivities.  Bob and Barb Walters live in Lancaster and the town always has a large and impressive parade.  Their house is very close to the parade route, and they host a party.  Caught up with the Walter’s families and had a lot of fun. There is always a street carnival and fireworks.  That was a big day!

This was interesting - Revolutionary-era soldiers in front, then Civil War - era soldiers and families.

Photo bombed by Baillie's horn!

Several marching bands.

Danny and Joe with the man on stilts.

Danny and George Washington (?)

Abe Lincoln and Jim sharing a joke!

Michele and Joe.

Danny and Tyler, Jim and Bob, Joe behind Jim.

Chiavetta’s chicken is always on the menu!

Made In Buffalo Website:  Chiavetta’s Famous Marinade is the number one selling sauce from Buffalo to Erie, PA and Rochester, NY.  It has been adored for over 50 years at church picnics and fairs.  It is excellent with chicken, fish, beef and vegetables.  Superior for tenderizing and flavouring.

Known for quality and taste, Chiavetta’s Chicken Barbeques are a mainstay of many of our area’s charity and fundraising events.

Tom Chiavetta was there to supervise the chicken!  He is married to Bob Walters' sister.

The Chiavetta's Chicken is cooking on the charcoal - Joseph and Danny turning it over.

The all import basting with Chiavetta's marinade.

After the delicious meal of chicken, beans, salads, etc, there are the usual water activities / fights for adults and the children.  The adults are more difficult to supervise!

Did some more visiting - relatives from Pennsylvania were in the Buffalo area; dinner with Art and Ann Marie, visited assorted cousins and friends. Got to visit Jim's mother most days, she is in good health at 94 years old and she enjoyed the family gatherings.

Mom with her great grand daughters, twins Meagan and Madelyn.

There were a couple of rainy days and cooler weather, but we were out and about quite a bit.

Wednesday, 9 July was a warm, sunny day and we rode up to Fort Niagara.

Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. It is located near Youngstown, New York, on the eastern bank of the Niagara River at its mouth, on Lake Ontario.

Brochure:  The rich history of old Fort Niagara spans more than 300 years.  Originally used by Native Americans for hunting and fishing, the site was subsequently occupied by French, British, and American forces.  Its commanding presence on the great lakes caused it to play a critical role in the French and Indian Wars, the American Revolution and the War of 1812.

The oldest building of the Fort, the “French Castle” was originally the sole structure of Fort Niagara.  The “Castle” has been restored to its pre-1755 appearance.

Fort Niagara has been renovated and now serves as Fort Niagara State Park and Museum. The restored fort is the scene of frequent historical reenactments of 18th century battles that took place on the site, as well as period dances, fundraisers and other special events.

Very interesting and a whole lot of history and an enjoyable few hours we spent there.

The entrance has a drawbridge.

These mounds are tunnels where cannon and rifles can attack approaching enemy.

The large bulding is referred to as the "Castle".

Old cannon and possibly a 21st century era broom!

A demonstration of musket firing.

Walking down into the tunnels where cannon and rifles are fired at enemy.

These slits are where rifles are fired out of.

View from Fort Niagara looking across Lake Ontario and the city of Toronto, Ontario can be seen across the lake in the centre of the photo.

Stone light house.

Making a canoe the native way, with Fort Niagara in background.

On the way back, Jim found Woodcock Brothers Brewery in Wilson.  Sampled a couple of nice beers and had a snack there.  

Over to The Gator Pub in Crittenden for dinner and spotted their pink pool table!  For breast cancer awareness, they hold a “Save the Rack” pool competition to raise money.

Pool table for the cancer fund raiser pool competition.

Back to work after two weeks off in Buffalo, I don't think we had ever had that much consecutive time there.  

Picked the truck up Thursday afternoon, 10 July and left early Friday morning to load in Georgetown, Ontario (north of Toronto) at EFCO Canada.  

The freight was not ready for shipping.  Ended up sitting there for two hours waiting for paint to dry, then it took six hours to load the trailer – lots of parts with shape edges.  It all had to fit correctly so it would travel without incident.  All edges had to have protective cardboard or pieces of carpet between the edge and the strap to prevent the strap from cutting through and breaking - used 22 straps!

EFCO make the steel scaffolding and molds for forming concrete and concrete support systems, used in the building industry, highway and bridge construction.

Georgetown, Ontario to Stillwater, Minnesota.

Because it took so long to get loaded, Jim ran out of hours on the electronic log book and we didn't get out of Ontario until the next morning - spent the night 35 kms from the USA border.

That weekend, the Moto Guzzi National Rally was in Elkader, Iowa. We have been to this area several times.  It was just a little out of route, so we arrived there at 6pm on the Saturday evening, 12 July after dropping the trailer at the nearby small gas station.

The Elkader City campgrounds for the moto guzzi national rally.

A few rain showers Saturday evening.

Parked beside the Museum.

Not enough time to take the bike off the truck, but we caught up with lots of guzzi friends, and went into to the town of Elkader  with Chris and Judi.

The Keystone Arch Bridge.

Chris & Judi, Jim and I in Elkader.

We attended the Elkader theatrical groups presentation at the Elkader Opera House that night.  Very well done, again – a talented group and many laughs and moto guzzi themed jokes and skits.

More catching up around the campground that night.

Lots of people pack up and leave early Sunday for their trip home.  Randy, Louise, Derek, Jim and I had a morning walk to Elkader - looking for somewhere for breakfast, but nothing open. 

Turkey River at Elkader, Iowa.

Elkader, Iowa - Main Street.

Back to the campground and wandered around while people were packing up.  I heard that 310 people registered, and most camped.

 

Only a couple of hundred miles for us to go that day, so we didn't leave until late morning and continued north towards Stillwater, Minnesota.

Spent the night at the construction site where we delivered Monday morning, on the south side of Stillwater, Minnesota.  A second bridge construction underway over Lake St Croix from Minnesota State Highway 36 over to Wisconsin.

St Croix River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, it is 169 miles long and the lower 125 miles is the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Internet:  The bridge has been designed to withstand temperatures from (minus) -30 degrees F to 120 degrees F (-34 C to 49 C) and is expected to contract 13 inches (33 cm) over the course of a year. The bridge project, which includes building three miles of four-lane highway in Wisconsin and rebuilding about three miles of Minnesota highways, is expected to cost from $580 million to $646 million.  Slated for completion in the Fall of 2016.

Delivering near Stillwater, Minnesota.

While we were delivering, Jim noticed a piece of tread missing out of a drive tyre.  We did not have a reload lined up, so we got it replaced in South St Paul after delivering.

The truck was due for the 120 day inspection that Landstar requires, it had to be done before the end of the week.  Everything passed except the ABS light on the dash was not working. 
Jim switched a bulb from another light, but then it would not go off.  The computer code showed the ABS sensor on the right side rear axle was not working.

It had to be replaced before the prime mover would pass the inspection.  Turned out to be a several hour job because the rear wheels had to be removed to get to it.

Then had to take the truck on a short trip to go several miles at 60 mile an hour to (hopefully) reset the computer, but that did not work.  Ended up taking it to a dealer to connect their computer to remove the error code for the ABS sensor fault.  Then it passed the inspection.

Next morning we loaded two waste containers and delivered them in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin that afternoon.

Rosemount, Minnesota to Johnson Creek, Wisconsin.

Thursday we deadheaded to Joliet, Illinois (south of Chicago) and loaded at Ameriplate, Inc. – 7 small (but heavy) coils of copper and tin and required tarps.

Delivered them to Smithfield, near Providence, Rhode Island on Friday morning.  Stayed at a truck stop near Boston until about 5pm, then over to our next load.  A bit of an adventure, and dangerous (to me!).  Beehives complete with the bees!

Headwater Farms near Carver, Massachusetts provide bees for the pollination of crops and they are ‘rented’ to farms up and down the east coast.  The bees had been pollinating the cranberry crops in south-eastern Massachusetts.

A lot of swampland and bogs, the Carver area began cranberry farming in the 1870’s and by 1900 it was growing one fifth of all cranberries in the US.  By the1940’s it was the largest in the world.  Today it is still a major business in the town.  In 2012 most cranberry bogs started being replanted in favour of a new hybrid cranberry crop.  Now Massachusetts is the second largest producer of cranberries in the US. 

Trivia: Cranberries are native to Massachusetts, natives introduced the fruit as a food to the Pilgrims.

The cranberry is Massachusetts’ official state fruit.

We got to the field about 6pm.  The bees had to go to Florida and our load to South Carolina.  Another rig and ours were there to load bees.

Jim and I stayed in the truck cab.  First, the workers stapled a net about a metre wide, all around the trailer and it hung down like a skirt.  The workers wore full bee suits because bees were plentiful and everywhere!  When it got dark, most of the bees ‘settle down’ and return to their hives.  432 bee hives with millions of bees, were loaded on our trailer. Even though the majority of bees had returned to their hives – there were still thousands flying around and upset about being disturbed!

More netting was put over the load, and the skirt and top net were rolled together to seal in the bees.  Jim got suited up for strapping the load to make sure it was secure.  I am highly allergic to insect stings, so stayed in the truck cab.  Jim got stung three times because he didn't zipper the beesuit!

It was midnight when both trucks were loaded and we went to a Cranberry processing plant nearby to get weighed – we were close to maximum legal weight.  Both trucks stayed the night in the field.

A load of bee hives and bees, from Carver Massachusetts to Timmonsville, South Carolina.

The electronic log book definitely requires more planning for a load like this, but we were up and rolling at 5am.  The bee owners were adamant that bee transportation was exempt from log book rules!!  Wrong! 

I checked the Federal Rules – bee transportation is exempt from hours of service rules ONLY when the bee owner transports them and within a 100 mile radius of the farm.

When the truck stops, the bees come out of the hives, then they can’t find their way back.  Has to be traumatic for the bees and they get angry!  As well, it is mid-summer, and hot.

Jim had to drive it legally - drive during the day so they got air circulation, and sit the required 10 hours during the cooler night.  There was a misting hose on top of the hives along the length of the load and we had to find a water tap and connect the hose to spray the bees, to keep them calm when we stopped. 

Connecting the hose to water the bees at the fuel island.

There were thousands of bees on the outside of the netting – rather interesting at the fuel island of the truckstop.

Unloading the bee hives - view in the mirror.

Once in the middle of the day and again at the end of the day, Jim was able to water them down for about 20 minutes.  

We got to north of Richmond, Virginia that day, the truckstop would not let us park there for the night – bees were against policy!  Luckily, there was a gravel lot across the street, as Jim was out of hours.

We had the lot to ourselves!  And there were blackberry bushes.

Delivered Sunday morning in a field near Timmonsville, South Carolina.  

Jim and I stayed in the truck cab.  Four workers in bee suits, with smoke and two forklifts.  When the net came off there were millions of unhappy bees – and the buzzing was quite loud even in the truck.  

We didn't do anything – they unstrapped, unloaded, rolled up the straps and we didn’t get out of the truck.  When Jim opened the window a little to hand the paperwork out to get delivery signature, one bee got in the cab! There was a bit of energetic leaping about and flailing of arms, attempting to shoo him out the window, but many more were poised to come in with it! 

Again - I am VERY allergic to insect stings, and Jim has not had any reactions previously, but the three stings he got while loading, alarmed him!  He got very swollen.

Jim drove out of the field and stopped about half a mile away from the bees, on the side of the road – before putting the straps and equipment in the storage boxes.

We headed to the truckstop at Florence, South Carolina, and Uncle Pat and Aunt Belinda picked us up for Sunday lunch.  Spent the afternoon with them and stayed the night.  Had a fun catch up.

Monday morning, we deadheaded to Rock Hill, South Carolina and loaded at Terex – one Genie lift and delivered it the next morning at CAT Rents in St Augustine, Florida.

Rock Hill, South Carolina to St Augustine, Florida.

Arrived in Daytona Beach mid-Tuesday 22 July.  We had a few appointments, things to do around the house and Jim had four new tyres put on the trailer.

Had the annual termite inspection and the house treated for insects.  Sherryl and Victor live upstairs and have two ferrets that had to be out of the house for a few hours. Einstein and Sylvester - cool little dudes!  The heat and humidity outdoors was too high for the ferrets, so Sherryl made a “redneck” air conditioner for them.  Covered three sides of the cage with plastic, a few blocks of ice, then aimed the fan at them.  They were comfortable and happy with that.

Einstein, the ferret!

Friday night dinner at Peanuts in New Smyrna Beach with Ron, Gina and AJ - a nice catch up.

Saturday night Harvey and Lis met us at Hidden Treasures Restaurant at Ponce Inlet for dinner and drinks.  We haven’t been to Ponce Inlet for a while, it is very relaxing.  

Hidden Treasures Restaurant at Ponce Inlet, Florida.

Lis, Harvey and Jim.

Wildlife at the Restaurant!

Wandered along the docks where the tourist fishing boats come in – appeared to be a successful day out on the ocean!

The wildlife hang around for scraps when the fish are being cleaned.

Pelicans.

I could not choose between these two photos - so uploaded both!

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.

Back to work on Monday morning, 28 July - over to Orlando and loaded at United  Equipment Rental ; one water truck, and delivered it the next morning in Augusta, Georgia to another United Rentals.

Orlando, Florida to Augusta, Georgia.

Then to Statesboro, Georgia and loaded insulation at GAF.  Delivered Thursday morning to an AutoZone under construction in Wexford, Pennsylvania (north side of Pittsburgh).

Statesboro, Georgia to Wexford, Pennsylvania.

Then not far to Clinton, PA and loaded steel going to Iowa.