Vol 14 No 2 April 28, 2010

Even though we had a week “off” at the house - that really means just “off” the truck. Jim spent three days under the truck, replacing the exhaust, and every time he touched or moved any part, other parts cracked and would then require replacing as well. He installed a Pittsburgh Power exhaust which is flow through (less baffles) and increases fuel economy. Makes the truck louder, especially the jake brake.

I stay busy working through the housework. We are at the house infrequently and usually for only a day or two at a time, once I get through the mail and business, the house work is always waiting.

Saturday morning we met Ron and Regina at Little Drug in New Smyrna Beach for breakfast, then rode south to Titusville for a wander through the big flea market there. On the way back we stopped at the bar where we usually watch the shuttle launches, the vehicle assembly building and launch pad are across the bay.

Stopped at the Last Resort Bar - home of ice cold beer and killer women - where the USA‘s first female serial killer used to hang out. Aileen Wuornos’s killing spree ended with her arrest on 9 January, 1991 in the Last Resort (She was played by Charlize Theron in movie “Monster” 2003.)

Sunday afternoon we went to Bob and Wendy Stanton’s for Easter eating and fun. Their parties and gatherings include a large group and we have met most before. We had a wonderful afternoon/evening with them all. I always enjoy watching the ‘kids’ dye the hard boiled eggs.
This is Bob and Wendy's daughter, Megan and her son Maddox with the egg dye.

Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy space Centre on Monday, 5 April at 6.21am. We were up early getting ready to leave. I walked out of the house to the middle of street and it was an easily visible glowing streak across the early morning sky. Amazing that I could hear the hum of its rockets from so far away.
It is delivering spare parts, supplies and science experiments to the International Space Station laboratories.
A thirteen day mission and It’s crew of seven included four women - that is a first!

After this mission, only three more shuttle launches remain before the space shuttle fleet is retired, even though we have seen many launches and landings - it will be sad knowing it may not happen again. As well has the huge impact of 32,000 people in the Cape Canaveral area who are directly or indirectly connected to the space program - they will lose their jobs!!

We loaded at the ports at Blount Island near Jacksonville - three military vehicles and delivered them the next morning in Fort Eustis, Virginia.
Wikepedia: Fort Eustis is the home to the Army Transportation Corps. The U.S. Army Transportation Museum is located on the grounds. A museum of Army vehicles and other transportation related equipment and memorabilia.

Easy delivery, just drive them off via a loading dock, then 10 kms to the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown. A large facility that provides weapons and ammunition storage and loading facility for ships of the US Atlantic Fleet.

We picked up a cargo trailer and two generator/lighting trailers. Then 1600 kms to Gulfport, Mississippi to deliver at a Naval Base on Thursday morning. 120 kms to Mobile, Alabama and loaded and tarped drums of silico aluminate.
A quick 1500 kms to Chesterton, Indiana and delivered early Friday afternoon.

The next morning we loaded in Chicago, Illinois. Another plant closing and moving to Tennessee. Took a long time to load all the bits and pieces, and we had to tarp it. We had planned to get to Nashville in time to go out Saturday night but didn’t get there until 11pm.

Had some stuff to do Sunday morning around the truck, then at noon we walked from the truckstop over the Cumberland River bridge to downtown Nashville “The District“ of restaurants, bars and honky tonks.

Ate lunch at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and listened to a band. Nice atmosphere and the band was good. Tootsies is one of Nashville’s most famous bars since 1960. Many artists got their start at Tootsie’s. There is never a cover charge at Nashville bars, the bands play for tips only. Almost every bar has a live band, just wander past the door and decide if you want to go in and listen for a while.

Revisited the Big River Grille and Brewery and ordered the sampler of their beers (again). Then we chose the one we liked best. (We had dinner there on the trip with Dave and Linda last October.)

We walked around the District and to the waterfront along the River. Spent an hour at the Charlie Daniels Museum on Second Avenue.
Internet: Welcome into a walk through the life of one of the most down home, patriotic men in country music today. He's played everything from rock to jazz, folk to western swing and honky-tonk to award winning gospel songs. The Charlie Daniels museum is jam packed with memorabilia including thousands of photographs, guitars, tour merchandise, awards and all sorts of other memorable pieces of Charlie Daniels history.

On display is Charlie’s golden fiddle, the 911 commemorative guitar, his CMA, ACM, Living Legend, Dove and Grammy Awards, and gold and platinum records. Lots and lots or memorabilia.
Wikipedia: Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels (born on October 28, 1936, is a musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is known primarily for his number one country hit “The Devil Went Down To Georgia“, and multiple other songs he has performed and written. Daniels has been active as a singer since the early 1950s. He still tours and fills venues at 73 years old.

Being a Sunday afternoon many of the bars and restaurants were closed, but Broadway was starting to pick up pace.

Well, we had walked past Roberts Western World several times - now it was time to go in. Roberts Western World - Home of Traditional Country Music.

A band we had not heard before was playing: the Spaghetti Westerneers - five men and one young lady. As expected these were world class musicians and entertainers, performing a mix of old and really old country songs. Faron Young, Gene Autry, Slim Whitman, Marty Robbins, a little Elvis. (Thank you to my parents and grandparents for exposing me to their music - I could sing along with many tunes. Especially Marty Robbins!) Though, I left he yodeling to the very talented young lady performing!

Three fiddle players at once - then a visiting fiddler from Ireland did an impressive four fiddle rendition of Orange Blossom Special, very memorable.
(In the photo - it is still daylight!)

The old songs are ’stayers’ - been recorded many times over the years:
On 5 March 2009 broadcast, Chris Isaak and Stevie Nicks duetted on "Red River Valley"; Nicks recalled it was one of the first songs she'd ever sung, harmonizing with her grandfather when she was a child.

Trivia: The United States Postal Service recently unveiled the 2010 postage stamps and Gene Autry will receive a stamp as part of the "Cowboys of the Silver Screen" commemorative set. The four stamp set will feature cowboy movie stars William S. Hart, Tom Mix, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. The stamps will be sold at U.S. Post Offices and outlets beginning Saturday, April 17th.

Had 70 kms south to deliver Monday morning in Columbia, Tennessee. A beautiful town on the Duck River.
Wikipedia: In 2009, Hannah Montana, the Movie was filmed in downtown Columbia, at Maury County Airport, and a local dairy farm.
The town is the self-proclaimed "Mule capital of the world" and honours this fact with Mule Day, a large celebration held annually every April. A celebration of all things related to mules. It began in 1840 as "Breeder's Day", a meeting for mule breeders, it now attracts over 200,000 people and takes place over four days.
(I wanted to attend Mule Day, it was on over the weekend, but the main day was Saturday and we were still enroute.)

The machinery delivered OK, then we went 100 kms south to Decatur, Alabama and loaded a boom part to a big crane.

Delivered that to Middletown, Connecticut on Wednesday 14 April.

Drove down to Randolph, New Jersey and loaded at a warehoused which stores overseas freight. Loaded three crated machines, they were big, so we had to use the big tarps to cover them completely.

An easy run down to North Carolina. An appointment had already been made for riggers required for delivery - and we ended up with twice as much time that we needed to run the trip. Delivered at 8am on the Friday morning.


100kms back to Charlotte and loaded a tri-lifter (a huge, heavy duty forklift thingy). I had to research - the mobile tri lifter works like a gantry, forklift and crane to provide the ultimate in flexible, cost-effective rigging. Specifically designed to move heavy loads in confined spaces.

We loaded at a rigging company and a crew from there was leaving on the weekend to take delivery of it in Frackville, Pennsylvania on Monday.

Another easy run over the weekend, it only went 900kms. The weekend was cold, windy and not at all pleasant.

We bobtailed to a mall on Saturday afternoon to get some groceries, then to Frackville Sunday morning. Parked at our delivery and walked up and down the main street - it had steep hills. There were only two restaurants open, so we stopped for pizza and beer at an Italian restaurant. There wasn’t a TV signal either, so we watched DVD’s.

Delivered Monday morning at St Jude Polymer in Frackville. St Jude Polymer is a plastics recycling plant that closed this plant in January because sale of the plastic strapping made from recycled plastic drink bottles has declined and no longer profitable. 41 people out of a job. The rigging company was hired to move the plant equipment out.

Had the tri lifter off by 6.30am, then 300 kms to load in Alum Bank. The shipping company was Creative Pultrusions - we didn’t know what a ‘pultrusion’ was: Pultrusion, is the pulling of material, such as fiberglass and resin, through a shaped die. The product looked like channel steel, but was actually fibreglass. This was a ’hot’ load - needed ASAP. It was only one crate, and weighed one tonne (2100 lbs).

It was a quick, no time to waste trip south. 1900kms, delivered Wednesday morning in Lafayette, Louisiana. Then 2 kms away reloaded nine metal drums of hazmat. 1500 kms north and delivered them the next day near Chicago, Illinois at the Lemont Citgo Refinery.

Had two loads set up for after that and both changed, so we didn’t take them. The next morning we loaded in Fishers, Indiana (north of Indianapolis) a large diesel air compressor on a trailer.

Delivered that 1500kms south Saturday morning in Jacksonville, Florida.
Got to Daytona Beach mid-afternoon. We had a busy few weeks, time for a break from the truck!

We caught up with Lis and Harvey and friends at Brian’s Barbeque in Deland for nickel beer night on Monday. Jim took the trailer to Orlando to get a broken rail welded. We need to replace the winch on the truck that is required to load the motorbike. We want to take it with us for the next trip.

Lots of stuff needs doing - we just work through the list! Weather is warm, storms last Sunday night - fine forecast all week for Daytona Beach.

(New! M&M’s with coconut centres!!! Yum.)

Vol 14 No 1 March 30, 2010

Back in the USA after three and a half months and summer in Australia, we arrived at Orlando airport in Florida at 12.10am on 26 February, I had checked what the weather would be like and it was about 4 degrees C. Ron Hewitt picked us up and he had jackets for us!

There were already people at our house for Bike Week: Jimmy, Joe, Michele, Art and Frank. The weather was cold, but the weekend was sunny.

Sunday afternoon Tim and Helena held a Moto Guzzi Bike Week Welcome party at their house in New Smyrna Beach. About 30 motorcycles there - lots of people from up north. Tim and Helena put on great food and it was a fun time. We left just on dark as it was getting much cooler.

Had a group photo of the Guzzi Floozies in attendance: L to R at rear: Michele, Helena, Jan. Front: Mary Lyn, Cindy, Lesley and Penny. The ladies who ride their own or are passengers on a moto guzzi! (Thanks to Frank for taking the photo and Penny for sending it to me!)

A group of guzzi friends wandered around the tents and exhibits on Beach Street, weather was not good. Cold and rainy, then the five guzzi's parked outside The Helmet Shop in Daytona Beach and created some interest - the MOST moto guzzi's they had seen in one spot??? Frank and Penny, Art, Joe and Michele, Jimmy and Jim and I.

Had the annual guzzi gathering at the Pantheon Pizza on the Monday night. Lots of friends and fun!

Jim and the others went to the AMA Flat Track Races Wednesday night, but the forecast was for near freezing temperatures, so I chose to stay at the house. Good decision - everyone froze at the racetrack!

By Thursday our visitors had departed (except Jimmy who has been living at our house since November and may be there for awhile yet - a casualty of the economic downturn).

Jim and I had business to get done - Federal income taxes were due and also Jim had to re-qualify with Landstar. Another physical and drug test, more paperwork to be sent in, we had done the majority of paperwork at the beginning of February while in Australia which sped things up considerably this year. The truck and trailer had to be inspected. Jim spent Thursday 4 March in Jacksonville for Landstar orientation, got new log books, manuals, door signs, etc.

The last weekend of Bike Week was much nicer weather. Chris and Judi Collins, Moto Guzzi friends from Wisconsin were around and we went to the Cycle Show at the Convention Centre. I spent some time with our neighbour, Diane.

We were ready to go back to work, and loaded Monday, 8 March in Davenport, Florida about 1 1/2 hours from Daytona at a heavy machinery auction, Ritchie Bros. We loaded a Ford F250 vehicle, a hydraulic hammer and a coupler. Then drove 1000 kms over to Lawrence, Mississippi for an excavator. The whole shipment was going to the same company in Ontario, Canada.

We got to the second stop in Lawrence, Mississippi at 10am the next day and it had been raining heavily for hours. We were taken to a forestry and to a CAT 314 C excavator, a small one. A soil loading ramp had been made the day before and the excavator was sitting on top of it. Because the soil was not compacted and with lots of rain, the excavator had already sunk in 20cm. We had intended taking the Ford F250 off, then loading the excavator in front of it (for weight distribution), but the state of the ‘loading dock’ would not allow us to attempt that! Also, it had a blade that made it 10 cms overwidth. No phone signal at the forestry, so we were taken back to the owners home to make all the phone calls because the cost of permits had to be approved. The shipper was nice, his wife made us hamburgers for lunch.

The excavator was temporarily loaded on the tail of the trailer at the forestry. Because the area in front of the ‘loading dock’ was on a slant, the whole rig was bogged there, just sat and spun in the red Mississippi mud. Luckily, there was other equipment there and we were towed out by a bulldozer. The loading proper was done on the side of the road - at least on solid ground. The shipper had a set of small ramps and the F250’s front wheels went up on the deck so the excavator could be put more towards the centre of the trailer with the bucket on the rear with about 60cm overhang . Took seven hours from when we arrived until we were ready to leave the shippers. The rain only let up for a little while, then more thunder and lightning and downpours.

Luckily there was a truckstop at the exit on the Interstate Highway, so we spent the night there. With an oversize load we had to wait for permits and also not allowed to travel between sunset and sunrise. The first few state’s permits were faxed to us that night, so we started at sunrise the next morning (after putting the flags and signs on the front, rear and sides). We didn’t put the oversize requirements on prior to this because legally we should not have moved from the forestry with out permits. This was impossible as we had no fax machine or internet access there. Barely a phone signal. (It was a frustrating day!)

Because of the daylight only driving restrictions, we try not to stop during the day as it is better to get as far as we can before sunset, when we have to stop. Arrived at the Canadian border at 5pm on Thursday afternoon and the customs broker had not completed the paperwork (an important document had been misplaced). We were there until 9.30pm waiting to be cleared, then it was dark and we could not drive any further, so spent the night in the parking lot.

It was an interesting delivery - there was NO loading dock to get the excavator and F250 off. There was a big pile of dirt! The consignee used a front end loader and deposited heaps of dirt at the back of the trailer. Then got in the excavator on the trailer and used the bucket to pack the dirt and bring it up higher than the trailer. Then just drove it off. No worries! The F250 unloaded the same way. Jim pulled the truck forward and he scooped all the dirt and put it back on the big pile.

We had already lined up to load in Buffalo on Monday morning, so had the weekend at Joe and Michele’s. The RV survived the winter - it had up to a metre of snow on it a few times over the winter. Always worry the weight might be too much. Jim had to shovel snow from previous falls so we could get in the door on Friday afternoon.

Wet and windy all weekend, with about 10 cms of fresh snowfall on Sunday morning. Visited a few people, and ate at a couple of our favourite places.

Sunday morning was the Western New York Moto Guzzi breakfast, the second Sunday of each month, so we all attended and met with other guzzi friends in the area. (We did NOT go to the restaurant on motorbikes!)

Loaded used machinery on Monday morning in Buffalo and delivered it the next day in Detroit, Michigan. Reloaded rolled roofing and adhesive (hazmat) in Toledo that afternoon. Delivered near Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday morning. A quick trip over to Schenectady, New York (300kms) and loaded two large steel casings. These went to Bay City, Michigan.

Trivia: So, who remembers the Bay City Rollers???? (I am guilty of having a poster of them on my wall in the early 1970’s.)
Wikipedia: The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish rock band of the 1970s. Their youthful, clean-cut image, distinctive styling featuring tartan-trimmed outfits, and cheery, sing-along pop hits helped the group become among the most popular musical acts of their time. For a relatively brief but fervent period (nicknamed "Rollermania"), they were worldwide teen idols.
The group was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1966 as “The Saxons“. Shortly afterwards, seeking a less English-sounding moniker, they chose a new name allegedly by throwing a dart at a map of the United States. The dart landed on the map in the state of Arkansas, but since "Arkansas Rollers" did not sound quite right, and might also lead to problems with pronunciation, they tried again and this time the dart landed near the community of Bay City, Michigan.

Bay City, Michigan is a lovely town though we didn’t see much - drove through the city, delivered then back out. Loaded 120kms away in Remus, Michigan. Three tree munchers - poke trees in one end, blades munch it up and chips come out the other end. Delivered one the next morning (Saturday) south of Pittsburgh, PA.

We had Sunday off in Harrisburg, PA at the truckstop. Caught up on laundry and maintenance on the truck and trailer. There was still Mississippi mud to clean up. Weather was a beautiful Spring day - warm and sunny.

Raining the next morning and we delivered one tree muncher in Harrisburg and the last one in Marlton, New Jersey near Philadelphia. Reloaded that afternoon in Philadelphia - two Ford F250 pick up trucks. Delivered them near Detroit the next morning and loaded shelving in Detroit late morning. Martin Sprocket and Gear closing a plant near the Ford Factory and relocating to Nashville, Tennessee. We had large, steel shelving racks and the wood shelves that had to be tarped. Detroit is fast becoming a ‘has been‘ city. We drove through the inner city last week at 9am and it certainly didn’t look like peak hour traffic - more like Sunday morning and whole neighbourhoods of vacant, boarded up, or burned out homes from what we could see from the highway.

Delivered the shelving in Nashville the next morning (Wednesday) and went a bit south of Nashville and loaded two jumbo steel beams going to Marion, Indiana (between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne) to the GM plant.

A busy three days - didn’t have much time to spare for anything. After the rain the weather was clear and warmer.

We arrived at our next pick up Thursday morning, but it wasn’t until 3pm before the shipment was ready to be loaded in Michigan City, Indiana - six Sullair generators going to Miami, Florida. The large generators on their own trailers.

Another winter storm was coming across and we experienced heavy rain, freezing rain, high winds and below freezing temperatures again! We hope that will be the last of winter we experience for this year!

Friday afternoon we stopped in Louisville, Kentucky for the Mid-America Truck Show.

The 39th Annual Mid-America Trucking Show encompasses more than 1,000,000 square feet of indoor exhibits and more than 200,000 square feet of outdoor exhibits. Showcasing the most innovative products and services the industry has to offer. The latest innovations in trucks, trailers, and equipment; advanced product services and a wide array of cutting-edge trucking technology. The largest annual event in trucking.

The event goes for three days, and it would take three days to cover the area. We spent five hours there and covered as much as we could - Jim had an agenda, so we made a beeline for certain exhibits. (There are more than 10,000 exhibitors.) We haven’t been to this show for several years. Stopped by the Bekins Van Lines recruiting and visited with our friend, Steve Yacko whom we knew from our tradeshow days with Bekins.
I forgot to take my camera in, but took a couple of photos with the phone camera.

We headed south to Daytona Beach and arrived there Saturday evening. Weather is much warmer anyway.

Jim went to Miami on Monday 29 March to deliver the Sullair to a freight forwarders - they are bound for Peru.

We will be working around the house and truck for a few days. Had a profitable three weeks on the road, so that is great!

Vol 13 No 9 November 15, 2009

We loaded seven wire coils in Sanderson, Florida on Tuesday 20 October and took them up to Guelph, Ontario and delivered on Thursday morning. (Sure did get cold - about 10 C.) No loads, so we waited for a while at the truckstop and received a call about 6pm.

There was a shipment in Buffalo, a truck went to pick it up but could not load it because of the height of one crate. We got over there about 9pm. By then it was raining and extremely windy and we had to tarp. That was cold, wet and COLD! (2 C) We finished at 11pm and found all gates chained and locked! We sat for half an hour. Jim banged on doors and rang bells - could not get any one’s attention. Eventually a forklift driver was going between buildings and he rounded up a key so we could get out.

Only went as far as the truckstop in Buffalo that night.

Next morning we headed to Chicago - it rained all the way and again extremely windy. Delivered at McCormick Place Convention Centre in Chicago! We had not been there for 6+ years. Sure felt weird pulling onto the show floor. Like a time warp! Only saw one driver we knew from our Tradeshow days - Lee was sure surprised to see us!

Headed south to Crawfordsville, Indiana and loaded two steel coils that afternoon at Nucor Steel.

Website: As the first continuous thin-slab cast flat rolled steelmaking facility in the world, Nucor Steel–Indiana, has an annual capacity of 2,200,000 tons of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized products. The continuous thin-slab cast flat rolled steelmaking process transforms molten metal into hot band in an uninterrupted operation.

Had an easy drive south to Mobile, Alabama. Interstate 65 all the way and it got warmer! The leaf colours were awesome, too.

We delivered the steel coils Monday morning at the Port of Mobile.
Website: The Port of Mobile was the tenth largest in the USA in 2006. It is located along the Mobile River where it empties into Mobile Bay. The Port of Mobile has public, deepwater terminals with direct access to 1,500 miles of inland and intracoastal waterways serving the Great Lakes, the Ohio and Tennessee river valleys and the Gulf of Mexico. The Port of Mobile is the largest break bulk forest products port in the United States.

We drove 70 kms to Axis, Alabama and loaded 10 foot 4 inch wide, half inch thick, flat steel - a wide load. Took it to Trinity Marine in Caruthersville, Missouri on the Mississippi River.

They are manufactures of welded steel barges, fishing boats, cargo or container ships, dredging craft, tankers, tug boats, barges, passenger or automobile ferries, cruise ships, salvage ships, oil or gas crew boat, oil or gas workboat, seismic vessel, and trawlers.

The city of Caruthersville located along the western bank of the Mississippi River in Missouri's boot heel. The Caruthersville Bridge is the only bridge crossing along the river between Cairo, Illinois and Memphis, Tennessee.
The major resources for the Caruthersville area include commerce supplied by the Mississippi river barge and transport industry as well as agriculture which accounts for 60% of the local economy. Large portions of the cash crops grown in the area, rice, soy beans and cotton are sent through the Mississippi River transportation industry to distribution points along the Mississippi delta region. There is now a riverboat casino in Caruthersville which has revived the local economy and provided a new source of tourist revenue.

We deadheaded 300kms that evening to Pulaski, Tennessee (south of Nashville) to load a partial (LTL) shipment on Wednesday morning - used machinery.

In the afternoon loaded in Gallatin, Tennessee (north of Nashville) another LTL more used machinery. Both tarped shipments and went to Long Island, New York about 25 kms apart

Trivia: Pulaski is known for being the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan, although the city has condemned the Klan.

Pulaski is a lovely town - decorated for Halloween and Fall. Mannequins on the streets in costumes, and huge concrete turkeys decorated.

The highways were beautiful Fall colours - the changing of the leaves were at their peak in Tennessee. We took back roads for awhile.

An uneventful drive to Long Island and we delivered both shipments on Friday 30 October. Could not find another load, so we headed off the Island. Then loaded on Saturday morning in Stafford, Connecticut at Sikorsky Aircraft: Designers and builders of the world's most advanced helicopters for commercial, industrial, and military use.

The leaves in Connecticut were past their peak, but still pretty.

One helicopter blade was all we had on and we delivered it that afternoon in Horseheads, New York to Schweizer Aircraft a subsidiary of Sikorsky.
Sikorsky primarily manufactures medium and large helicopters, while Schweizer produces small helicopters, gliders and light planes.

Only three hours drive to Buffalo, so at 6.30pm we decided to go there - it was Halloween night. We arrived at Joe and Michele’s too late to see Baillie in costume. She dressed as a “mummy” and she and Michele went trick or treating in Michele’s brother’s subdivision.

They also got me a pumpkin to carve! Baillie had already carved a couple, so I carved mine on Sunday morning. Considering Halloween was over, I did a star and a moon instead of a jack-o-lantern. It turned out pretty good - my second pumpkin masterpiece! Fun!

It was cold, but sunny for the weekend. We visited Jim’s mother and sister and his niece, Kristin’s family. Kris dressed five month old Liam in his monkey costume. His first Halloween and he didn't like it much!

Sunday evening we did more visiting and had a busy day and a late night. Joe was on the road so we missed him this trip.

Monday morning there was a huge frost at Joe and Michele’s! We headed into Ontario to load plastic pipe. Part of it delivered in Buffalo and part in Salamanca, New York, not far from Buffalo. Near Salamanca Monday night we meet Art at a restaurant for a quick meal and catch up. He just bought one of Jimmy’s moto guzzi’s and was excited about that. Jimmy has sold his truck and trailer, car, two motorcycles. He is anticipating a move - career and lifestyle change.

We delivered the rest of the pipe at the Seneca Nation Reservation near Salamanca on Tuesday morning - a new sports complex under construction.

Internet: Salamanca is the only city in the USA to be built on land leased by an Indian Nation. About 90 percent of the property in Salamanca, a city of 6,600, lies on Seneca land, the largest Indian reservation in New York. The Seneca traditionally lived in what is now New York between the Genesee River and Canandaigua Lake, with some recent evidence indicates that they lived all the way down to the Allegheny River into what is now northwestern Pennsylvania. About 7,800 Seneca people are citizens of the Seneca Nation of Indians. These members live or work on five reservations in New York, with the majority of them living in the city of Salamanca.

Loaded in Erie, Pennsylvania in the afternoon - a wide load. Cold, windy, raining, turning to freezing rain. Tarping was a battle and cold! We can only drive during daylight with a wide load, so by the time we had it loaded and tarped we only got about 120 kms down the road before dark. Jimmy was on his last run and going to Kentucky to quit. We had a quick meal with him because he had to keep rolling.

Our load was very top heavy and all the weight was on one side so it was over 45 cms on the passenger side only. We had to pay for an escort vehicle over the Ambassador Bridge into Ontario. We were pleased to have that off the truck. The machine did precision cutting of titanium.

Headed back into the USA empty and via Detroit to Fort Wayne, Indiana to load steel bars the next morning, 5 November. Delivered them the next morning in Auburn, New York. That morning we discovered light snow had fallen during the night. None on the ground, but still on the trailer and tarp.

Three hours drive back to Buffalo for the weekend and there was snow on the ground, so there had been more closer to Buffalo.

We had stayed in the north east area for the week as there was a party on Saturday, 7 November for Jim’s mother’s 90th birthday. Her birthday is 17 December, but that date is close to busy Christmas schedules and possible winter weather makes travel difficult and dangerous, so we scheduled the party five weeks early.

It turned out to be beautiful warm weather for the whole weekend! The news reported that the high temperatures equaled the previous recorded high temperatures from that day in 1891, the warmest November days in over 100 years!

The party was held it at the Whistle Stop Inn, in Alden, beside the railway track. A train theme throughout with model trains operating around the ceiling and trains on shelves all around. A lovely country restaurant and they catered, we decorated in Autumn colours. About 70 people attended, Jim‘s cousin Marianne travelled from Oregon, others came from Pennsylvania, most from the Buffalo area.

Nine grandchildren and ten great grandchildren, one great grand child was sick and could not attend.

Grandchildren: L to R Men at back: Jeff Mergel, Robert Hawley, Mathew Hawley, Jimmy Casey, Joe Casey. Ladies L to R: Eileen (Mergel) Lynn, Laura (Hawley) Brown, Kristin (Hawley) McCarthy, Karen (Mergel) Reitz with Helen.

Also, photo with Helen, her two surviving children: Jim and his sister Pat, her husband, Larry Hawley and I.

It was wonderful to catch up with everyone. It was a very happy celebration.

Sunday we spent time with Jimmy and met friends Jim and Jan at the Marilla Grill. The town of Marilla had the Veteran’s Day Parade and a lot of people were still at the Grill (Pub) at 3pm when we met Jim and Jan. Sure was serious partying. The Renegade Drum Corps (marching band) stayed after the parade and partied, they did an impromptu demonstration of their talent! The back room of the Grill is small and with a fourteen member marching band belting out some tunes - it was LOUD! Three bass drums, three snare drums, symbols, xylophones - it is a wonder the ceiling didn't fall in! Sort of got your heart beating out of rhythm. Awesome music though!

Other friends showed up - Bob and Patty were out on their motorbikes. The weather was awesome - many people were out on motorcycles all weekend. Had beers and buffalo wings with them. Afterwards, we said our goodbyes to Jim’s mom, sister and brother in law. The last chance before we head to Australia.

There were no loads near Buffalo going near Florida, so we deadheaded to Mechanicsville, Maryland - 730 kms to get one.

Tuesday we loaded pre-cut boards for wooden hay feeders handmade by Amish woodworkers in DIY kit form. Made on a working Amish farm, and we had trouble finding it as there was no phone there we could not contact anyone for directions. And they don't use electricity. They do use machinery - diesel/petrol/propane. Working horses came over to greet us and also beautiful trotters used for their carts. I wanted to take a photo of their forklift, but Amish don't like photos taken.

It was a Case W14H loader with forklift attachment in front, no clue what vintage (old). Two points of articulation, one to the rear wheels and one at the forklift hitch. Also front and rear differentials. I would think it very difficult to make the precise actions required to load the truck. No trouble at all for the young man operating it!

Loaded and headed south and delivered Wednesday afternoon at a hardware/farm Store near Ocala, Florida. Got to the house in Daytona Beach about 7 pm.

We had to cancel our trucking contract, take decals and stickers off the truck doors, return license plate, permits, etc. We plan to return to the same company next year, but $60 is taken out of our cheque each week for worker’s compensation, transponder, load alerts, permits, etc.
These can’t be ‘suspended’, so we have to quit, then reapply when we return.

We leave the trailer at a storage facility, and take the truck cab to Hewitt’s shop in New Smyrna Beach. Did that Friday afternoon and stayed in New Smyrna Beach and had dinner with Ron, Gina, Tim and Helena at Peanuts Bar.

Had a busy few days and a lot of business to finish up and packing for Australia.

Saturday evening went to Boondocks Restaurant with Derek and Cindy Bird.

We are all packed and have done most of our chores, so Sunday will be a low stress day. Reading the Sunday paper and eating donuts!

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin beer - I love the food at this time of the year!

Vol 13 No 8 October 19, 2009

Dave and Linda arrived in Daytona Beach Monday night 28 September, they flew into Orlando from the west coast. Nikki and Jules had a few more days in California before heading back to Queensland.

Tuesday Jim and I had business to take care of and Dave and Linda helped. Dinner at DJ’s Deck on the Halifax River - shrimp, grouper and hush puppies.

Wednesday morning the four of us headed north - Dave and Linda had a rental car, a blue Dodge Caravan. We were on holiday for two weeks with them! The car held us all and our gear comfortably.

First destination was Savannah, Georgia. We arrived mid afternoon and after finding motel accommodation we spent a few hours in the River District and found a great place for happy hour at Vics on the River. Then dinner at One-Eyed Lizzy’s.

Thursday morning we were picked up at our hotel as part of a Historic Trolley tour. A 90 minute tour of the Historic and River Districts. Lots of information and stories, it was very entertaining and we had a great tour guide.

Website: Savannah was settled in 1733 by British colonists. In 1864 (Civil War era) when General Sherman marched in, the mayor of Savannah gave Sherman's men run of the city in exchange for leaving it untorched. As a result, Savannah is one of the few major cities in the South with antebellum charm and architecture remaining intact. Savannah has one of the largest historic districts in the country.

Southerners joke that in Atlanta, the first thing locals ask you is your business; in Charleston, they ask your mother's maiden name; and in Savannah, they ask what you want to drink. It's partly that ethos that keeps the city tourism industry flourishing, along with a little help from what locals call "The Book:" Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (also a feature film).

Many films and books have been set in Savannah - the “Legend of Bagger Vance“, “Forrest Gump“, “Something To Talk About“, “Glory“, “Three Faces of Eve“. Savannah's Hollywood history began in 1915, with the filming of the silent movie "Under Southern Skies.”

Forrest Gump’s bench where he sat an related his life story is located at Chippewa Square.

A lot of superstitious things in Savannah - supposedly the “most haunted” city in the USA. I liked the fish downspouts - they are still on some old buildings. They were believed to stop spirits from entering a house via the spouts.

We had lunch at a City Market restaurant. Dave and Linda went on the Riverboat Cruise, Jim and I explored some of the squares, monuments and fountains and the Colonial Cemetery for patriots of the American Revolution 1775 to 1783.

Returned to River Street late afternoon. A popular cobblestone street along the south bank of the Savannah River, is lined with numerous tourist-targeted shops and restaurants.

The Historic District is on a bluff above the riverfront and is connected with River Street via stairs or ramps.

The view of the river is wonderful, and the Spanish moss creates a spooky atmosphere.
A must for Savannah visitors is the candy shops along River Street. Fudge and their world famous pralines - yum!

Pralines in America - As originally inspired in France, early pralines were whole almonds individually coated in caramelized sugar, as opposed to dark nougat, where a sheet of caramelized sugar covers many nuts.
French settlers brought this recipe to Louisiana, where both sugar cane and pecan trees were plentiful. During the 19th century, New Orleans chefs substituted pecans for almonds, added cream to thicken the confection, and thus created what became known throughout the American South as the praline.

Back to Vic’s on the River for happy hour again, had dinner at a Bennigan‘s near the motel.

Left Savannah Friday morning (2 October) and headed north west, bypassing Atlanta, Georgia and took some back roads through north Georgia and spent that night in Calhoun (there are Outlet shops there!).

Only 70 kms from Chattanooga, Tennessee and we headed there Saturday morning. (Chattanooga is the fourth largest city in Tennessee.) First stop was the Chattanooga Choo Choo, of course!

Website: The tune made popular by the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the late 1940‘s became world famous.
The song tells the story of traveling from New York City to Chattanooga. However, the inspiration for the song was a small, wood-burning steam-locomotive which belonged to the Cincinnati Southern Railroad. That train is now a museum artifact. From 1880, most trains bound for America's South passed through Chattanooga. The “Chattanooga Choo Choo” did not refer to any particular train.
The Station was erected in 1908 with an 85 foot cast iron dome rising majestically over the lobby, the Terminal Station served thousands of passengers until 1970 when the trains stopped running. In 1973, after a 4 million dollar renovation, it was reopened to the public as a hotel. Authentic private rail cars were furnished as unique sleeping quarters. Holiday Inn welcomed the hotel into its family in 1989 after another 4 million dollars were invested.

Dave, Jim and I went to Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls and caves. Linda doesn’t like heights or confined spaces - she went to the Tennessee Aquarium.

Ruby Falls is the nation’s largest and deepest waterfall open to the public. Located over 1120 feet beneath the surface, inside Lookout Mountain. It is a thundering 145 foot waterfall - hundreds of gallons of water rush over by the minute and amaze visitors.

The tour is an elevator ride from the top of the mountain to inside the mountain. A walk through a cave system to Ruby Falls. Awesome! It has been about ten years since Jim and I have visited, but well worth a re-visit.

After that we went to the nearby Tow Truck and Recovery Museum. Enjoy restored antique wreckers and equipment, industry related displays of collectible toys, tools, unique equipment, and pictorial histories of manufacturers who pioneered a worldwide industry. The industry's first wrecker was fabricated approximately three and a half miles away from the museum at the Ernest Holmes Company.
Automotive and history buffs alike will enjoy a tour of the nostalgic museum. The collection of tow trucks dates from the earliest days of the automobile. The museum has a variety of antique toys and memorabilia.

Caught up with Linda again and found a barbeque restaurant for a late lunch. We found the MoonPie® Bakery which is where the MoonPie® originated and are baked. Two round cookies with marshmallow in between then the whole thing is coated in chocolate. Been popular since early 1900’s (and yummy).

The weather turned cooler and wet on the Sunday morning - we were headed to Lynchburg, Tennessee, home of the Jack Daniel's Distillery.

On the way we stopped in Monteagle and found a flea market to fill in an hour. That was fun and we got some deals.

Jack Daniels Distillery - the oldest registered distillery in the U.S. It’s where Mr. Jack first crafted the recipe for Old No. 7. It’s where the pure, iron-free cave spring water flows. And it’s where every drop of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Sippin’ Whiskey is still made today. The Jack Daniel Distillery was licensed in 1866, and a National Historic Site.

The Distillery is located in a dry country - no alcohol is sold in the county. We took the free tour of the distillery, and the whiskey making process - very interesting! No free samples at the end though - it was Sunday.

There were two statue's of JD - the original marble one is now in the Visitor Centre and the bronze one is beside the spring.

We learnt the differences between Tennessee Whiskey and Kentucky Whiskey, other than the obvious - distilled in two different states..:
A special process unique to the Tennessee whiskeys is "charcoal mellowing". The process of dripping the fresh whiskey through containers packed with sugar maple charcoal. (Jack Daniels drips through ten layers of charcoal.) This gives it a flavour and aroma all its own. For the Tennessee whiskey only American white oak makes for the right whiskey barrel. Its porosity and unique chemical compounds react well and distinguishably with the Tennessee whiskey.
(If the liquor is not filtered, it is bourbon.)

The town of Lynchburg (the sign says "Population 361"- must be an old sign!) revolves around the Jack Daniels Distillery. ALL Jack Daniels whiskey is distilled in Lynchburg, Tennessee. We had lunch at the Iron Kettle restaurant (coleslaw made with mustard is interesting and tasty on a burger). Had a look around the town centre. There is a Harley Davidson t-shirt shop, there. Also the Tennessee Walking Horse Museum, but was closed on a Sunday. Great Distillery tour and town.

We headed in to Nashville and found a motel near Broadway Street - Honky Tonk Row. That evening we walked the few blocks and had dinner and happy hour/s at Broadway Brewhouse, then to Roberts Western Wear and bar. We discovered the Chris Casello Trio playing there and ended up staying for several hours. They were great, sing along old time country and rock and roll, and swing instrumentals. Jim bought their CD. (The “Flintstones” instrumental is awesome!) Excellent entertainment.

We didn’t have a late night, but a memorable one! A "Yabba Dabba Dooo" time!

Website: Nashville is the capital of Tennessee on the Cumberland River.
The downtown area of Nashville features a diverse assortment of entertainment, dining, cultural and architectural attractions. The Broadway and 2nd Avenue areas feature entertainment venues, night clubs and an assortment of restaurants.

The next morning we went to Opry Mills Outlet shops. Then walked to the Grand Ole Opry theatre. There were no shows on, but we took some photos out the front and visited the shop for souvenirs!

Website: The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music radio program and concert broadcast live on WSM radio, every Friday and Saturday night, as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays from March through December. It is the oldest continuous radio program in the United States, having been broadcast on WSM since October 5, 1925.

We spent several hours in the Gaylord Opryland Hotel which is very impressive. Jim and I had been in the area several times a year when we were hauling tradeshows to the Opryland Convention Centre. People think we are odd suggesting a hotel as a “must see”, but this is spectacular!

Website: It is the largest non-casino hotel in the world and the largest hotel in the United States outside Las Vegas.
Another expansion is proposed, but at present there are 2,881 rooms. Many have balconies facing the inside. The hotel is contained in an atrium. Exotic trees, plants and flowers throughout. The “Delta River” runs through the hotel, it contains water samples from more than 6000 rivers throughout the world including every registered river in the United States.

It also has catfish and other fish swimming in it! A boat ride is offered as a tour of the hotel. Cascades, waterfalls, fountains, features - it has to be seen.

Brochure: Enjoy a ride on a flat boat through 4.5 acres of beautiful gardens and waterfalls under a domed glass ceiling.

Dave and Linda posed with the Fall decorations in Opryland Plaza.

Then a few hours at the Opry Mills mega shopping mall, then back to the hotel and Broadway Street again.

We ate at the Big River Brewery and Grille - Jim and I tried their six beers in a sampler. Nice beers!

Didn’t have as long a night as the previous one - dinner and wandered around the bars on Broadway and listened to music. Tried to get Linda to buy a pair of cowboy boots but could not convince her they looked great on her!

The next morning we walked back to Broadway to take some photos and wait for the Ryman Auditorium to open to do a tour.

Note: There are audio speakers all around Nashville with music playing constantly. On street signs, traffic light posts, ‘rocks’ in gardens - the most unusual places, but there seems always to be music.

A guitar pick is the symbol for tourist stops in the city. Many beautiful art and music decorations in the streets.

Ryman Auditorium was home to the Grand Ole Opry until 1974 when the show moved to the Grand Ole Opry House nine miles east of downtown.

The Opry plays at the Ryman during the winter months and it is used for concerts. Many big names have autographed their posters and are all on display.

The tour was great - we had our photos taken on the stage - the Hume/Casey Quartet!

Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Sr, Patsy Cline, Tootsie Bess and countless others whose songs and lives shaped the image of this city and molded the music home grown in Nashville.

All very old and a bit spooky - many ‘ghosts’ of past performers believed to be wandering around.

There were several glass cabinets displaying the stage outfits of Porter Wagoner, Marty Robbins, Hank Williams Sr, Little Jimmy Dickens, the Cash/Carters, Minnie Pearl, the cast of “Hee Haw”. It was an awesome experience, just being there.

It started to rain heavily on the road to Memphis - pleased we were in the car and not out sightseeing.

We got a motel for two nights near downtown Memphis, a few blocks and walking distance to Beale Street.

Beale Street is known as the “Home of the Blues” and contains many interesting shops, restaurants and entertainment.

Website: It first rang out over the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta. It migrated to the streets and clubs of Memphis. It went on to influence the sound of music all over the world. Memphis is the Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock ‘n Roll. And it is all on Beale Street.
Beale Street after sunset ROCKS!

We walked up and down the three blocks and decided on B.B. King’s Club for dinner. I had Memphis style ribs - wow!

Website: Traditionally Memphis Style ribs are smoked "dry", meaning that only a dry rub is applied.

In Memphis the quality of the ribs and the flavor of the meat are much more important than any sauce or seasoning. This is an old tradition that dates back to the early days of barbecue when a barbecue shack really was a shack. As times changed the tradition held out because these really are about the best ribs in the world.

After dinner we wandered Beale Street (30+ night clubs, restaurants and novelty shops). Had drinks in Silky O’Sullivan’s and listened to a ‘blues’ piano player, then ended up at Blues City Cafe. Live music: Gary Hardy and the Memphis 2 got our attention. They performed a Sun Studios Revue and Johnny Cash Tribute and are two times Beale Street Musician of the Year. We had a great time there and stayed much longer than we had planned!

The next morning we walked from the hotel to Sun Studios - “The Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll”.
Brochure: “They say “the tour gives you goosebumps”. Stand in the very same spot that Elvis first recorded, your tour guide will tell you the inside stories of B.B. King, the Howlin’ Wolf, and Ike Turner (all before Elvis).

We had a fifteen minute wait before our tour. Jim was wearing a moto guzzi t-shirt and he requested a Howlin’ Wolf CD to be played. The salesperson asked him if he had a moto guzzi. Of course Jim said “Yes“. The young man lifted up his shirt and showed his moto guzzi belt buckle.

He has a 1974 moto guzzi Eldorado. Cool. His name is Eldorado Del Ray. Even cooler! Eldorado is a rock ‘n’ roller and has a CD “Eldorado and the Ruckus - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”. Of course we have the CD, now. How cool is THAT!!!!

Our tour guide to Sun Studios was great too! David totally loves his job and took us through the priceless memorabilia and history of Sun Records, Sam Phillips and the recording artists.

The most famous being Elvis Presley, also Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, (the Million Dollar Quartet), Roy Orbison, and Charlie Rich. Blends of Blues, country music and rock ‘n’ roll. There were out takes from recording sessions of artists jamming.

The tour guide, David Brookings also has several music CD's, we bought the latest one of his also!
There was a free shuttle bus from Sun Studios to Graceland - Home of Elvis and is Memphis‘s most popular tourist attraction. More than 700,000 people walk through Graceland in a year.

We went on the Graceland Mansion Tour first. A shuttle bus across Elvis Presley Boulevard to the 14 acre estate and were provided audio headphones so we could go through at our own pace. The digital audio guide features the voices of Lisa Marie and Elvis.

Though Elvis owned several homes after he became successful, Graceland was always home. It was his refuge from the outside world and literally and symbolically became his tomb.

Website: You will see he music room, living room, dining room, kitchen, Vernon and Gladys bedroom, Jungle Room, TV Room, Pool Room, Vernon's Office, the Trophy Room, Charlie Hodges Room and the Racquetball building where you can see some of Elvis Jumpsuits and his large collection of gold records and awards.
Graceland was built in 1939. Over the years it served as a home and a church. Elvis bought the place in 1957 for $100,000 and immediately began decorating and outfitting it to suit his unique tastes. He rearranged and remodeled the house over the next 20 years, accommodating the changes in his family and staff.
The tour ends at the Meditation Garden, where Elvis is buried. Also Gladys, Vernon and Grandma Minnie Mae.

Back across the street from Graceland Mansion is the Elvis car museum. His famous Stutz Blackhawk, Ferrari, Mercedes and the very famous Pink Cadillac and his many flashy motorcycles are also displayed in this fantastic museum.

The Sincerely Elvis exhibit are things from Lisa Marie’s childhood and a lot of clothing from Elvis and Priscilla.

Next we walked through Elvis’s private airplanes: Lisa Marie, named after his daughter, also Hound Dog II.
Website: The Lisa Marie features a luxuriously appointed living room, conference room, sitting room, and private bedroom, as well as gold-plated seatbelts (!), suede chairs, leather covered tables, and 24-karat gold-flecked bathroom sinks. Elvis called this his “flying Graceland”. On Hound Dog II, customized by Elvis with a yellow and green interior, the popular 70’s color scheme. This plane was primarily used to fly Colonel Tom and his staff from city to city during the King’s concert touring.

That was a full day! We went back to the Beale Street area for dinner. The evening before, Dave had seen (and smelled) barbeque smoke stacks near the hotel and it was very enticing! We sniffed around until we found Charles Vergo’s Rendezvous - world famous since 1948. It was started when Charles discovered a coal chute in the basement of his diner. The chute acted as a vent, enabling him to set up a grill. After perfecting his technique, Vergo added ribs to his menu.
The restaurant is in an alley, so it took a bit of finding. On a typical weekend night the alley can be full of customers waiting to be seated and the wait can be hours long! We were early and had no wait, seated right away. The ribs were awesome too! Authentic Memphis-style ribs. I have decided that I like dry ribs.

It was Bike Night on Beale Street - every Wednesday during summer. It was a cooler evening and a couple of rain showers probably kept many bikers away. We enjoyed it though. Less than 100 bikes of all makes and one moto guzzi. An outing for dinner, music and tyre kicking.

We stayed a couple of hours, listened to music, looked at the motorcycles. Then back to the Motel Bar for a drink.

Met some locals and wanted to talk about Australia.

The next morning we headed to the Visitors Centre, then to the Mississippi River Museum. We took the monorail suspended beneath a walk bridge over the harbour to Mud Island - one third of a mile at 7 miles an hour. It was a short trip!

Website: At the Mississippi River Museum and Riverwalk, you can take a trip down the mighty Mississippi River through stories, artifacts, and activities featured at Mud Island Park near downtown Memphis. Various sections of the museum include Exploration & Settlement, which focuses on the lives of the first settlers along the Mighty River; Riverfolk / Theater of Disasters, which honors those whose livelihoods depended on the river, and the events when everything didn't go as planned; and many more.

Memphis is truly the Home of the Blues, so you'll also see exhibits focused on the music of the Mississippi River in the Music Room.

Plenty of history, entertainment, and education is packed within the walls of the Mississippi River Museum.

We all especially enjoyed the full scale paddle wheeler inside the museum. It looked and felt like we were on the river - surrounded by water and noise. Music and memorabilia was excellent as well.

The Mississippi River winds its way 4,106 kms (2,552 miles) as it travels from the headwaters in northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. The river begins 1,475 feet above sea level. The Mississippi is the longest river in North America and passes through ten states.

The Mississippi River provides transport for more than 472-million tons of cargo each year.
We ran out of time to walk along the ‘to scale’ model of the Mississippi River and surrounds. We viewed it from the monorail area above. It is a five block long replica of the lower Mississippi River - the last 1600 kms (1,000 miles) concluding at the Gulf of Mexico.

Along the way are information boards depicting historical events and geographical transformations. Somewhere we have to go back to.

The monorail was broken when we went to return to the Visitors Centre, so we had a nice walk.

It took all afternoon to drive to Tupelo, Mississippi. Trivia: Elvis Presley was born in east Tupelo in 1935. There is a museum and tours, but we weren’t in Tupelo to see Elvis.

Our next adventure was to travel part of the Natchez Trace.

We had a visit from Jimmy in Tupelo! He had loaded in Coolidge, Georgia, so he got to the motel about 8pm and we all had a few drinks and catch up. Jimmy left after breakfast the next morning. It was odd - none of us has ever had loads to Tupelo. Dave and Linda had not seen Jimmy this trip, so were happy for a quick catch up.

Our first stop that morning was at the Natchez Trace Visitor’s Centre. We watched a twelve minute video on the history and features of the Trace. We only wanted to travel 160 kms (100 miles) of the Parkway. Jim and I had always wanted to travel the Parkway, but no trucks allowed and had not had the opportunity while on any of our motorcycle jaunts.

As we were leaving the Visitors Centre we saw Smokey Bear! There was s fire education demonstration for a few bus loads of school children. Linda and I bailed Smokey up before he got to the kids! He posed for a photo with us. I think we startled him considerably. (Hard to tell really...)

Website: The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 715 km (444 mile) long parkway. The road links the cities of Natchez, Mississippi, and Nashville, Tennessee.
Native Americans, following the "traces" of Bison and other game, further improved this walking trail for foot-borne commerce between major villages located in middle Mississippi and central Tennessee.

By the time of European exploration and settlement the route was well known and established as the fastest means of communication between the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico settlements. In the early Post Revolutionary War period of America's south-westward expansion, the Trace was the return route for American flat-boat commerce between the territories of the upper and lower Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland River valleys. The Americans would construct flat-boats, load their commerce upon them, and drift upon the rivers, one-way south-southwestward all the way to New Orleans. They would sell their goods (including the salvageable logs of the flat-boats), and return home via the Trace (for the middle section of their return trip), to as far away as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The present day Natchez Trace Parkway commemorates the ancient trail along a parkway with many historic and scenic stops along the way. A lovely, quiet two lane road. The best part was stopping where the old trail is near the road and walking along it. After centuries of travel, the path has been worn and the sides are almost waist height.

The Old Trace ran through the heart of Choctaw and Chickasaw country, and through swamps, rivers and rolling hills. There are many native towns and mounds (burial sites) built over the previous 2000 years.

We got off the Trace and stopped in the town of Kosciusko for lunch. Then on to Meridian, Mississippi and spent the night.

A large storm system was going through and we experienced several severe but short rain storms after Kosciusko.

Saturday morning we got an early start and spent an hour at the Flea Market in Mobile, Alabama.

For the remainder of the day we didn’t do much other than drive to Marianna, Florida and stayed the night there. The storms seemed to be behind us.

The photo of Linda and I having desserts at the Mexican Restaurant in Marianna. Nice place and near the truckstop, so we will have to remember that.

On to Daytona Beach the next day - a leisurely drive on partly Interstate and back roads - no more rain. (We found another Smokey Bear at at Forestry Dept.)

We did drive through Tallahassee. It is the State Capital of Florida and a lovely city of moss draped oak trees.

Back in Daytona Beach, Jim had work to do on the truck and trailer. Dave was lucky to spend a whole day helping him with that! Linda and I checked out summer sales at the shops and got bargains.

Dave and Linda went to St Augustine to the Gator Farm and had a great time - even got to hold a baby alligator (with it’s mouth taped shut).

Jimmy ended up with a load to Florida and spent three days in Daytona. He was in and out, but we did see a bit of him. Friends of his from New York were there. He arrived Tuesday morning and left Friday morning.

Thursday morning Dave, Linda, Jim and I went to De Leon Springs State Park (about 60 kms from Daytona Beach) for a unique breakfast.

De Leon Springs State Park: Native Americans visited and used these springs as long as 6,000 years ago. In the early 1800s, settlers built sugar and cotton plantations that were sacked by Seminole Indians. By the 1880s the springs had become a winter resort.

Linda and I drove to Deland and Jim and Dave rode bikes. The Park is lovely - huge trees with Spanish moss, swamps, fish jumping, lots of wildlife.

Old Spanish Sugar Mill Grill & Griddle House: Our pancake batters and oven baked natural grain products are prepared from grains stone ground on our own French buhr millstones . You prepare pancakes on an electric griddle, at your table, so that they are piping hot and just as you like them. Delicious food and a most unusual experience!

We had a few dinners out at some local restaurants: Bonita Maria's (for $1.50 margaritas), Moe's South West Grill. When the hoards of people arrive for events, it is difficult to get a seat at restaurants, so we eat at the house.

Then Thursday evening on Main Street for some culture. A few thousand bikers hanging out - partying. Great place to people watch!

Joe had a load to South Florida and got to the house Friday afternoon and he rode a bike to Orlando airport to pick up Michele. They were staying for the weekend and Biketoberfest.

Website: The first Biketoberfest was held in 1992. It was created to attract visitors to the area during the tourist off-season. Held on Daytona Beach's famous Main Street, an area lined with lively bars that have served generations of bikers.

It has become a large event extending into two weekend now. Hundreds of thousands of bikers and visitors converge. Not as big as Bike Week in March though.

We had a couple of trips to Main Street and hanging out at the house.

On Saturday, a group of friends rode to Flagler Beach for gourmet burgers at the Turtle Shack. One of our favorite eateries. Jim rode the Eldorado he had just put back together and it did not miss a beat, so he is ecstatic about that!

The Turtle Shack photo is Jim and I, Dave and Linda and Joe and Michele.

Saturday afternoon outside our house were 15 moto guzzi's and one harley davidson (it sneaked in...)

Dave and Linda left early Sunday morning. Returned their rental car and flights to California then to Queensland.
Sad to see them go, we get used to having them around and are always fun and we have had many adventures with them.

Sunday, Joe, Michele, Jim and I went back out to De Leon Springs State Park for pancakes. They had never been, and we had a fun morning. Stopped at Lis and Harvey’s in the town of De Leon Springs on the way back. Mostly to say our good-byes before we leave for Australia as opportunities were getting less and less.

Monday was spent looking for a load - we had to get back to work! Lined up a load for the next morning. Spent the day cleaning up around the house, laundry and packing for Australia. Joe took Michele to the airport, then he left in his truck.

I cut off this month’s Casey Capers early as it is getting lengthy! We leave for Australia on 16 November, so I will do the next four weeks up until then in the next episode.