I got to go inside!!

This post is long overdue. Bianca has been patiently waiting to see these pictures . . .

Many months ago, the Town of Cary was building a water tower near us. See Post 1 and Post 2 about it. I took pictures of it at various stages. Then I noticed it had these funny things sticking off of it once it had been completely welded together. Come to find out after talking with the inspector, painter and builder of the tower they were . . .

Paint screen holders.

The Town splurged for these so no paint would fly off and land on other people's property while they were painting. The paint screen is the black fabric in the picture below. I know all of this because I talked with the experts there on site.






Paint screen and painter.

In this picture you can see the multiple coats they have to put on. There are a few primer coats and then multiple coats of the sky blue color that the Town of Cary has them paint on. Too bad they didn't put something more unique or exotic on it. The painter told me it would have only cost the town about $10,000 more to put something cool on the tower.









What do you think about this job? Could be fun but he was wrapped up in a jump suit from head to toe in the middle of summer.








I don't know how many people stop to see a tower being built but I of course was snapping my camera away. This draws attention so when the Inspector came over to see what I was doing I kindly told him I was a Watertower Aficionado and had a blog (at which time I handed him my business card). He said "Cool! Want to go inside?" I jumped for joy.





Here is the proof that I went inside a water tower. Plus, did you know they have to paint the inside also.

Goldsboro at Christmas

Road Trip to Goldboro in December?
Listen to what Marty has to say about the water tower in Goldsboro where he taught high school for 7 years.

"The tank is definitely worth seeing at Christmas. I think they light it right after Thanksgiving. It's always a tradition for us [his family] to see it and to ride down Center Street downtown--they always light up all the trees and have overhead hanging lights too. I think they recently redid all the bulbs so it looks really good now."

Anyone have a picture of this beautiful scene?

Work Trip #16 - Wingate, NC - April 19-20, 2007

In April, I took a trip southwest on Highway 1 and Highway 74 to go to Wingate and ultimately Charlotte. This was a great trip. One that I had never been on before. I think the area near Pinehurst and Southern Pines is beautiful.


Aberdeen. NC.

The first water tower I came upon was Aberdeen. The tower was right behind a "big" strip mall there.






Hoffman. NC. Richmond County.

Then I came upon these 2.5 great water towers in Hoffman. If you look closely there is a new tower that says "Richmond County", an old rusty tower and another rusty tower without a tank.





This was a great find. All of these towers were in front of the Richmond Fire and Rescue building. One of the largest buildings in Hoffman.












This tank and tower didn't really belong to any town but they were on Highway 1 south.








Then you kind of round this corner on the little 2-lane road and it opens up into a 6 lane road and you see this huge hill in front of you.

I had come upon the North Carolina Speedway
in Rockingham. It was a sight to see in the middle of nowhere. I guess it is no longer on the NASCAR circuit but is used as a testing facility.




Wadesboro. NC. Anson County.

I have been here previously but didn't get this tower picture. The last picture I got was of the Southern Piedmont Community College.






Marshville. NC.

Almost to my destination I got another picture in Marshville. The flag was at half-staff due to the VA Tech tragedy that happened on April 16.






Wingate. NC.

I arrived at Wingate University where I conducted a focus group and survey along with tableling at their Earth Day event. It was a good experience. I met lots of great students.

Work Trip #15 - Greenville, SC - March 21-23, 2007

I am finally posting some pictures I took in March and April while traveling for work. It has been a busy spring and summer. I can't believe I didn't post anything in July.

Spartanburg. SC.

I traveled to AL and LA with my mom for a week in March.

Immediately after returning from that trip, I drove to Greenville, SC for the Carolina Recycling Association Conference.



On the way I took these pictures in Spartanburg. A very nicely painted water tower.