Vol. 19 No. 1 - 31 March, 2015

Jim and I got back to Daytona Beach early hours of 3 March, had sleep to catch up on.  My birthday on 4 March and I am eligible for the 55+ discounts now!

Preparations for Bike Week 2015 had already begun in Daytona Beach.  Jimmy was already in Daytona doing work to his truck and was around for all of Bike Week.
Bob Walters arrived Thursday. 
Joe, Cody and Travis arrived Saturday morning, 7 March after Cody’s race in Savannah, Georgia on the Friday night.  A bit of excitement having the front of our house turned into a “pit” for preparing Cody’s race bikes for the races at Daytona Beach.

L to R: Jim, Jimmy, Joe, Cody and Travis at our house.

Also had an evening out at Daytona Taproom that night, weather was cold and windy!

L to R: Travis, Cody, Bob, Joe, Derek, Jim and Lesley at Daytona Taproom.

A group of moto guzzi friends attended the Flat Track Motorcycle races at Volusia Speedway at Barberville on the Sunday – had a cook out in the parking lot.  We enjoyed several hours of racing.

Tailgating.

Michele and Baillie flew in from Buffalo on Monday morning.  The first Monday of Bike Week is always the night for any of the moto guzzi friends in the area to meet at Pantheon Pizza – a fun evening, lots of bikes and stories to tell.   

Jimmy and Baillie - Baillie is getting very tall!

Tuesday Jim, Jimmy, Joe, Michele, Baillie, Bob and Derek went on a half day fishing charter with the Critter Fleet – weather was warm and they caught some fish, and all had a memorable trip!  I met them at Hidden Treasures Restaurant next to the Inlet and the chef cooked the fish they caught.

Fishing boat at Ponce Inlet, Florida.

At Hidden Treasures Restaurant: Joe, Jimmy, Michele, Derek and Baillie.

Thursday and Friday evening Cody raced in the AMA Pro Flat Track Expert Class at the Daytona International Speedway track.  Jim and I attended Friday and were not disappointed with the high standard of competition.  Cody did very well – much excitement and awe, though didn't make a place – it was very close with fractions of seconds between the racers times.  A large crowd attended and no one was disappointed.

Autographs for the fans!

We had a couple of walks to Main Street over the weekend to experience in the crowds.  

Main Street, Daytona Beach.

Also a couple of trips to the midway at the Speedway for the motorcycle tradeshows and vendors.

Caught up with Dave and Debbie - check out Debbie's new Can Am.

Moto Guzzi had ten demo bikes at the race track. Saturday Jim and I took a new 1400 California moto guzzi for a test ride.  Participants were escorted on a 40 minute ride – plenty long enough to be impressed with the engineering and comfort of the new bikes.  Jim wanted them all!

Moto Guzzi tent at the Internationsl Speedway.

Actor Ewan McGreggor has many moto guzzi's.

The Moto Guzzi demo bikes.

We took this one for a demo ride.

Caught up with several friends visiting for Bike Week activities.

The Sunnyside Cycle group left Saturday mid-day and headed north to the Buffalo, New York area. Joe and Bob left early Sunday.

Chris, Jimmy and Jim at the Oasis Tiki Bar.

Jim signed a new trucking contract this year.  He wants to get away from having to reapply as a 'new' contractor each year after taking the four months off (new application and orientation).  He has done that for seven years.  Also installing the Electronic On Board Recorder (EOBR) and taking it out each year.

Our time in Daytona was split between Bike Week activities and sorting out the new contract and getting the truck and trailer back on the road.

Had to disturb some wildlife too!  A wasp nest:

Lots of spiders and webs!

Now contracted to Admiral Merchants Motor Freight, head office in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AMMF has about 700 contractors, a much smaller company than Landstar which has approximately 8,000 owner/operators.

Website: Admiral Merchants’ history of quality service spans seven decades.  We started off as a small fleet of trucks in 1929.  We've seen good times and some lean ones too.  Through it all, we've survived and thrived on a proud, strong tradition of personal commitment to each and every customer.  Admiral Merchants offers truckload and LTL service with a variety of specialized equipment for shipper loading.

Admiral Merchants has an advanced network of top quality owner-operators who believe in quality and service.  Our owner-operators take pride in their work, their equipment and themselves. We select only the best and we pay them well.  We reward excellence with the benefits and incentives it deserves.

We left Daytona Beach on Sunday 22 March and loaded at Keen in Pooler, Georgia the next day.  One JBC Loadall machine.

Temperatures started falling as we headed north to Lansing, Michigan.  Entered the 'snow zone' in Ohio!

First load for 2015 - Pooler, Georgia to Lansing, Michigan..

Delivered Tuesday afternoon in Lansing.  Loaded late Wednesday afternoon in Port Clinton, Ohio at Fenner Dunlop.  They manufacture conveyor best systems.  We loaded four large rolls of conveyor belt: two for Arkansas, one for Oklahoma and the last one for Laredo, Texas.

Port Clinton, OH with three deliveries - Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

On the way south we stopped in Louisville, Kentucky for the Mid-America Trucking Show.

Website:  The Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) is the largest annual heavy-duty trucking industry event in the world.  Held each year at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville, KY, the show attracts 70,000+ attendees and 1000+ exhibitors from throughout the United States and abroad.  No other show offers more under one roof…. The first show was in 1972 and it gets bigger and bigger!

We met Joe in Louisville at Mercer Transportation.  Jim and I were contracted to Mercer in 2006 with both Joe and Jimmy – all at the same company.  Both of them are still there, so we parked in Mercer's yard as 'guests', which was convenient.

Thursday afternoon, Joe, Jim and I took the Mercer courtesy bus to the Show and enjoyed several hours looking at the exhibits.

We stopped at the Admiral Merchants recruiting station to meet some of the people we had been talking to.  We were treated like celebrities!

That evening we met other drivers at Los Aztecas Mexican restaurant, a six block walk from where our trucks were parked.

A beautiful walk at sunset in the historical area of downtown.

Friday morning Jim and Joe worked to Joe's truck and I walked to the historic downtown area we had been to the evening before.

Internet:  Today Louisville is home of the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the University of Louisville and its athletic teams, Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and the airport is the site of UPS’s Worldwide hub.

I didn't have time to look through the Museums in the area.

The red penguins on the building are an art project.

Jim and I toured the Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum in 2006, and I would like to see it again, this time I looked around the souvenir shop.  Outside is a six-story, 68,000 pound bat.  It appears to be leaning on the building but is actually free standing.

I checked out the foyer of the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience (part of the Kentucky Bourbon Tour), and enjoyed the brisk morning and old architecture.

Around noon, Joe left to load and then head home, Jim and I went to the Truck Show and Jimmy got to the Show mid-afternoon.  Jim and I went to Admiral Merchants again and met more people and the CEO of the company.  All nice people.  

We already had concert tickets, but swapped them for better seats that exhibitors had been given.

Large, fluffy snowflakes appeared late afternoon and the temperature dropped!

The concert was sponsored by Mobil Delvac oil, the support act was Chris Hennessee and the header was the Marshall Tucker Band.  Jimmy, Jim and I were fifth row from the stage in the centre – very nice! The show was great, a lot of audience participation.

Jim and I left before noon on Saturday morning, Jimmy went back to the Truck Show.  We headed south to deliver on Monday, 30 March in Crossett, Arkansas, Mill Creek, Oklahoma and Laredo, Texas on 31 March.