Day 84 - Stony Brook to Riverhead NY

Thursday May 16, Biked 34 miles. Total mileage by end of day: 4544. 

Warm and sunny and tailwind again!

 Bob and Ann were another pair of super Warmshowers.org hosts.  I slept in their private downstairs suite and again had dinner and breakfast with them. Meeting so many great people is one of the best things about riding across the US. There are so many wonderful people. Bob was a civil engineer. Ann was a teacher and now mentors teachers as well as helping at soup kitchens.

Back on the road, I enjoyed sunny weather and a nice tailwind for the second day in a row.

This house maxed out the number of solar panels it could have.

Down more pretty country road.

Past lots of farm fields.

Argh! After leaving New York City, I did not see much trash on the side of the road, but as it got more rural (vs suburban), more trash appeared :-(

So beautiful! Why does Dunkin Donuts make so much pollution?

Finally I arrived at the Long Island Aquarium.

Olivia is not good at following directions :-)

At Jerry and The Mermaid...

...I met Liad and Elana. Originally from Israel, they now life on Long Island. They agree we need to protect our oceans for our kids.

The Apple Tart at Jerry and the Mermaid was so yummy!! This is a must stop for all bicycle tourists passing through. Great seafood too!

My server Harry is studying environmental economics.

The owner Jerry is a great guy and was a HUGE help! He got me in contact with Joe Yaiullo who co-founded the Long Island Aquarium.

At the aquarium, Olivia communed with some other turtles.

And I got kissed by a California Sea Lion!

We also got to act out a bit :-)

Joe and other staff were very happy to show me around and loved that I was giving 220+ talks across the US to save our seas.

Joe also brought Olivia and me into the penguin exhibit to meet the penguins in person.

Joe has done a fantastic job raising many different corals at the Long Island Aquarium.

These are all living, healthy corals that he has raised.

Olivia also checked out the sharks and mantas.

And a Giant Japanese Spider Crab.

The aquarium celebrated a number of recent environmental successes.

New York State just passed a plastic bag ban like California's. It will go into affect in March 2020.

I also met Lenore and Lorraine with Marine Research and Preservation.

Twin Forks Bicycles in Riverhead is an awesome bike shop. They let me store my touring bicycle there while I visited the aquarium.

They have great customers too like Don.

Joe is a bike mechanic there.

Nick is the owner. I highly recommend this shop to all my biking friends.

After retrieving my bike, I gave a Zero Waste presentation to the Riverhead Environmental Committee.

They had lots of questions about how Sunnyvale CA handles recycling and waste and were impressed that I had gotten down to just a quart of trash a month for 4 people and 3 dogs.

Another home that maxed out its solar.

And finally I made it to my hosts house for the evening -- Bob & Sharon.