Titles are hard to think of

It's official... Bikers nod, they don't wave. The boater in me waved at one today and he just nodded back as if to say "back off new guy, play by the rules." He could probably tell that I'm new at this bike touring thing by my ski helmet, hiking shoes and the fact that I was going 2mph on the wrong side of the road.
Mom, I swear that last part was added for effect. I am obeying all traffic laws at all times!
Next time I'm in a boat, I'm going to nod and see if they're as riteous about their rituals. Jaim, maybe your parents will let you take out the tender as part of this sociological experiment. For those of you that don't know jaimee, she's the only person in the world that still gets charged per text message so this is actually the best way to get a message to her.
Anyways, I am now in Oceana/Pismo Beach State Park and it's absolutely gorgeous. I rode over 50 miles to get here so I could wake up in paradise and hang around for a bit. Stan did about 10 miles on the ground, but I realized that I make much better time with him in the trailer. The little road side radar thing says we go 10mph on flat ground with him back there. It was a really beautiful ride... mostly farms framed by mountains. I took a long stop in Guadalupe to avoid rush hour at the suggestion of a retired eye sugeon named that I met at lunch. Rush hour around Guadalupe is much different than CT. In CT, there are so many people on the road, that traffic sits at a stand still for hours. In Guadalupe, rush hour is a bunch of farm workers so happy to be off work that they rush home. I didn't see anyone on the road for an hour and all of a sudden, there's people whizzing by hooting and hollering. They all seemed to be having a great time.
One last thing... aside from Jaimee and Kate Bradley no one has mentioned on this website any small changes/sacrifices that they might make in their daily lives. I find that a bit disheartening and hope to see that blogs comment section pick up a bit in the coming days.
Two more things. One, I now have 181 people in my facebook group and I'm pretty psyched about that. Two, this phone is even cooler than I thought because I was able to find that highest point on the way to Lompoc and it was 900 feet!

This rare mid-day post is in honor of my friend, Steve (aka, the goat), who claims that every new post feels like Christmas morning.
Stanley and I are currently resting up about 4 miles outside of Lompoc and I'm enjoying my new favorite food, the snickers marathon energy bar multi grain crunch flavor. Stan is preferring to hydrate himself only. What a crazy day of riding, well actually walking while pushing a bike. We must have climbed 1,000 feet straight up hill in a matter of 4 miles. If anyone can check into what the highest point on highway 1 between lompoc and the 101 is, I'd be very interested. There's no elevation sign at the top, just an adopt a highway sign. By the way, David Schuessel and family, you are neglecting your portion of the road.
So far today I've learned that I no longer see small inclines as hard and that the only thing funnier than a fat guy riding a motorcycle is a fat guy riding a motorcycle while standing up.

I love my new phone! It has so many cooler features than the old one and I don't even mind the little mouse ball thing. I'm currently blogging from it while Stan and I are chilling in the tent in Gaviota, CA. And, just so I can stop listening to the gripes about my lack of attention to my facebook page, I downloaded the mobile application and I think I may have just uploaded a picture or two to it directly from the phone's camera. I must admit that, since Sara set up the facebook group Todd and Stanley's Gasoline Free Adventure, my favorite part of each day is getting the update from Caron as to how many people have joined. Earlier tonight there were 125 and one person is from Sweden. Its pretty flattering and I promise that tomorow I'll figure out how to write on this famous wall that everyone keeps talking about. I'm aiming for 1,000 people in the group, so tell your friends and family.
Onto the trip... Today was another day of 25 to 30 miles and we did it in only about 4 hours of actual biking time even though it took a lot longer because there were two beautiful state parks to hang out at, El Capitan and Refugio. It wasn't too easy a day though since Stanley had some stomach issues and rode in the trailer the whole time. The steeper inclines were tough while pulling an 80 lbs dog and I definitely could have been passed by a turtle at one point. I have a feeling that I was the butt of a lot of truck driver's jokes on the cb today. Normally I would feel bad for a sick dog, but anyone that knows Stanley, knows that he brings this on himself. No less than five times in his 19 months has he had to go to the vet to get something that he ate, but couldn't digest, pulled from his butt. Not only that, but it causes horrible diarrhea that always happens to come overnight. Today was no different as I awoke in my Motel 6 room to the most wretched smell and Stanley covered in his own crap. I went to Walgreens and grabbed a roll of paper towels and a can of carpet cleaner to clean up as best I could. I got the messy parts taken care of, but there was nothing I could do to get rid of the smell so I left $10 for the maid and got the heck out of dodge. I apologize to whoever had to deal with that! We went and got some medication from the nice people at Noah's Ark Animal Hospital and thankfully, Stan finally passed the obstruction around 7 tonight. That's 10pm eastern and 4am cest in sweden. I know that because my phone told me so.
And finally onto environmental concerns... I had a thought today about "progress" and why we rarely roll back advancements that turn out to be unhealthy for the environment and/or humans. One of the only things I can think of is asbestos and it made me wonder that, if there was no viable alternative to asbestos, would we still be using it today? How far do we go to satisfy our everyday needs and at what cost to ourselves and others? Maybe, I'll be able to answer that on tomorrow's ride.
Until my next blog...

Never text while taking a whiz

I am writing to you with my flashy new blackberry curve. Yes, I gave up the trackwheel of the antiquated model as well as my dream of ever beating gav's high score in brickbreaker. There is absolutely no way anyone can be as good with the ball thingy versus the trackwheel which means that my top score of 18,740 will be my top score forever. So why did I have to get a new phone? Because I dropped mine in the toilet at a bar in Carpinteria. I must put out a warning to everyone that's had a drink or two not to text while using the bathroom! The one hand text is an artform that shouldn't be used while near water. Especially if Mike, the guy from the campsite next to you, won't stop buying you shots of whiskey.
Even though it was a tough wake up after the night out, the biking has been great. Stanley and I are settling into a nice groove. We did about 30 miles today along the coast. Should have been 25, but a few wrong turns and some diversions. Stan is riding in the trailer half the time and running next to the bike the other half.
The trailer gets tons of attention, as does stanley's shoes. No less then 100 people talked to me about, or commented in passing about his kicks. I need a witty one liner for when someone comments. Can anyone think of one? If so, please make your suggestion in the comments area.
Special thanks for this entry go to Raskin for overnighting the trailer, the nice people in the RV by the beach that helped me with the trailer's flat and made me a sandwich and to Carol and Steve that I shared a taco with that thought enough of my adventure to send an e-mail to the Ellen Degeneres show.

What would you do to help the environment?

I hate reading articles that paint a gloomy picture of what the world will be like in 40 years all because humans have unknowingly worn it down. But, it makes me happy to read articles saying that the people that are alive today may be able to stop the bleeding and even repair our environment by making small sacrifices. I have taken lots of little steps throughout my life in order to reduce my impact on the environment and, in attempting a cross country trip san gasoline, am making a larger gesture in hopes of inspiring others to make similar small changes in their lives.
I am also challenging anyone that reads this to implement one additional "green" practice to their daily routine for the next 30 days. Even if you already utilize one of the methods on my site, try adding a new one for a bit and see what happens.
So how far would you go to reduce your impact on the environment? Would you bike or walk to anywhere that's within two miles of your home or office? Would you stop drinking bottled water? Would you change the light bulbs in your home and office to energy saving bulbs? Please comment below and let me know what changes you've decided to make. Also, leave comments with other small changes that people can make to help out.
Go to the "Do Your Part" section of ToddandStanley.com for ideas.

On the road...

Well folks, I'm on the road! The first few days have been a learning experience for me and Stanley. I am still figuring out exactly what items are necessary, what is expendable and what I need two or three of. For example, half way through day one, I lost my crappy front basket and Stanley lost a bootie without me noticing (sorry Molly). That's when I realized that, just like carrying bike tubes and a pump, I would need to get backups of the most important heath and safety items. This leads me to my first story from the road about how truly great and giving some people in this world are.
That day, while filling up my water jugs at a restaurant outside of Point Mugu State Park, I met a veterinarian from Thousand Oaks named Edward "Bear" Thompson. We got to talking about dogs, biking and how Stan had lost a bootie and I might not be able to get him another set until Oxnard. That evening, while enjoying a burger with the family at the campsite next to me, up walks Bear with extra booties for Stanley! Both Stanley and I can't thank that man enough and hope that anyone in the area will think about taking their pets to Conejo Valley Veterinary.
Funniest story from day one definitely goes to us getting pulled over on the PCH. I had gone by one of those radar trailers that said we were going 8mph, so I was pretty sure we weren't speeding. It turns out that two members of the LA County Sheriff's Dept had been patrolling the PCH and seen me and Stanley miles and hours apart. Being a dog owner and lover, one of the cops decided that I must be doing something wrong. So there we were, me and Stanley meandering along when we were interrupted by the lights and siren of a cop car pulling us over for... suspicion of "animal cruelty." The guy definitely wanted to haul me in for something (thankfully I paid that "failure to fully clean off my windshield after a snowstorm" ticket from Tahoe), but their humane society division was ok with everything, so they let me go. It would have been some great footage, but they declined to let me take out the video camera. If anyone knows whether I would have been able to film the situation anyway, let me know. I'm sure I'll get pulled over again, and I didn't want to ruffle any feathers on my first time.
Thanks to Steve, I'm blogging from the Ventura Beach Marriott today while taking a break from traveling to give Stanley and his paws a rest. It's pretty luxurious, although the view doesn't compare to the beautiful campsites on the pacific ocean. Now we're heading to a state beach dog park to enjoy the beautiful and refreshing pacific ocean. I'll blog (that word never gets old) again soon!

Our last week of gasoline for a while

I covered a lot of ground this week while I'm still allowing myself the luxury of using gas. Stan and I spent significant time in San Diego, Redondo Beach and Malibu. We had a lot of commitments, but continued the training mission with a swim in Mission Bay (I kayaked), a run up and down some big sand formation that Arielle claims olympians train on and as much walking and hiking as time would allow. He even wore his Molly Spodick booties for the first time.

The wedding was awesome. EA and Shelley were so much fun and amazing hosts. I wish them the best of luck, both in the long term and the short term as they battle Fay on their way to Aruba tonight. On behalf of the U of A boys, I wish to thank Paco the bartender for pouring us drinks without ice since shots were off limits.

Some of the highlights this week:

A chili cookoff that I happened upon at The Shack in Playa Del Rey where I stopped in before and after EA's ceremony. That was really lucky since there are very few people that are as big a fan of chili as me. I can't see it on a menu and order not order it.

A great meal at The Stone Brewery outside San Diego where they have created a beautiful winery type scene with gardens and fountains in an outdoor restaurant. Their beer is extremely tasty and it really agrees with my practice of drinking and eating local items in order to reduce the resources it takes to get that beer or meal to your table. Why drink a beer from Begium that has to ride on a cargo ship that uses 250,000 gallons of gas and then a tractor trailer before it gets to you? The staff was awesome and even sent us over some free appetizers since it was a busy weekend and the table took a little longer that they said it would.

With every goodbye, I realize how long it might be before I see someone that I actually know and it's surreal. I can't remember the last time I went even a few days without seeing a friend, or two, or ten. That being said, one of the beautiful parts of this adventure is the fact that I'll be meeting amazing people from around the country and maybe even make some lifelong friendships.

Thanks to Kronks, Janette and Corrina for their hospitality down in San Diego, Rubes for the room (Sorry I didn't have cash, you'll get it next time I'm at the Madison Sq dog park), Chris for getting me out of Redondo Beach after brunch and Arielle for taking care of Stanley, putting me up in Malibu and helping me with my last minute preparations. She also might be my biggest cheerleader, sending out 200 e-mails to friends and family about the big journey.

Stanley's first In-N-Out burger... my last!

Mom and dad dropped me off at JFK for what turned out to be the teariest goodbye yet. When we landed in LAX, I thought Stan deserved a special treat for flying in the cargo bin without any sedatives. Even though he had his ugly doll, and some dog named Buck there to keep him company, he made it clear that he despised the trip anyway. His reward ended up being a burger from In-N-Out, the fast food restaurant that people on the west coast rave about. I had a burger there a million years ago and thought it sucked, but I had eaten it with the high expectations that come from it's reputation. This time I went in with low expectations and, you know what? It still sucked! Five Guys is 100 times better for a fast food burger. In-N-Out's burger seems like it's just a bunch of toppings intended to mask the fact that they are serving you a tiny, dried out piece of meat. I hear that people like it "animal style" but I think that's just more toppings. To be fair, Stanley liked his, so maybe I'm just being picky.

Now I'm in San Diego, spending a few days at Kronks' house and seeing some old friends before heading up to LA for EA's wedding. How does one get a nickname like Kronks? Here goes... Scott Kronkite and I became good friends at U of A in Tucson. For the first year we knew him (the "209 days", for anyone that was there), most people called him by his last name, which was a normal thing to do. On a road trip through Ohio with Bill, we tried looking him up in the phone book, but couldn't find a listing in the town he was from. This was 1996, a time when you could stop at a payphone and use the white pages. It was really the only way of getting a number since there were no cell phones, mobile internet or PDAs to speak of. Upon our return to Tucson, we told Scott that we tried to look him up to hang out, but had no luck. At that point, he advised us that his last name was something completely different and he just never said anything. Had thousands of good times with that kid so it's really great to be here.

Just six more days until the gasoline free adventure begins!

Stanley has an athletic heart

Stanley went for his health certificate and got a check-up. He's in peak physical condition and even put on 5 lbs of muscle this summer while we were training. Dr. Davis said he has an athletic heart and that was after biking to the office.
6 hours until the flight and only 1 week until we'll get out on the open road and begin our adventure!

Nostalgia

On Wednesday of next week, I say good bye to Connecticut for awhile and the past week has been full of celebrations at my favorite places around here. It's been great having such a light workload in real estate, because the mornings haven't been kind to me with all this night time celebrating.
On Monday, Raskin and I tried to go "around the world" at Delaney's. Around the world consists drinking a rocks glass full of each of their 52 beers on tap. We both failed, but had a lot of fun trying. A special thanks to Pete for pouring our beers and for putting up with us.
Also, pizza night at Sally's has been a Wednesday staple for years. Every week, a core group of friends get together for the best pizza in the world. I'll miss you guys and will make sure to drink a Labatt's (or orange soda for Roth) in your honor every Wednesday from the road. Also, thanks to the owners and staff of Sally's for all of the hard work that goes into running such a fine establishment.
I just wanted to give an extra special thanks to Raskin, Caron and the Jamsters for making the summer of 2008 so epic! And, to Rob and Lauren for the hikes and Jen and Cozza for the late night talks. I'll miss you all, especially mom, dad and josh.

The Gasoline Free Mission

Hi! I'm Todd and this picture is of me and my golden retriever, Stanley. Stan and I are leaving home on August 13 for a friend's wedding and attempting to make it home without using any gasoline. While that doesn't sound too difficult, I should probably mention that the wedding is in California and I live in Connecticut. I will use a bicycle, rollerblades, donkey, wind and/or anything else that I can find to get us across the country. I can't tell you which method of transportation will prove to be my favorite or how long this crazy adventure might take, but I can tell you that I intend to learn a lot about what an average person like me can do to be more environmentally conscious so that future generations can enjoy the world as we do today. Through this website you will be able to track our progress and learn how you can make a difference in the fight against global warming, the wasteful use of our natural resources and anything else that I learn along the way.