Casey Capers - USA: Vol. 19 No. 5

Boiler pipe, loaded in Rives Junction, Michigan going to Canton, Illinois - had to be tarped.

Loaded boiler pipe in Rives Junction, Michigan on 1 July and arrived in Canton, Illinois late that afternoon. We were able to park near our consignee and spent a few hours in the small town of Canton. Found a sports bar for dinner “Time Out Sports” and to “Billy’s Bar” to hang out with the local crowd.

Website: Canton is a vibrant, thriving city rich in history and full of traditions. Located in West Central Illinois, the legacies of the Spoon and Illinois Rivers run deep here, immortalized by poet Edgar Lee Masters in the Spoon River Anthology.

Downtown Canton, Illinois.

Under the Canton water tower, waiting to unload boiler pipe.

Thursday morning we delivered the boiler pipe to Jarvis Welding Co. in Canton. It took us most of the rest of the day watching the computer load boards to find a reload, we headed towards St. Louis, Missouri late afternoon, the Illinois River and creeks were in flood. We had a couple of detours on back roads before opting for the interstate highway. Loaded Friday morning, 3 July at Bussen Terminal on the Mississippi River.

Bussen Terminal on the Mississippi River, St. Louis, Missouri.

Website: Bussen Terminal is a full service barge and rail facility located on the upper Mississippi in St. Louis. With three unloading docks each with a 150-ton crane, we can unload a barge as soon as it arrives in port. We also have a loading ramp for quick and efficient barge unloading. All docks are deep water so river conditions seldom effect operations. Over 130 years of service.

Zinc ore ingots come via the Mississippi River barges from Sainte Genevieve. There are large deposits of minerals known as Mississippi Valley Type – lead, limestone, dolomite, marl from the South East Missouri Lead District.

Ingots of zinc ore - St Louis, Missouri to Greeneville, Tennessee - future US coins.

It was a near maximum weight for us, but only going 560 miles to Greeneville, Tennessee. On Saturday, 4 July we stopped at a truckstop 30 miles from Greeneville and unloaded the bike early afternoon. Weather forecast was not good for 4^th July activities or motorcycling – many thunderstorms and flash flooding forecast.

Firstly, we found our Greeneville consignee for Monday, then headed to the historic town of Jonesborough, Tennessee – there was a Fourth of July festival going on!

Jonesborough is Tennessee’s oldest town. When you enter historic Jonesborough, you are taking a journey into the past. A unique 18^th century town nestled in the Appalachian Mts of northeast Tennessee. As you walk along the well-preserved Main Street, you easily drop back in time to the days of Daniel Boone, Andrew Jackson, David Crockett, John Sevier and many other historic figures that lived in or around Jonesborough. Because there are so many interesting tales, Jonesborough is the Storytelling Capital of the World and home of the International Storytelling Center.

Very cool to be there for the festival. Several ‘storytellers’ had people captivated in the street, reminded us of the ‘bush poets’ in Australia.

Several blocks of Main Street was filled with vendors and stalls, and a band playing mountain music. (Alabama’s 1982 hit “Play Me Some Mountain Music” comes to mind.)

Research: The Southern Appalachian Mountains has long held the image of a place very slow to change. The Mountains create a natural isolation and the people there are notoriously conservative, eager to hold on to tradition. The first non-native settlers were English, Scottish, and Irish, they brought their old songs and ballads with them - then came Europeans. Early settlers could only bring small instruments with them. The fiddle, the jaw harp (trump), mouth bow and bones were favourites. Early settlers began making up songs about their situation in the New World.

The first ‘banjos’ were made of gourds, The wooden hoop style banjo did not arrive in the Southern Mountains until after the Civil War, but has had a tremendous impact on the sound and style of mountain music.

One of the first and most important outside influences in mountain music was the minstrel shows. This influential musical phenomenon has largely been ignored because of its racial themes, but the minstrel shows helped create American popular music, they were the first real blend of white and black music (Anglo/African). Blues, Jazz, and Rock and Roll evolved from this unique combination.

The harmonica, bones, squeezebox, and guitar were added. Lyrics combined religion, working in the fields and railroad, medicine shows, war, vaudeville.

Mountain, old-timey, hillbilly, or ‘hick’ music – has not been popular for many decades (i.e. played on the radio), but it always draws a crowd at a festival.

Jonesborough is the (self appointed) "Storytelling Capital of the World",

The old towns have a lot of history and there were many of these historic plaques around the towns and places we visited. Definitely could not stop at all of them, but they were interesting.

There were rain showers but we managed to find canopies to stand under for the worst of it. After a couple of hours enjoying the entertainment and consuming donuts, popcorn, hot dogs and a funnel cake, we ventured on.

A funnel cake - we shared it.

The old Jonesborough railroad station has been converted into a micro-brewery – Depot Street Brewery.

A very friendly place, no food is available there but customers are encouraged to bring their own or order in while they enjoy the beer. Another group there bought a picnic and talked to us awhile and provided us with snacks – nice people!

We headed north through the town of Rogersville – the second oldest town in Tennessee, settled in 1775 by Davy Crocketts’ grandparents.

Rogersville - Tennessee's second oldest town.

Travelled highway 70 north, the ‘Trail of the Lonesome Pine’, a great motorcycle road with nice sweepers and some tight bends, unfortunately as we increased elevation we encountered the storm clouds stalled in the mountains, very persistent rain! Stopped on the side of the road and the tree canopy sheltered us from the rain … up to a point. We ended up putting on the rain gear and headed back down the mountain to the truck. Pretty much all our gear was wet, and had to be spread out inside the truck overnight.

Waiting for the rain to stop... it didn't.

Sunday’s weather forecast was pretty much the same as Saturday’s, storms all around but hit and miss.

We headed out on the bike at 10am into Greeneville to learn about ex- US President Andrew Johnson. We both were quite fascinated and impressed. Quite a lot of Greeneville town and Green County has the name ‘Andrew Johnson’ or ‘Johnson’ in it – the Andrew Johnson ‘Bank’ … 'Tower', … 'Theatre', … 'Building', etc., and of course, Johnson City, Tennessee.

A couple of hours at the Andrew Johnson Visitor Centre in Greenville is totally recommended. The museum has many civil war era exhibits, and a lot of history is preserved. Johnson was born December 29, 1808 and died December 29, 1875.

From the National Park Service website: The Andrew Johnson National Historic Site and National Cemetery interprets the life and legacy of the 17^th President, Andrew Johnson’s presidency, 1865-1869, illustrates the United States Constitution at work following President Lincoln’s assassination and during attempts to reunify a nation torn by a civil war.

The inspiring and imposing figure of Andrew Johnson is mounted on the corner of College and Depot Streets in downtown Greeneville, TN overlooking the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site.

Another cast of the statue stands on the Capitol grounds in Nashville where Johnson served as Representative and Senator, as well as both Governor and Military Governor of the state.

Statue of President Andrew Johnson in Greeneville, Tennessee.

One thing that struck me is that Andrew Johnson came from poverty. So many politicians come from wealth and privilege and are mostly ignorant of the struggles of a majority of the population.

This is a replica of the home where Johnson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. His father died when he was three and his mother, brother and he were destitute. His mother apprenticed Andrew at age 10, and his brother William to a tailor. The boys later ran away from their apprenticeship and had a $10.00 reward posted for their return. The apprentice rules were very different back then:

“Apprentices usually served seven-year terms during which their masters were to prepare them for a trade, teach them to read and write and feed and house them. In return, they owed their masters complete obedience. If they ran away, no other local employer could hire them. If captured, they were generally required to serve double their seven-year term. “

He ended up in Greeneville and worked as a tailor when the old tailor retired, he took over the tailor shop. Andrew Johnson’s Tailor Shop was a thriving early business in Greeneville. Johnson hired readers to educate him while he worked, and the shop became a gathering place for local me to debate. When Andrew was elected to his first political office as alderman, meetings were held in the shop.

The original tailor shop has been preserved, in 1921 a building was built around it.

The building on the left is where the tailor shop is preserved, the home on the right is Johnson's home for 24 years in Greeneville,

Andrew Johnson married a local girl, owned a home in Greeneville, and had five children.

He owned this home for 24 years, before and after his presidency. Three generations occupied the home before placing it in the stewardship of the National Park Service. The home is filled with many original family belongings and memorabilia and is open on the first level and basement with information about Andrew Johnson’s early life, the purchase of his first slaves, and his entrance into the political world.

Trivia: Andrew Johnson was the first American president to be impeached, he was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

We headed south towards Asheville, North Carolina, lots of backroads and fun on the motorbike. Lots of old towns and interesting buildings.

We stopped for lunch at the North Carolina / Tennessee state line at a restaurant and had the 'best burgers’.

Tennessee / North Carolina state line.

The storms were getting closer, so we headed back to the truck and loaded the bike before we got wet again. Caught up on a few jobs around the truck to finish off the weekend.

We delivered Monday morning, and found out Jarden Zinc Products are a major provider of coin blanks that are made into currency. We asked because the dock area was littered with shiny disks the size of quarters. They go to the US Mint to be stamped.

Internet: The US penny used to be made out of copper which was once inexpensive. As the cost of copper began to rise, the US Mint switched over to zinc alloy. The price of zinc has steadily rising since 2005. A one-cent piece costs about 2.4 cents to make – 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper.

I liked the history of Jarden Zinc Products:

Website: Jarden Zinc Products has roots that reach more than a century into America’s past. In 880, five brothers founded what was called “Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company.” Their company quickly became the leading manufacturer of glass home canning jars in the United States. The operation included a small zinc mill, which produced the lids for the famous Ball Mason Jars.

After delivering in Greeneville, we headed to Knoxville and loaded 8 big rolls of pipe and delivered them the next day in Orlando, Florida, then to the house.

Knoxville, Tennessee to Orlando, Florida.

Jimmy was in town, so we caught up with him for a few beers and dinner at Daytona Taproom - his birthday was the next day (8 July), he was loaded and heading out in the morning.

Daytona Taproom for Jimmy's birthday drinks.

Jim and I stayed busy – we put in new walls in the bathroom. Visited Lis and Harvey in De Leon Springs – Lis' cooking is always a treat, and we had a fun evening with them. I had some doctor and dentist appointments, Jim always has work on the truck, and business to take care of. We did not get the chance to walk to the Boardwalk – it was also extremely hot weather with storms in the afternoon – tropical.

We left early Wednesday morning – 15 July - early enough to experience a nice sunrise.

Looking east on Beville Road, Daytona Beach, Florida.

Daytona Beach, Florida.

Jacksonville, Florida to Corfu, New York.

Loaded at Mabey Structures in Jadcksonville, Florida. Mabey rent temporary bridges, temporary roadways, excavation shoring, structural shoring - their yard is all different pieces to fit together to make structures. (Heavy duty Meccano Erector sets!), It took a long time to load because the forklift driver loaded pieces, then the consignee changed the order, and pieces were taken off the trailer and swapped out. Forklift driver was frustrated!

An easy trip north, delivered to another Mabey Depot near Corfu, New York on Friday morning.

This truck at the truckstop.

That evening we loaded 31 pieces of pipe at Global Drilling Suppliers in Brookville, Pennsylvania – it was a partial and a light load going to near Boston, Massachusetts.

Brookville, Pennsylvania to Massachusetts

Pipe casings for foundations, they join together, filled with concrete for pylons.

On Saturday afternoon we pulled into a truckstop in northern Connecticut and unloaded the motorbike. That afternoon, our destination was Willimantic, Connecticut – home to Eastern Connecticut State University and the Windham Textile and History Museum. Early history of the area, the settlement beside the Willimantic River, seven cotton mills were built by 1828 and it became known as “Thread City”.

Windham Thread and Textile Museum.

It is also known as “Frog City”. Frogs all over the place! The Frog Bridge is a landmark, it has huge green frog statues sitting on concrete thread spools.

The spools represent the history a of thread manufacturing, and the frogs represent the legendary Windham Frog Fight of 1754.

The Frog Bridge, in Willimantic, Connecticut..

Briefly, as we were told – in 1754 the residents were afraid of Indian attacks and one night in June there were awful noises in the night which terrified everyone. In the early morning hundreds of dead frogs were discovered. The area was experienceing a drought and the only water was a small pond near town, and during the night, all the frogs from surrounding areas had tried to get in it and had a big fight.

Our destination was the Willimantic Brewing Company for dinner and craft beers. Very cool brewery, re-purposed US Post Office built in 1909, a living landmark restaurant. Beautiful with the old woodwork, and high ornate ceilings.

The Willimantic Brewery in the old Post Office building.

We had a lovely dinner and a couple of brews, then back to the truck.

Sunday morning, after some things to get done around the truck, we headed north on the bike. We zigzagged to Springfield, Massachusetts and over to Monson, where there was a brew pub called Tree Top Brewery. We go lost… ended up on a dirt road leading to nowhere (we turned around). Somehow this happens ...?

Somewhere south of Monson, Massachusetts.

The brewery was closed on Sundays, so we headed south and found a small bar in Stafford, Connecticut and met some locals.

Bar in Stafford, Connecticut.

Interesting that the building was built almost 100 years ago, everything around it was historic.

A sign of a new era was electrical power outlets with USB outlets under the bar. They alternated with the handbag hooks. Previously the owners had so many customer's phones on charge in their work area that they had extra outlets installed specifically for customers convenience.

There was a Connecticut brewpub beer on tap there, so we tried that, we were given directions to its location (after checking to see if it was open on a Sunday!)
Broad Brook Brewery in East Windsor is located in the back of a plaza, we enjoyed there – everyone friendly.

Broad Brook Brewing Company in East Windsor, Connecticut.

The architecture in the area was lovely - old stone and wooden churches.

These are derelict textile mills. Some old mills have been converted in to living apartments or offices, but most have been left to ruin.

Old textile mill.

Back to the truckstop to load the bike late afternoon.

Monday morning we were up early to go 70 miles to Concord, Massachusetts to deliver the pipe. Concord is a very old town with narrow streets, We had to go on a road that was signed "no trucks", low trees, tight turns, etc. Arrived there to find out the project had not commenced and the shipment had to deliver to their yard on the north side of Boston! Jim spoke to the consignee three times on the Friday to line up the delivery. Ugh!

Over to Windsor Locks, Connecticut before lunch to load a truck at the National Guard Depot.

Internet: Windsor Locks is named for a set of canal locks that opened in 1829 on the Connecticut River.

Windsor Locks, Connecticut to Atlanta, Georgia.

Windsor Locks, Connecticut and York, Pennsylvania to Georgia.

Early the next morning loaded at PoolPak International in York PA, just two pieces, an LTL that went on the deck of the trailer and tarped. A dehumidification system for indoor pools.

Beautiful sunrise and a sunset on the way south.

Delivered the pool unit to a new motel construction site south of Atlanta, Georgia, and delivered the truck to the Georgia National Guard Depot in Atlanta. Then up to Fort Mill, South Carolina and loaded and tarped steel pipe. Had some space on the trailer, and found another LTL in Ashland, Ohio, a machine and augers - loaded that the next day.

Steel pipe loaded in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Pipe is tarped, and the 'orange' auger drilling machine, two LTL's.

Got to Eden, New York that night and parked at our delivery next to the old railway station, Eden Center.

We walked a couple of blocks into the historic centre of town. Had a lovely dinner and a beer at Eden Ale House.

The company we delivered for was redoing the water pipes for the town of Eden. The machine we delivered drilled horizontal holes. It was an easy delivery early in the morning, then to Buffalo to deliver the steel pipe.

The occasion to be in Buffalo was for Jim’s 50^th High School Reunion for Maryvale High School, Class of 1965. Friday evening was a dinner and dancing at Joseph’s Catering and Grove in Depew, a lovely warm night at a great venue. (Jim is in this photos, but just the side of his head is visible.)

Most of the Maryvale High School Class of 1965.

"YMCA" Maryvale style.

Jim impressed everyone by doing the "mashed potato".

Bob and Barb Hildebrand, we try to meet them for a meal and catch up each year.

There was a lovely meal and a DJ for dancing. The evening was from 6 to 10.30pm - 106 attended. There were over 300 students in Jim's class.

Saturday was the Maryvale High School All Class Reunion, it is held every year on the last Saturday of July. Jim and I have attended several picnics in previous years. Some of his class attended the picnic but not the Friday evening dinner and vice versa. Jim had a great time at both events. Weather was nice as well.

Maryvale Highs School All Class Reunion at Cheektowaga Town Park.

Sunday was busy helping Joe with some work to the house, visiting Jim's mother and getting stuff done.

Monday we left Joe and Michele's early and loaded in Tonawanda on the north side of Buffalo at Schwabels Fabricating, loaded one large aluminum tank and a small crate that held a cover.

Tonawanda, New York to Beaumont, Texas.

Had space on the trailer, so checked the internet load board and found an LTL near St. Louis, Missouri, just a little out of the way to Texas.
Tuesday we loaded at Barnes Pipe in Dupo, Illinois - going to Sulphur, Louisiana which was only 50 miles (80 kms) from Beaumont, TX.

Added an LTL: ten bundles of steel pipe for Sulphur, Louisiana.

No time to waste to make the deliveries. Delivered the pipe in Sulphur, LA late Wednesday morning and the tank and crate at BASF Corp. in Beaumont, TX in the afternoon.

Loaded north Houston Thursday morning at GSE Environmental.

Website: GSE is a leading manufacturer and marketer of geosynthetic lining products and services. Geomembranes are the leading choice for strong, reliable landfill liners that prevent leakage and groundwater contamination.