Coast 2 Coast: The team is on the road.

INAUGURAL COAST 2 COAST AWARENESS RUN

For 15 years, Teen Adolescent Placement Services (TAPS) has been serving families of troubled and out of control teens and pre-teens throughout the United States.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO CONTINUE THE WORK.

Founders Tony and Maryann Pallotto are planning the Inaugural Coast 2 Coast Awareness Run in hope of raising funds to continue serving families as they have for the past 15 years. TAPS has helped over 15,000 families since 1994.

Tony and Maryann Pallotto are gearing up for a long road trip on a rented Harley Davidson – their latest quest to keep troubled teens and preteens from crashing and burning. The couple are planning their Coast 2 Coast Awareness Run to roll out of Oceanside, CA., TAPS’ home base, on Oct. 1, 2009. The fundraiser’s destination is 3,450 miles up the road to New Haven, Conn., about 11 miles from Wallingford, where the Pallottos grew up. Connecticut is also where Tony’s only two brothers (Michael and Jimmy) died because of heroin abuse. Intravenous heroin use also killed one of the Pallottos’ three sons (Mark Richard). Like her husband, Maryann has brothers who’ve struggled with drug and alcohol problems that began in their teens. Her youngest brother (George) attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head. He survived but needs 24-hour care.

Many parents of troubled teens don’t know where to turn for help or lack the skills to deal with these issues. The destruction of the family is widespread and the effects can last a lifetime.

TAPS’ primary mission is to help families heal and avert tragedies like those that have racked their family.

Please help us continue this work by donating to Teen Adolescent Placement Services, a public benefit charity 501-C-3 non-profit corporation.

Sincerely,

Tony & Maryann Pallotto, Founders of Teen Adolescent Placement Services
866-411-TAPS (8277)

Inaugural Coast 2 Coast Updates From the Road

Check here for our latest video uploads on YouTube.

October 6, 2009: They Made It!

Day 8, Wallingford greeted the team when they finally rolled in at about 430 p.m. ET. Both the New Haven Register and Meridan Record Journal news papers were there waiting to report on and increase the awareness run. Regardless of the breakdowns and the new route chosen during the trip, the team still made the projected arrival time and date within the hour. After the warm reception the team went to Modern Pizza on State St in New Haven. This spot serves amazing pizza and was a popular spot for Mickey Pallotto as well as still for Tony.

There are also two new videos on You Tube showing the team's ride into town.

October 5, 2009

Day 7, This morning, the team departed Kingsport, Tennessee at about 8:00 AM Eastern Time and stopped at a motorcycle shop nearby to get some oil for all three bikes. The shop was a Yamaha shop, and even though none of the team members is riding a Yamaha, they were still able to help us out. The team continued up I-81 through Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and finally into Pennsylvania. The weather was nice except for the cold in the morning and at night keep the team bundled up all day. During the day the team passed through the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, and crossed the Mason-Dixon Line settling in Pennsylvania.

Don't forget to check out the latest videos on YouTube!

Blue Ridge Moutains

October 4, 2009

Day 6, Leaving from York, Alabama at about 8:00 AM Central Time, the team hit the road heading towards Tennessee going through Georgia. They hit some very cold weather en route and a little drizzle from the sky. Crossing into the Eastern Time Zone, the team stopped for the night in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Tony and Maryanne bundled up on the cold ride

October 3, 2009

Day 5, the team left Winnie, Texas around 8:00 AM Central Time and started the 500 mile trip to York, Alabama. During the trip, the team made it out of Texas (that's a big state), crossed the Mississippi, passed through the swamps of Louisiana, crossed over into Alabama for the night. The team really enjoyed watching the swamps pass by. They spent Saturday night at a Days Inn in York, Alabama after arriving around 7:15 PM Central Time.

Swamps in Louisiana

Crossing the Mississippi River

Crossing into Alabama in the early evening

October 2, 2009

Day 4 started out with calling Harley shops to get Jimmy's bike fixed. Mauricio and Jimmy took the uhaul and Jimmy's bike to Caliente Harley in San Antonio to get the bike working again. The team dropped off the uhaul and then continued on one bike back to caliente in order to pick up Jimmy's bike. The ignition wire was fixed and the bike was running and cleaned with the help of Caliente Harley-Davidson. With the late start we tried to make up some time but got beat by the night. After passing through Houston, Tx (image on left) the team stopped for the night in the small town of Winnie, TX.

Highway interchange in Houston, Tx

Caliente Harley Davidson, where Jimmy's bike was fixed.

October 1, 2009

The team started the chilly day driving into the blinding sunrise and made it quite a ways down the road. At mile marker 403 on I-10, Jimmy broke down yet again. The team spent an hour on the side of the road until they finally got in touch with a uhaul company in Senora, TX. Jimmy rode on Mauricio's motorcycle 40 miles to Senora to get the 26 foot uhaul. Jimmy's bike and Mauricio's things were left on the side of the rode while Tony and Maryann rode on to San Antonio. Jimmy and Mauricio arrived at 9:30 at night into San Antonio with hopes of fixing the bike in the morning. Fran and Joe Cowan, friends of the team arrived soon after to visit.

Tony, Joe, Fran, and Maryanne

September 30, 2009

Today, the crew traveled accross two time zones ridding from Tucson, AZ through New Mexico and into Texas stopping for the evening in Van Horn, TX. Along the way, Jimmy lost his license plate and somewhere in Texas, Maryanne’s helmet took a beating. Apparently, the helmet was not strapped on very well and it went rolling down the highway… You can see where it was on the bike in the picture to the right.

Here are the guys ready to hit the road and continue accross Texas.

September 29, 2009

The team left Oceanside, California just after 7:00 AM Pacific Time. The team made it to Mesa Arizona where they had to pick up a new head gasket and throttle cable for Jimmy… See the video. We thank Chester’s Harley-Davidson for the quick repairs and getting the team back on the road.