28 years ago...

We almost made it to Santa Barbara. We stopped short in Carpinteria at a great campsite on the beach. There is a seal colony, lots of pelicans, great weather, and a swimming pool nearby. For my birthday:

I got new quickdraws.

And an iPod shuffle.

We sat in Starbucks in Montecito.

 

Then we walked through a farmer's market.

 

It was a nice day.

So I went for a 45 minute run on the beach with my new shuffle. The run was awesome. I felt good. My goal for my half IM this year will be to run 8 minute miles. I was stoked to have my miles tick off at 7:45, 7:11, 7:22, 6:50, 6:45, 6:32. The next day I was a little sore, but I think the FRS chews I am eating before and after every workout definitely helped my recovery.

 Then I got to try out the new underwater iPod holder that we got.

Indian food for dinner.

A fire to end the night.

SD

 

Don't let us stay at your house. I am horrible at parallel parking a 14 foot trailer. We will stuff goodie bags on your lawn while you are out at work. We use your kitchen. For my birthday (this Friday) Mojdeh made me some cookies. We will probably be camping in Santa Barbara Friday night.

We like San Diego. The weather has been great. We ran along the coast this morning. I rode my bike slowly for an hour and a half yesterday. I need to get in the water. The ocean is 51 degrees and murky. Not my idea of fun. Even with my cool new XTerra wetsuit. It is almost like I am training for a half Ironman. Tomorrow, we head North.

How we roll.

It only took two hours to get the lights hooked up on our trailer this morning. But you should have seen how happy I was when a cop passed me at night! On our way out of Lake Havasu, the car died going up a hill. I guess the 10 year old van isn't as srong as we hoped. Tomorrow we need to replace the fuel and air filters. We almost made it San Diego today. We have spent a lot of time on the same interstates. I am excited to head north and south instead of east and west. The wind has prevented us from any training so hopefully we can get it back on track in SD.

I forgot to mention how much I like FRS. I got a free sample at TriFest in Tucson and I wasn't sure that it would do anything but taste good. Now I eat two of their chews before and two after training and I feel mch more recovered the next day. Placebo? Possibly. Do I like it? Absoutely.

It isn't perfect.

Lake Havasu is where the snowbirds meet the spring breakers. There are a lot of old people, 18 yr olds, and 45 yr olds that think they are 18. I guess the recession hasn't hit here. Boats and RVs that cost the same as houses are common. We don't have a boat so we haven't seen all of the craziness, but we are staying near a motocross track where there are lots of guys wearing hats with really straight bills. Some white kid called me "dog" today. This whole area is like a suburb. It seems to be too hot all day and now it is too windy to be outside. I had a great run yesterday afternoon. I am trying to actually do my half IM training, so running for 70 minutes was the goal. The miles got consecutively faster, 9:11, 8:35, 8:31, 8:11, 8:11, 7:45, 7:25... The 40 mph winds are preventing me from riding my bike. I
We have a new car now.

Here is what we were promised.

Here is what we got.

There are still no stickers on it, but I have started adding my own. I guess in a month or so, we will have all the companies stickers on it. I am going to get the lights to the trailer hooked up tomorrow. Right now the brake lights work and if I put on the right blinker, the hazards flash. Other than that, none of the lights work. The "bed" inside is about 5 feet long. We tried to sleep in it once, but neither one of us could lay in it without looking like an accordion. So next we need to get rid of the bed and find a mattress that we can put inside.

Last week.

Before we left Pasadena, we were able to see my cousin Hunter dominate one of his rugby games. It was a lot of fun and he was awarded the "man of the match".  He is threatening to do a triathlon next month, so look out Newport Beach!

 

Hunter. (Not the small Asian kid.)

Then B from HIC suncare made this awesome poster for me from my travels. I took pictures everywhere that I used their sunscreen and lip balm (all over the world) and he put it all together for me.

It was too big to take a picture by myself, so here it is alone:

 

After being spoiledby my family last week, life on the road has been more... what it should be. Well I would say it is what I expected, but that is a lie because I expected things to be more comfortable. We were told that we would have a 40 ft RV that sleeps 6. What we have now deserves its own blog post.

One night in Lake Havasu, we slept in our tent, the next night in our new minivan. Tonight we are in a hotel. We put the tent between the car and trailer to block as much of the sun as possible. We thought that we might cook of the sun hit our tent directly.

 Eating meals on the road is always difficult. Road trips are too easy to eat fast food. So we load up with salads, and eat them at rest stops with truckers. This no RV thing is making life different.

 

The addition of bike racks to our vehicle has made life a million times better. This was our trailer before bike racks. Can you spot Mojdeh? Oh yeah, check out the new HIC Obama love!

There have never been snakes in Ireland, they are cold blooded.

Pasadena has a bike race every Tuesday and Thursday evening. 10 laps around the Rose Bowl. Mojdeh, my cousin Hunter, and myself went out early for a swim, bike, run. The pool was charging $10 to drop in and swim so we skipped that. We did bike 10 miles, then run 3. It is not quite up to my half IM training that I am supposed to be doing, but it was better than nothing. Plus my new helmet got some looks.

At least I look fast, as Chet "the Jet" would say.

 

Then it was time for Paddy's Day dinner.

Good day.

What is a trip to California without going to Disneyland?

Pink is in this year.

Dinner a couple of nights ago was at Bistro de la Gare in South Pasadena. Fantastic. Good food, good wine, and good company. Catching up with my family has been very important for me. I feel closer to them more than I ever have. My cousins (and their kids) are examples of the kind of family that I strive to have.

First fraternity formal.


The are unconditionally loving, supportive of their family, and very giving. It is amazing that traveling around the world has changed my perspective on a lot of things, but it couldn't open my eyes to everything. Coming "home" has been amazing. Seeing my Dad in his new life last month is still unbelievable. I am proud of him.

A cold run, bike, swim.


Mushy stuff aside, Mojdeh did her first triathlon and got 5th in her age group! There are some timing discrepancies, but she is happy with that result. We busted our butt to set up the day before and the morning of the race. It was only busy for about one hour. B showed up to help which was awesome, but we found out that we will need more support at each of these events. Next week, we are supposed to have a van to sleep in (give back the rental car) that has bike racks on top. That will make life much easier. Dinner last night was at Mijare's. Now I have to work before we play in Pasadena today!

Two good days.

Laguna Beach.

Yesterday was good. I exchanged a pair of sunglasses at Rudy Project (they are guaranteed for life if you ever scratch them). Mojdeh picked up a couple of pairs of cool new shades, and we went to my friend Kevin's house. Along the way, we stopped at the beach to check out this side of the Pacific Ocean.

One of the other beaches.

Today, we had to work all morning. We drove around LA picking up products and getting ready for this weekends event. We are staying with my cousins. Their guesthouse is fantastic. They stocked the fridge for us and are more than accommodating. Tonight we are going out to dinner and I already feel like royalty. I also went for a very short bike ride. I tried out the Blue RD1 that we are selling. What a nice bike. When I am out of the saddle, the thing wants to go fast! It has been a good couple of days, but I need to get serious about my training. I am planning on a half ironman in Kansas this June.

Quartzsite, AZ.

Leaving Tucson (happily) took a while. We had to go and pick up pumps, and return a printer, buy rock climbing shoes, get a new sleeping pad, attach the trailer, get gas, and get on the road. The trailer sways from side to side whenever a big truck passes me. I have to slow down and pull onto the shoulder slightly. Then I realized that this wouldn't happen if trucks weren't passing me. (I had barely hit 60 mph on the interstate until now.) So I decided to pick it up a bit. Now I can drive 75 (the speed limit) happily. It only took me a full day to get comfortable pulling this massive thing. I am nervous because of all of the cool gear we have in the back. We actually keep the bike that I want to ride in the car. I got some Speedplay pedals, but haven't had a chance to ride. The coolest part of yesterday's drive, was as the sun was setting in front of us, the moon was rising over the mountains behind us.

Sorry for the picture quality, I was using my phone while the trailer sways 5 feet each direction and I hope that there is no traffic in the other lane!

Now we are in the town of Quartzsite. There are no houses here. Everyone lives in their RV. Sometimes I wish that I had one, but then I think of how lucky we are to be able to unhook the car and drive around town like normal people. The lady who checked us in was very nice. Her name is Zelda. These are the kind of people that don't think twice before lighting their cigarette while pumping gas. I don't think that there is a school within 100 miles. Today, we are going to Los Angeles, but for now I need to take advantage of the free continental breakfast here at the Super 8.

Goodbye Tucson.

First event done, only 25 more to go. I learned a lot about what we have and what some of these things moght be like. We went to a party thrown by TriSports.com that had free food, drinks, and gambling. We made friends with other vendors and I got to see my old friend AJ Curtis that I used to race with on O'ahu. It was an interesting time and I am glad to be moving on.

Syton

Last night we bailed on Dave Scott's speech early. I almost felt bad, but it had been a long day. I sat at a table with a bunch of dudes (really cool guys from Blue bikes, Triathlete Magazine, and USAT) that were showing off pictures of their kids.

I almost forgot to send out a special THANK YOU to Rudy Project for hooking me up with the coolest time trial helmet. Wait until my first race pictures to see this helmet in action.

Tucson.

 

Plan B.

So the RV fell through. A lack of planning made me stay in Austin for a week. I had a great time with Jim and his roommate Chris. I made it to TriFest just in time to set up. I hate feeling rushed, but for the first event, it had to be that way. We have tons of products and I am excited to get to know all of them.

 

Some of  the products we are selling, I am very familiar with. The weather in Tucson is a little colder than I thought it would be. Tomorrow is supposed to be 70. Our hotel has a pool so after Dave Scott gave a speech at dinner tonight, we hit the pool and I put in 1k. I am hoping to put the finishing touches on some bikes so that I can start riding again soon.

Hook 'em.

What is a trip to Austin without swinging by Mellow Johnny's?

The last day in Hawai'i, we hit the beach. I surfed in the morning using a new prodect called Surf Gel. I applied to to my thighs and did not get rash where I normally do. That was nice for our flight from Kona to Maui to Portland to Denver. Sleeping in airports is never fun, but meeting up with friends is. We had a good time in Denver and I flew to Austin the following day. Jim, Tricia, and I all lived in Hawai'i at the same time.

Tricia showed us some cool toys in locked rooms.

Jim and my new house.

Jim, Chris, 3 Chihuahuas and a crazy cat.

I am now in Austin hoping to drive the RV to Tucson to meet with Mojdeh and our boss to start our tour. My friend Jim and his roommate Chris have been more than accommodating for me and I can't thank them enough.

This is the Whole Foods headquarters. I was very happy in there.

Chris took Jim and I to Mojo Kickball yesterday. They describe it as: Imagine if Kickball was out drunk one night and started making out with Tag. Then Dodgeball comes into the Club and is like, "Hello, what's this?" and then joins in. But just at that moment, the Club announces that it's last call and that everyone has to leave. But no one is sober enough to drive, so they ask their old pal Touch-football to drive them home, who graciously obliges.
3 weeks later, Kickball realizes it's pregnant, but doesn't know who the father is. But it's cool, because everyone pitches in. 9 Months later, Little Mojo Kickball™ is born into a caring loving family consisting of 1 mother and 3 fathers. And that's Mojo Kickball™. Right now Little Mojo Kickball™ is in his grade-school years.

Then as if the weekend couldn't be more action packed, we went to a kite festival. It was big. They closed the roads and everyone was out at the park flying kites together. The weather has been beautiful, we have been outside a lot and I wish that Austin wasn't in Texas.