Vol. 20 No. 9 - 13 November, 2016

Monday, 31 October we delivered three shipments near Chicago, then loaded a partial/LTL (Less Than Truckload) in Rockford, Illinois.  Roper Whitney, they manufacture sheet metal fabricating equipment.  Loaded a ‘bending’ machine on the deck of the trailer, then tarped it.

LTL Rockford, Illinois to Fort Pierce, Florida.

South to Chillicothe, Illinois (north of Peoria) on Tuesday, and loaded a CAT engine for a pump.  A half a trailer loaded.

Two LTL's so far, for Florida.

850 miles down to Carolina Fabricators in West Columbia, South Carolina to finish loading on Wednesday.  Six steel tank heads.

Three LTL’s on, southbound to Florida.  At a rest area stop later that day, Jim noticed a drive tyre low on air.  After seeing a billboard on the highway for Merritt’s Garage, in the town of Coosawhatchie, South Carolina - we pulled off at the next exit.

Coosawatchie, South Carolina - old style garage.

The worker’s there were very helpful – found the puncture and what caused it! A brake caliper – must have picked it up on the highway.  The flat end of the rod went through the tyre.  Jim had planned to replace all eight drive tyres when we return to work next year, and have a matched set. Didn’t want to outlay the money before we take three months off.  The garage did not recommend patching it, but Jim told them to go ahead and we hoped it would last the next 1000 miles to finish the work year for us.

Tyre repair.

The end was worn from rubbing on the road, the other end punctured the tyre.

Wednesday night we stopped in Fort Pierce, Florida – got up early to get the truck washed before the line got too long.  There was a retention pond next to it and I saw this sign as we drove in.

Clean truck after a wash.

Delivered the tank heads to Miami Filter, Inc. near Fort Pierce.

Website:  Miami Filter, Incorporated has been designing and manufacturing water filtration systems since 1958.  Applications include large commercial swimming pools, aquariums, zoos and recreational water parks.  Equipment is utilized for many industrial applications such as wastewater treatment, ground water remediation, potable water, agriculture, and aquaculture.

Delivered tank heads in Fort Pierce, Florida.

And that ‘fingers crossed’, hopefulness regarding the tyre puncture and patch … Thursday morning there was no air in it and it would not hold air - the patch did not hold.  Miami does not have a truckstop, and truck related services are scarce.  After several phone calls – a small place called Alex’s Tires assisted.  It operated out of a mini storage and mostly did mobile service.  We had to buy a new tyre and we pulled into a quiet side street and Mario had us up and running again.

Tyre replaced in Miami.

Next year, Jim will get the set of eight new drive tyres and this one will be a spare.

Some streets and paved parking lots in Florida are unique because the sand and stone quarries contain sea shells and they end up in asphalt and concrete mix. Looks great!

Sea shells in Florida asphalt.

Delivered the CAT engine to Pantropic in south Miami, then drove the Tamiami Trail across the Florida peninsular on Hwy 41.  We had not been on that for a long time – US Highway 41 starts (or ends?) in Miami, Florida.

Internet:  Between Miami and Naples, US 41 runs through the vast Everglades wilderness.  This section has been designated a National Scenic Byway.  The byway runs east-west through Big Cypress National Preserve, skirting the northern border of the Everglades National Park for about 20 miles (32km).  The part of the highway between Tampa and Miami is known as the Tamiami Trail (derived from the combination of Tampa and Miami, the roads two ends.)

The trail is only one lane in each direction, and it has no fences to keep wildlife from crossing it.  Alligators are sometimes on the highway!

Tamiami Trail / US41 south Florida

Delivered to Crowther Roofing in Fort Myers on Friday morning, they make metal roofs.  Then headed to the house.

I received an email from the Peabody Auditorium, in Daytona advertising a performance on that night. They were offering two tickets for $20.00 if purchased from the Box Office.  After parking the truck, we stopped by the Box Office on the way to the house.

Headed out a bit early and wandered Main Street – very quiet this time of year!

 A quiet Main Street, Daytona Beach.

Peabody Auditorium, Daytona Beach.

Peabody Website: Aluminum – This new and unique show brings material, music and artists on stage in a magical, mystery-filled creation combining visual theatre, dance and humor into an exciting, multi-sensory experience …  a unique marriage of art, visual theater, and acrobatic dance with commonplace industrial materials to create a silver-sheened world where machines spring to life with energy and emotion.

The aluminum 'curtain' prior to opening.

Some audience  participation.

Very entertaining - the dance and acrobatics were amazing and creative. Audience interaction as well, there were a lot of children in the audience.  After the show the performers came into the seating area and into the foyer and interacted with people.

The commercial:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM2tnwAbdNQ#t=25.829

A busy week for us in Daytona – getting quotes for replacing the roof, appointments, preparing the truck and trailer for storage and catching up with people.
A lovey dinner at Hulls Seafood in Ormond Beach with Lis and Harvey. Took a couple of photos heading west into the sunset over the Granada Boulevard bridge.

Over the Granada Blvd Bridge in Ormond Beach.

Granada Boulevard.

Dinner in New Smyrna Beach with Ron and Regina at Half Wall on Friday evening.

The Daytona Beach Greek Festival runs for four days, we sent there Saturday afternoon.
The 40th Annual Festival for St Demetrois Greek Orthodox Church - the Church is two blocks from the house beside the Halifax River.  We stayed a couple of hours; a huge selection of Greek food and pastries, we ate well! 

The Greek band was very entertaining.

Also tried a Greek beer.

Watched the traditional Greek dancing and the sun setting over the Halifax.

Sunday afternoon we finalized packing and a bit of business.  Ready to fly to Australia Monday (tomorrow) morning.  Ron Hewitt is taking us to the airport in Orlando.  Flying via Houston Texas, Los Angeles California, Auckland NZ into Brisbane on Wednesday. From Orlando, Florida to Brisbane, Queensland (as per our ticket) is 31 hours 10 minutes travelling.  Add an hour and a half drive from Daytona to Orlando Airport, a couple of hours each end airport time, and four + hours from Brisbane to Chinchilla - we are usually a little tired by the time we get there.