A Visit From the 10th Wonder of the World

July 21st began no differently than any other day, except for the prompt wake up by Tatar saying, "Guys get up; we have to be out of here in like 25 minutes." With that simple message, we jumped out of bed, got some food and quickly got ready for our visit to the Commonwealth Autism Society (Richmond, VA) and sat down with them. We picked apart the mind of John Toscano about the business aspect of fundraising for a while. Afterwards, we followed John over to the St. Josephs Villa for children in Richmond, where they have over 600 children they service, whether it is an after school program for children or programs aimed at children with mental disabilities. We toured the grounds of the villa for a bit and were all reenergized about our cause when we saw the smiles across the childrens' faces. One child in particular, George, felt it necessary to have us continually race through the parking lot. After breaking a good sweat, we went to a local Italian restaurant, Mary Angela's Pizza Subs, where John purchased our dinner for the night.

We then went to the hotel and checked into the downtown Marriot hotel, which was donated to us graciously by Peter and Marti Cawley. Realizing that it was starting to get late we opted to relax at the hotel, needing to rest the legs. Early in the day, however, I received an unexpected phone call from some friends from college, including the “10th Wonder of the World Todd Marsh” (Ben Tatar, Spring 2007). The guys ended up rolling into Richmond at about 8:30. They were just passing through to Wilmington, NC and knew we were be on their way down, so they decided to come join us for dinner. At dinner, and afterwards, we shared tales about our journey with the guys, ranging from the dog chases in Georgia to the vast hills of North Carolina. The guys stayed with us for the night and departed early from the hotel. The Rolling for Autism team, instead, opted to remain in bed and rest on our day off from skating, looking forward to continuing the northward trip tomorrow. As for now, time to get down to doing some work and making some phone calls. Keep reading on and we’ll be sure to keep updating everybody about our trip.

Jason O.

"Ya'll be careful of them bears"

Hi All,

Our tour north continued today as we skated through rural Virginia. The scenery was pleasant skating alongside acres of tobacco fields, cow pastures, and farmland. We even managed to meet a bull with two large baseball bat sized horns. While all of us were a little timid by the 800 pound animal, I quickly recalled from my cartoon days that bulls have a natural attraction to red. Consequently, catching the bull's eye was Carson's bright red shirt. The bull crept towards us with a glimmer in its eye as it neared Carson. Realizing this bull was far bigger and more fierce than all of the other large, dangerous bulls Carson has previously encountered, we quickly jumped in the van and drove to safety.


Our skate ended after a grueling 35 miles. Today concluded a whopping 125 miles in only three days, and the only way to truly reward such effort is through our weekly tradition, "cheat day". For those of you that are not up to date on our blog, every Sunday we take a day off from our strict "rollerbladers' diet," and eat fast food. All of the boys indulge on this tradition (except Carson who wore his skirt to Wendy's tonight and ate a salad) by feasting on Wendy's infamous Baconator Sandwich...and the 1600 calories that came with it.


Packed day tomorrow in Richmond. Time for some sleep.

Cheers,

Dan T.

Dad, aka "Neilster", Joins The Crew

Flying in to Raleigh on Tuesday, I rented a car and met up with the guys "somewhere" along Highway 401, between Fayettville and Raleigh. My first impression of the trip was to take note of the wonderful scenery in rural North Carolina, travelling along back roads and past tobacco farms. It was also quite apparent to me that the physical effort these guys are putting forth is truly amazing....roller blading on rough, hilly terrain in southern heat and humidity. Deciding to take the "air conditioned" drivers seat was a wise decision for me! The week was full of activity, including a few appearances in the community. We met with folks from Creative Living, a day program that places emphasis on arts and crafts, and has an adult population, and we also graced the floor @ Jelly Beans, a roller rink that had us showing our "moves". My moves were primarily focused on staying up on my skates (which I did).Throughout the week, I was impressed with how grateful folks were to meet the guys, and it is obvious that the underlying message being spread by Rolling For Autism is one of community building - bringing people together and offering a positive spin on challenging situations. One only needs to experience the smile of a young child and the warmth shown by the parents to truly see why this is worth such an effort. Returning home Friday morning, I am struck with the desire to get back on the road again!

The Fellas Work on Their Curves

After a quick skate in blistering 97 degree heat, we headed to Henderson North Carolina where the owners of the local Curves, Kristie and Diane, put together a reception for the team. We were stunned when we pulled in the parking lot and saw a huge sign that read "Today at five come in and meet the Rolling for Autism team live in person." After a quick radio interview the guys had the opportunity to meet a very special young girl, the type of girl who makes all the tough days and long skates worthwhile. Breylen (sorry if I spelled that wrong which I'm 99% sure I did) is a 12 year old girl who was diagnosed with Aspergers. The second we arrived her big smile and overwhelmingly positive attitude allowed us to forget about our aching legs and blistered feet and reminded us why we are doing this. Jason and I were so energized we decided to jump into action and show all of those in attendance that despite the preconceived notions many have about Curves, it is not just a gym for women. We went through two complete cycles and soon realized that these women were no joke...In other words, Curves kicked our butts.

At the end of the reception Breylene (sorry again for the spelling) presented the four of us with medals and told us how much she appreciated what we are doing. Again, it is moments like these that keep us going. Thank you so much Breylene.

After the reception we had dinner with Breylene and the crew at a local restaurant. For a little while we forgot that we were on the road and felt as though we were part of the family. Thank you guys. After dinner we all went to the local movie theatre to watch a pre-screening of the new Adam Sandler movie. Although Breylene decided to join some of her friends to see another movie, which was probably a good idea because parts of the flick were a bit riske for a 12 year old, we had a great time and enjoyed the show.

Now we are back at the hotel and the other three are sound asleep, I'm sure dreaming of tomorrow mornings skate. I would go on but Dan's loud snoring is really screwing with my concentration. Thanks to all those in Henderson who mad us feel welcome, we really appreciate it and look forward to hearing form you. Good night, and check back tomorrow for more updates as we head into Virginia

Blessings-a-plenty,

Carson S.

Sean's Big Day

We started the day off like any other day, with a relatively early wake up (about 9AM) and headed down for some breakfast before hitting the road. This morning, we realized, was when we were going to meet up with “The Neilster” (Dan’s dad) and that brought about an added sense of excitement about the group. We mapped out our route the night before and got ready to rock out on the pavement for our 40 mile day with the added pleasure of meeting up with “The Neilster”. Everybody, from the beginning of the trip until the other day, had warned us about the hills in North Carolina. Until today, we simply shrugged everything off as simply nonsense. Because of blister problems, Dan gave me the day off and I had the pleasure of watching the guys struggle up the rolling hills just south of Raleigh. Not only were the hills a challenge for the guys, but also the plethora of trucks driving on the road that didn’t slow down presented a challenge unto itself. After finding secondary roads to skate on, “The Neilster” joined us mid-skate and followed us around for the rest of the day on the road.

We were in quite the rush when we got checked into the hotel because we had to make a quick turn around to get to our dinner appointment at the TPC at Wakefield Plantation clubhouse. It was there that we indulged in a fantastic meal together on the eve of Streich’s birthday. We didn’t have much energy after that, but managed to find a way back to the hotel and relax quite nicely.

We awoke the next morning refreshed, not because of a good night’s sleep, but rather because we had a day off from skating. Another high energy day because it was Streich’s birthday (the BIG 2-5). “The Neilster” joined us this morning for a visit to Raleigh’s Center for Creative Living and observed how things went and saw nothing but good things, ranging from therapeutic music to creative art work that is absolutely beautiful. After that, we had enough time to check out of the hotel, grab a bite to eat, check into the next hotel, and finally get ready to skate at the Jellybeans roller skating arena. We then followed these activities up with a follow-up visit to the TPC at Wakefield Plantation for dinner. Tonight, it was time to celebrate Streich’s birthday and the dinner at the clubhouse was only the beginning. After dinner, we found our way downtown to celebrate in Raleigh for Streich’s big day. Off to rest for the big skate tomorrow.

Jason O.

Rallying towards Raleigh

Big doings with team RFA tonight, instead of the usual two guys to one undersized bed, the Innkeeper hotel here in Fayettville N.C was nice enough to donate two rooms with a combined four beds...as you can tell it doesn't take much to make us road hardened skaters happy. Although we will undoubtedly miss the camaraderie that comes with having four smelly hockey players turned rollerbladers in one room, the extra space is a welcome relief.

As for our skate today, all went off without a hitch until we hit mile 25 about 10 miles south of Fayettville. At that point we were hit with a smell that nearly became the cause of the trips first wipe outs. The putrid odor came at the hands of trucks carrying what must have been manur or rotting baby diapers. The first one caught Dan and I off guard and as the semi rolled by we were barely able to compose ourselves enough to continue the skate. Although that would not be the last of the rank smelling trucks we were able to better prepare ourselves for the next ones by pulling our shirts over our faces as soon as we saw them approach. The sweaty smell of our unwashed skating shirts was far preferable to that of the trucks. Despite the atrocious smell that was intensified by the 90 plus degree heat we pressed on and arrived in Fayettville around 2:00 pm. We then headed to Methodist College to pick up some food they were nice enough to donate.

Well its 11:00 pm and way past our bed time. Tomorrow we skate into Raleigh where we have numerous events planned and three scheduled TV appearances. Thanks again for all of your support. Stay tuned for more from the RFA team as we continue our mission to raise awareness and funds for those affected by Autism.

Blessings-a-plenty,

Carson S.

Today, aside from the 8 or 9 Doberman Pinschers that Dan and I thought were going to chase us followed closely by the three German Shepherds sitting in front of the house across the street, the skate was relatively uneventful. It wasn't a terribly hot afternoon, but the humidity was very high again today. We got our first taste of the rolling hills of North Carolina today. Though they were no extreme mountains to overcome, but the steady inclines proved to be difficult nonetheless as our pace (Dan and my own especially) slacked off tremendously. Today's skate carried us through the backroads between Wilington and Elizabethtown, North Carolina and they were relatively easy to skate on with little traffic. Dan and I also managed to skate by a vicious looking fowl eating a snake carcass and startled us both because we originally thought it was nothing more than trash on the side of the road.

We pounded out 35 miles on the pavement today and finished this sunday with a "cheat day" on the diet. Not having eaten much today, the guys opted for a much-needed MacDonalds meal while I chose to walk up the street to the local Italian restaurant and ate a delicious grilled chicken sandwich instead. We are now relaxing around the hotel, working out a bit (abs, push ups, etc.), and going to watch a movie for the evening and go to bed soon. I have to go shower up now, but we'll catch up with everyone tomorrow. We would like to thank everybody for their support thus far and hope people continue their support throughout the remainder of our adventure.

Jason O.