Two LTL shipments, first one, the farm implement (planter) loaded in Elkhart, Kansas, the second picked up in Kansas City, Missouri - at
United Rentals Trench Safety on 1 May. Steel sides for trenches.
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| Kanasa/Missouri to North Carolina. |
An easy drive to deliver to another
United Rentals Trench Safety in Greensboro, NC in the morning on 3 May, then the planter to
Sandy Knoll Farms in Pantego, NC. Eastern North Carolina I saw several
Duck Thru convenience store/gas stations. Had not seen them before.
Further north to
Nucor Steel in Corfield, North Carolina. Loaded five steel plates.
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| Corfield, North Carolina to Blasdell, New York. |
To Western New York, colder temperatures and trees still not aware it is supposed to be Spring.
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| This cool old Jeep in a rest area. |
First trip to the Buffalo, NY area this year. Had hoped for warmer weather, but still quite cool. The 2003 moto guzzi is our means of transport up there, we did not venture far because it was rainy and cold.
Danny's Restaurant for Buffalo Wing soup - something new, and very tasty (spicy!).
Bob and Pat (West Virginia) were in Buffalo, visiting - so we met them for drinks and caught up with some of their family, Bob's mum and their eldest son - we had not seen for several years.
Checked out our camper that we have at Joe and Michele's, and it survived the cold winter without any problems. Nice to spend time with Joe, Michele and Baillie.
Delivered the plate steel to
Samuel Steel in Blasdell, NY on Monday morning, then south to Endicott, NY to load at
National Pipe and Plastic.
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| Sun rising at the pipe yard. |
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| Endicott, New to (eventually) Florida. |
National Pipe & Plastic have another yard in Colfax, North Carolina. An extra stop on our way south - the pipe on the rear of the trailer delivered there, and replaced with more for Florida.
Delivered to a plastic pipe place in Riviera Beach, Florida on Thursday, 9 May - then 3 hours back to Daytona Beach. Having an issue with the truck - it had been using coolant since we left Phoenix. It spent some time being worked on by a mechanic friend, Chris with Jim helping out (three trips to Orlando for parts). Needed a compressor, the fuel injectors were rebuilt, one had been putting fuel into the oil, so required an oil change, found a few more problems while doing these - all good now.
We ended up with 12 days at the house. Jim was busy during the week with the truck, weekends we visited the usual places.
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| Sunset from the Beachside Brewpub in Ormond-by-the-Sea. |
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| Out on the Moto Guzzi Bassa. |
Spent some time with our neightbour / friend, Diane - a walk along the Daytona Beach boardwalk near us.
Jim's friend from High School, Ray and his wife, Margie are living the Recreational Vehicle life, and had been wintering in Florida and on their way back to Western New York. We have seen Ray most years at the Maryvale High School picnics and dinners over the last several year, but our first time meeting Margie.
They stopped in Daytona Beach, and we picked them up and went to
DJ's Deck for an early dinner. Really nice people, would have liked to spend more time with them, but maybe next year we can do that.
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| Jim, Lesley and Ray. |
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| Jim, Lesley, Margie and Ray at DJ's Deck. |
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| The new Memorial Bridge (far distant) over the Halifax River is getting closer to completion. |
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| Main Street drawbridge, most river bridges have been replaced. |
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| Fishing at the Main Street pier - did not catch any fish. |
Jimmy got in while we were there, and a trip to
Oasis Tiki Bar is where we find him!
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| Taco Tuesday at Tia Cori's. |
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| The Beach Street Post Office is great architecture (next to Tia Cori's), |
Met with new new friends, Kevin and Rie, the couple that helped us so much when the Eldorado ran out of petrol last time we were out on it in Ormond Beach. We enjoyed our first meeting / adventure with them. Friday evening we met for a beer at Beachside Brewpub, then back to their house and Rie cooked a lovely meal, and the evening with them went fast as we have a lot in common. Lots of laughs and we are making plans for more adventures / outings with them.
Joe arrived in Daytona for the weekend 18th-19th, did some riding around and caught up with Mary Lynn, Lamont, Tim and Helena. Ate at First Turn, in Port Orange.
Then to
Bay3Bar in New Smyrna Beach. I liked the outside fire pit, with the happy face!
On the way to take Joe back to his truck Sunday evening- Joe, Jimmy, Jim and I had a great Mexican dinner at
La Fiesta in Ormond Beach.
Our truck was ready on Monday afternoon, we had appointments lined up for Monday and Tuesday in Daytona. Left Daytona on Wednesday morning, 22 May and loaded at
JCB, Inc in Pooler, Georgia - one forklift for Irving, Texas (between Dallas and Fort Worth).
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| Pooler, Georgia to Irving, Texas. |
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| Waiting at a rail crossing for about half an hour ... |
Delivered the forklift to Sunbelt Rentals in Irving, Texas, then two hours drive north to Gainesville, Texas to load at Dura-Line, 8 reels of poly pipe, and partial tarp.
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| Gainesville, Texas to Petoskey, Michigan. |
Had to snug up the tarp, very windy and flapping a bit. Stopped at the first rest area in Oklahoma. The Native American detail at the underpass was nice.
Stayed that night in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Had to find a trailer place to get new hoses. That night our phones received tornado watch, severe storms and flash flooding alerts. There was a lot of thunder, lightning, wind and rain but no tornado that night - the night after we left, there was a tornado touch down about 15 kms from where we were.
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| Sunrise in Oklahoma City, at the truckstop after storms. |
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| Shopping Mall outside Oklahoma City. |
We had numerous stops on our way to Northern Michigan. Tarping the pipe was a big challenge - it was so open and air / wind made it billow out, no matter how many straps, ropes, and bungy cords we put on it. The customer required a tarp for the front third of the load. (It was pipe that is to be buried underground.)
The delivery to Petoskey, in the "tip of the mitt" of Michigan.
Internet: Michigan is a mid western US state bordering
four of the Great Lakes. It contains of more
than 11,000 inland lakes, spread across the lower and upper peninsulas.
The 45th parallel is the half way point
between the equator and the north pole. It runs through Northern Michigan, and several signs and monuments acknowledge it.
A fuel station / truck stop near Elmira, Michigan was our home base for a couple of nights. Got there late Sunday afternoon and unloaded the motorbike. Weather that day was warm and sunny, we chose a short trip to the town of Gaylord closeby. Interesting town, alpine / European architecture. We found Snowbelt Brewery.
The kitchen was closed, did not open on a Sunday. we had a beer, and decided to stop at a pub we saw closer to the truck, Railside in Elmira.
The beer tap with the lighthouse was Blood Orange Honey by Cherboyban Brewery, Michigan was my choice, "a fruit and field beer style," brewed in Cheboygan, Michigan.
Monday, 27 May was the Memorial Day holiday, and much cooler temperatures and rain forecast. We went south to Kalkaska, found a nice local restaurant for breakfast, and a couple of photos of the Big Trout. Kalkaska hosts the National Trout Festival.
After a very hearty breakfast, we went west and north. Stopped at Royal Farms in Ellworth. A lovely stop - fruit, vegetables, bakery, gift shop and wine / cider tasting.
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| Spring flower hanging baskets. |
The Winery/Cider tasting room was at the back of the gift shop. Jim and I chose the 5 tastes of any of their wines or ciders. Great fruity tastes - good thing we could not carry any alcohol, we would have bought several bottles!
16 kms north is the town of Charlevoix - it has the World's Largest Cherry Pie! This is cherry country.
Internet: In 1976 a man named Dave Phillips convinced local
businesses in Charlevoix to bake the World’s Largest Cherry Pie as part of the
town’s annual Cherry Festival. A giant
pan was built, along with an equally titanic oven. Local farmers supplied the ingredients. The result: a cherry pie weighing 17,40
pounds. It was a world record.
From Roadside American website: Further
south, the town of Traverse City had its own Cherry Festival. In 1987, the Chef Pierre Bakeries went to
work, and baked a cherry pie that put Charlevoix to shame: 28,350 pounds, 17
feet 6 inches in diameter. Charlevoix’s days in the spotlight were ended after
only 11 years.
But time
has a way of humbling the proud. The Chef
Pierre Bakeries were bought out, and the cherry farms around Traverse City were
turned into golf courses. In 1992, after
only 5 years, Traverse City’s cherry pie crown was knocked clear into Canada when
the town of Oliver, British Columbia baked a cherry pie 39,683 pounds.
So, Charlevoix’s pan, held what is now the
world’s third largest cherry pie… (have not changed the sign - yet...) 
There was some advertising on the placemat at the breakfast restaurant, and I saw that Petoskey has a Stone Festival - we just missed it!
As a NW Michigan souvenir, I bought a Petoskey Stone.
Internet: Petoskey
Stones are fragments of a coral reef from about 350 million years ago during
the Devonian period. They are a result of
glaciation wherein ice sheets plucked the stones from the bedrock and ground
off their rough edges. They were then deposited in Michigan’s upper and
northwestern peninsula.
When dry,
the Petoskey Stone looks like an ordinary limestone, but when wet or polished,
it exhibits the distinct mottled patterns of the coral fossils.
Petoskey Stone
was named the state stone of Michigan in 1965, and named after the Ottawa Chief
on whose property these stones were first found.
Stone / Crystal ‘powers’: Petoskey
Stone is distinguished by the dark ‘eye’ found in the middle of the six-sided
coral fossils that cover the surface. It simulates the third eye, and intuitive
levels of inner self. It helps one toward physic awareness and enhances the
awareness of the emotions. It is also
said to prevent mischievous spirits from channeling information or interfering
with your life.
My other Michigan souvenir - this sticker!
Petoskey.com:
Petoskey is nestled along
the shores of Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan, in the northern lower
peninsula of Michigan. This beautiful resort community is steeped in history,
Victorian architecture, and breathtaking views. Surrounded by the equally
charming and historic communities of Harbor Springs and Charlevoix, the
Petoskey area boasts unparalleled beauty and charm, offering residents and
visitors alike the opportunity to unwind and enjoy nature at its finest.
By the time we rode around Petoskey, and found the delivery address, it started to shower rain and got colder. We got closer to the truck and had an early dinner at Seven-ski's bar, then loaded the bike before the heavier rain arrived.
We were parked next to a stick hauler for the weekend - pipe and poles!
The yellow pipe we had on, is for underground gas lines - we delivered to a farm where they were being stored and available to the company laying the pipe. In an alfalfa field!
Delivered Tuesday, on a cold foggy / misty rain day.
Our tarp had torn in a lot of places and grommets pulled out from the windy trip. We offered it to one of the workers there, and he gladly accepted it. Still has some usefulness. That was the last 'big' tarp, no more 8ft drops.
On Wednesday we loaded three new wood chipper machines. Bandit Industries, Inc in Remus, Michigan manufacture
wood and waste equipment.
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| Remus, Michigan to Syracuse, New York and Needham Heights, Massachusetts. |
An easy, though cool trip east to deliver one wood chipper the next morning in East Syracuse, New York.
The last two in Needham Heights, Massachusetts on Friday morning, 31 May.
Just north to Hudson, New Hampshire late morning to load heat exchangers.
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| Hudson, New Hampshire to New Franklin, Ohio. |
A light load to finish of the month of May.
