April 10, 2017 - Circus 1903 and a Photo Recap of the Shafer Trail in Moab

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 2 DAYS

A Day at the Circus!

Hey guys

You know how much I love Mondays right?

​Well it's even better today because I can barely contain my excitement about leaving for the U.K. this week!

Suitcases are at the door - ready to go - - well, mine and Kelsey's are - still waiting for Gianna to put in those last minute things.  ​

Well, without further adieu, let me tell you about my day yesterday!! 

I had an amazing Sunday at Circus 1903 yesterday in the city. First of all you couldn't ask for a nicer weather day it was absolutely perfect. Temps near 60°, sunny, just gorgeous.

We started our day headed for the train station and it was a smooth ride into Manhattan. If you ever consider seeing a show at the theater at Madison Square Garden or the Knicks game or a concert, it is just so darn convenient taking the Long Island Railroad. 

What I'm also stoked about is the Vlogging  I managed to do!  I really love talking to you guys via video - it feels so much more personal and it's a great way to "share' the moments as they are happening.

I'll be dong a great deal of it on my trip to London and Paris this week.  But, I think I'm going to make it a regular part of my Daily Scoop as well as a general rule.

My kids think it's the funniest thing when "Mom" Vlogs.  They laugh hysterically and can't help but tell me how ridiculous I am.  On the other hand, they are both willing to film me, so, how weird can they really think it is?

TRAIN INTO THE CITY...

Heading into NYC on the Long Island Rail Road (c) travelincousins.om

The circus theme was really fun and the girls and I  bopped around the lobby taking some pictures before the show.  

Kelsey talked me into getting her popcorn for $6.25 but I have to tell you in the end it was worth it because we were all munching on it the whole time.

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Our seats were pretty much dead center and even though they were technically a little bit off to the left you couldn't even tell. But this theater is one that no matter where you sit  - close, far, left or right of center, you always have a great view. And the incline of the seats makes it great for viewing.

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Munching away! (c) travelincousins.com

The "Master of Ceremonies" stayed in character the whole time, as the Circus proprietor of 1903.  He was delightful and funny and interacted quite a bit with the audience and took kids from the audience up to the stage to participate on two occasions.  

The performers were so incredibly talented!  From tight rope walkers to acrobats and jugglers to aerialists and contortionists, it was entertaining from start to finish.

I'd have to say that the highlight were the two rather life-like sized elephant puppets.  Mommy and baby made their appearance on several occasion (manned by some very talented puppeteers) with poise and presence and the kids in the audience clearly loved when they both strutted across the stage.

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Life Size Elephant Mom & Baby "Peanut" Puppets (c) travelincousins.com

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The music was fantastic, upbeat and perfectly matched to the performances.

Running time was two hours just like any other Broadway show, with a 20 minute intermission.

​The show only has a two week engagement, running through April 16th and I'm glad that I opted to get the tickets because it was the perfect way to start off our vacation week on a high note. ​

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Taxi Selfie (c) travelincousins.com

My little trio cabbed it up to West 51st Street to Azalea Restaurant to save time.

And, as always, it was an incredible meal!! We left nothing but a little bit of calamari, which we brought home.

​I'll let the food speak for itself!!

AT AZALEA RESTAURANT, NYC

At our usual table at Azalea Restaurant (224 West 51st Street) (c) traveincousins.com

Fried Calamari (c) travelincousins.com

Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli (c) travelincousins.com

Loving my Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli (c) travelincousins.com

Gnocchi with mozzarella (c) travelincousins.com

Tiramisu - my all-time favorite dessert (c) travelincousins.com

Creme brûlée (c) travelincousins.com

The girls were not happy when I informed them that we were going to walk down Seventh Avenue back to Penn Station, rather than get another taxi.  After stuffing our faces, I needed a good walk - and so did they.

What a great day!!

Iconic Times Square (c) travelincousins.com

The girls relieved to be back in Penn Station after walking nearly 20 blocks (c) travelincousins.com

Okay, so the day had only one wrinkle in it - my friend Andrea and her son were so very kind in volunteering to watch my Punkin while we were gone for seven hours.

The plan was for them to stay at my house for about an hour with her and then bring her back to their house for the balance of the afternoon.

Unfortunately, my little nervous nelly dog would not get in their car!  She fought and carried on and being the kind animal people that they are, they wouldn't force her.  Well, needless to say, I felt awful about it since Andrea spent the day at my house, rather than cause Punkin any stress.

Now that is not only an amazing friend, but a true dog lover who would put my puppy before her own free time. Andrea, if you are reading this - you are such an incredible friend and I owe you BIG for this!!! xoxo

The highlight of my day  today is a trip to the dentist (my dear brother-in-law, Carlo) to get new impressions for my night mouth guard since someone (A-HEM) - a little furry someone, grabbed it off the bathroom counter and bit it in half!!

That's my story folks, and I'm sticking to it!!

Have a great day!!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 7 DAYS

I'm between trips - lol

​​It's another Monday!
And I'm back home now (at least for a few days).

We arrived in the wee hours this morning - after 3AM to be exact.

After an absolutely GREAT extended weekend in Moab...
​Dave loves it so much over there that it is one of the rare places that he admits to wanting to live there a few months out of the year!

Under Canvas grounds (c)travelincousins.com

Today aside from a typical Daily Scoop I'll also be sharing with you a (missing photos) photo recap from our trip - as there are plenty of pictures that I have yet to share with you being that the sd card slot is not currently functioning on my laptop and I forgot to bring my sd card adapter. ​

Under Canvas grounds (c)travelincousins.com

Yesterday was right up there with the best of them.    We started our day off a bit more leisurely, headed to our favorite breakfast spot in town - Eklecticafe. Then off we went to our favorite bike shop in town - Chile Pepper.

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While at the store and talking to one of the helpful associates I had inquired about a group of trails called Navajo Rocks and this came highly recommended - which sounded great to us!

We decided to forego our visit to Dead Horse State Park for this visit and head to Navajo Rocks instead.

Ready for another ride (c)travelincousins.com

And what a great decision this was, because we had a fabulous ride on "what Slick Rock should be like".

Dave riding down (c)travelincousins.com

Can you spot me? (c)travelincousins.com

There were great views and enough challenges to keep it lots of fun! And feel the burn - which btw I told myself that after all the rides this weekend, that I am definitely taking Monday OFF from hitting the gym. Whew.

I was playing with high pigmented colors here (c)travelincousins.com

Some of those "challenges" were even a bit too much for my tired legs...

Even Dave is walking it up! (c)travelincousins.com

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Which meant it was time to hike-a-bike and push it up and over. 

Maybe next time with a fresh set of legs! (c)travelincousins.com

Feeling great after the ride and ready to start the long journey back home.

With a dinner pit-stop in Las Vegas! ​

Encore Resort (c)travelincousins.com

Time for some Wazuzu (c)travelincousins.com

I'm so hungry I could bite into one of these golden pears! (c)travelincousins.com

Now, I'm sure that most of you know the "Where's Waldo?" series. Well in some of these pictures your gonna have to play a little game of "Where's Tanya?!"

Photo Recap of the Shafer Trail:

Starting point (c)travelincousins.com

Checking out the 3D map inside the visitor center (c)travelincousins.com

On the way (c)travelincousins.com

Heading down to that road (c)travelincousins.com

Switchbacks that have not always ended so well (c)travelincousins.com

Many deaths have occurred by cars going over the edge on this VERY DANGEROUS ROAD!

Look at that small truck drive down (c)travelincousins.com

That speck is ME (c)travelincousins.com

The long lonely road (c)travelincousins.com

Views everywhere! (c)travelincousins.com

I found some tiny wildflowers (c)travelincousins.com

At Musselman Arch (c)travelincousins.com

An unlikely visitor of the park!

Look at this cutie (c)travelincousins.com

Still a long way to go (c)travelincousins.com

Pedaling all the way (c)travelincousins.com

Finally a downhill (c)travelincousins.com

And to the Colorado River we go (c)travelincousins.com

Success (c)travelincousins.com

Stopping at the Goosenecks on the way back (c)travelincousins.com

The Goosenecks (c)travelincousins.com

Petroglyphs galore! (c)travelincousins.com

What did this mean? (c)travelincousins.com

Of course the day was perfect - there is even a rainbow to prove it! (c)travelincousins.com

Wow!
Pretty amazing stuff!!

And then we have today - which doesn't really compare. I have errands, I need to unpack, need to pack, need to do laundry - but in no particular order lol, I have a board meeting to Preside over later tonight and the kids have choir.

Although it's not too exciting, this type of stuff needs to get taken care of too. So off I go.

See ya'll tomorrow,
​-T