April 4 2016 - Moab, Utah - Day 3

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: MOAB, UTAH

An Off Roading Adventure!!

​Greetings from Moab!

What a wild and fun day…almost too wild and fun. Or maybe just too adventurous?! More on this later.

​Let me start from the beginning.

I’ll catch ya up to speed - just in case you were a naughty follower and didn’t read yesterday’s Daily Scoop.

I was dressed in my new and awesome
Vegan Outdoor Adventures shirt and I was all ready go, but Dave wasn’t feeling too hip when he woke up yesterday and was just plain ol out of it!
 
Basically he looked and felt like crap!
The ride from the day before had really taken it’s toll on him - that and I strongly believe that he just wasn’t staying hydrated and hadn't been drinking enough water. 

Soooo the day was on pending on how he felt after breakfast. And being that he hardly touched his food - there was no waaaay that I was taking him on another mountain bike trail.
No way Jose!

I suggested that he rest a bit more and see if that helped any.
After his short little cat nap in the truck, he was in fact looking more alert and more like himself.
 
​So off we went - to get gas…
​I still hadn’t decided if taking him on a ride was a wise choice.

Awesome Mural

Next up was heading into our favorite bike shop in town - Chili Pepper Bikes. We had been looking forward to picking up a new pair of cycling socks. Mission accomplished.

Dave continued to look better and he wanted to go to Canyonlands National Park - if at least to just check it out.       So I agreed.
​
But first…we stopped to take more pictures - Moab is just so picturesque!

Then after a brief discussion and mention about a ride that I read about in the new mountain biking book that we picked up yesterday.
Dave agreed that it would be time better spent to go and ride the Klonzo Trails (which were much much closer). 

So again after a couple of more picture breaks, we arrived at our turn-off and followed the directions to the trailhead. Everything was well marked and easy to find. ​

My new socks!

We were ready to hit the trails and CRANK!

​And boy were these trails tons better and so much more fun than yesterday’s lameness! ​

The La Sal mountain range

After having a really great time pedaling we made our way back to the truck and decided to head into Arches National Park - via the back road…

This is where I left off - the back road into Arches National Park is an off road 4x4 only (adventure)…well we didn’t know the adventure part quite yet…but we sure as heck found out! 

Things got pretty hairy out there. We only had about 4 miles to go on this road before reaching pavement and at about 1 mile in I noticed our line was heading for a BIG step - one that could’ve flipped us or basically torn the dickens out of the bottom of the truck, so I got out and Dave readjusted his line…

Things were looking pretty good from where I was standing.

​But I couldn’t see the drivers side, and then all of a sudden the truck was stuck.

Yup S.T.U.C.K. and we were out in the boondocks.
​Dave tried a few times to get us out of this prediciment, but 2 of the tires were off the ground and it really wasn’t looking too good. 

I suggested that we push it, but all we were doing was rocking it back and forth. 

If we had just enough omph, and we could’ve got at least one more tire on the ground I knew that we’d be alright. But it was looking grim. 

Heck, at least we had plenty of water and grub. 
​But we also had our bikes - we could always ride out of there and go fetch some assistance…
I mean IF it came to that.

I had one more suggestion - instead of us pushing while in neutral, Dave pushes while I have the truck in a lower gear and with the help of the engine steer us out of this big mess. 

Again we were teetering back and forth, but I knew that this was gonna work… 

And guess what?!

It DID!

We were pretty stoked and at this point! 

And Dave, the guy who for some reason doesn’t like my driving - knew that I was the one who could get us out of this mess and he wanted me behind the wheel. 

​Apparently I know how to drive in sticky situations and deep down he knows that I am the superior driver!

Along the rest of this crazy trail/road - whatever you want to call it, we finally saw another truck coming opposite us and it was in another hairy spot. 
​I took control of the situation and made it look easy. 
The other driver pulled up along side of us and complemented my skills behind the wheel!
​
While the 4 miles felt like a very long 4 miles, we finally got onto the good ‘ol pavement once again.

​We were in Arches National Park and the lighting was just beautiful, so of course we stopped several times along the way to admire the surroundings and to of course take plenty of pictures. ​

Lastly was heading to dinner and then back to the Glamp site.

Guess what we are doing today???            
Yup, we are going mountain biking again! 

MMM - Monday - Moab - Mountain Biking…sounds good to me :)

Catch ya back here tomorrow,
-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop

April on Broadway

HEY THERE!! It's the start of a new week - the first full week of April!

As Tanya was romping and riding around Moab, me and my gang spent a relatively quiet (but busy) weekend here on Long Island.

It was good to be back home from our nearly two-week stay in Boca Raton, Florida. Today we got right back in the swing of a typical school week.  Kids are back in uniform; Mommy making lunch and Gianna has band.

I know we will all be very tired by the end of the day.  I popped dinner in the slow cooker so I would not have to fuss later on - Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken.

This recipe is so very easy to make, with so few ingredients, that it's a great go-to meal for those busy days. 

I know my sweet cuz would never consider such a dish, being a vegan. As you know, I'm not one for a lot of meat, but I do eat chicken occasionally and the kids do eat it.

I'll serve it up with some mashed potatoes and string bean salad.

Getting back to the weekend, did  I mention that Gianna got something very special done to her hair this weekend - she had the bottom highlighted.  Cannot believe my girl is almost 12 years old! Next month, in fact. 

Well, she has been begging me and it is a current trend with may of the girls her age. I feel if it's not permanent (like a tattoo or a piercing), or something that could hurt her health, as a pre-teen, it's okay with me.

Monday is our usual Entertainment Day here on Travelin' Cousins and I am delighted to tell you about the 8 new shows opening on Broadway this month...straight from Playbill.com.

THE CRUCIBLE 
• Theatre: Walter Kerr  
• Opening: March 31, 2016 
• Written by Arthur Miller 
• Director: Ivo van Hove 
• Cast: Ben Whishaw, Saoirse Ronan, Ciaran Hinds. Sophie Okonedo. 
• Arthur Miller's political allegory framed as a story about a man falsely charged with witchcraft in colonial, Salem, MA.

THE FATHER 
• Theatre: Samuel J. Friedman 
• First Preview: March 22, 2016
• Opening: April 14, 2016 
• Written by Florian Zeller 
• Director: Doug Hughes 
• Cast: Frank Langella, Kathryn Erbe 
• A look inside the mind of Andre (Langella), a retired dancer living with his adult daughter Anne and her husband. Or is he a retired engineer receiving a visit from Anne who has moved away with her boyfriend? Why do strangers keep turning up in his room? And where has he left his watch? 
• Produced previously in Paris and London.

AMERICAN PSYCHO 
• Theatre: Gerald Schoenfeld 
• First Preview: March 24, 2016
• Opening: April 21, 2016 
• Written by Duncan Sheik (music & lyrics), Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (book) 
• Director: Rupert Goold 
• Cast: Benjamin Walker, Alice Ripley, Jennifer Damiano 
• "Direct from a highly acclaimed, sold-out run in London, American Psycho brings its designer brand of style, sex and synthesizers to Broadway. Set in the excess of 1980s Manhattan, American Psycho tells the story of Patrick Bateman, a young and handsome Wall Street banker who pursues his darkest American dreams. Patrick and his elite group of friends spend their days in exclusive restaurants, hot clubs and luxury labels. But at night, Patrick takes part in a more sinful indulgence, and his mask of sanity is starting to slip...." 
• Made its world premiere in London at the Almeida Theatre January 2014, starring Matt Smith. Act 4 is partnering with Jeffrey Richards to bring the show to Broadway.

WAITRESS 
• Theatre: Brooks Atkinson 
• First Preview: March 25, 2016
• Opening: April 24, 2016 
• Written by Sara Bareilles (music & lyrics), Jessie Nelson (book), Adrienne Shelly (original screenplay) 
• Director: Diane Paulus 
• Cast: Jessie Mueller 
• Based on the 2007 film of the same name, which follows a pregnant waitress named Jenna who is unhappily married in the Deep South. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness. 
• In development since June 2013 with producers Barry and Fran Weissler, director Diane Paulus and songwriter Sara Bareilles. The show had its first full production at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA in summer 2015.

FULLY COMMITTED 
• Theatre: Lyceum   
• First Preview: April 1, 2016 
• Opening: April 25, 2016 
• Written by Becky Mode 
• Director: Jason Moore 
• Cast: Jesse Tyler Ferguson 
• Broadway premiere of the hit 1999 comedy about a harried reservations clerk at a hot restaurant with a mob of crazy guests...all played by one actor.

TUCK EVERLASTING 
• Theatre: Broadhurst  
• First Preview: March 31, 2016
• Opening: April 26, 2016 
• Written by Nathan Tysen (lyrics), Chris Miller (music), Claudia Shear and Tim Federle (book) 
• Director: Casey Nicholaw 
• Cast: Sarah Charles Lewis, Andrew Keenan-Bolger,  Carolee Carmello, Michael Park, Terrence Mann 
• Good girl Winnie Foster’s world has been safely contained behind the picket fence that surrounds the house she shares with her mother and grandmother. Yearning to break free, Winnie runs deep into the woods behind their house where she discovers the Tuck family and the secret they’ve been keeping.

LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT 
• Theatre: American Airlines  
• First Preview: April 3, 2016 
• Opening: April 27, 2016 
• Written by Eugene O'Neill 
• Director: Jonathan Kent 
• Cast: Jessica Lange, Gabriel Byrne, John Gallagher Jr., Michael Shannon 
• O'Neill's tale of an ordinary summer’s day with extraordinary consequences. Roundabout revives the story of the Tyrone family and their battle to unearth — and conceal — a lifetime of secrets.

SHUFFLE ALONG, OR, THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED 
• Theatre: Music Box 
• First Preview: March 15, 2016
• Opening: April 28, 2016 
• Written by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle (music), George C. Wolfe (book) 
• Director: George C. Wolfe 
• Choreographer: Savion Glover 
• Cast: Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter,  Brandon Victor Dixon, Joshua Henry 
• A backstage musical about the events that led to the creation of the groundbreaking Eubie Blake-Noble Sissle musical Shuffle Along.


I absolutely loved Jessie Mueller, currently starring in Waitress, as Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical  CLICK HERE to read about her performance and this Broadway production!

And Audra MacDonald, multiple Tony Award winner currently starring in SHUFFLE ALONG, OR, THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED was stupendous as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill.  CLICK HERE to read about this production, which is currently airing on HBO this month.

I love Broadway!  Have to get some tickets for these new Spring productions!! Will keep you posted!

Cheers,
-E
xoxo