October 9, 2015: Tanya's Trip to Hawaii - Day 15 /Elisa's Trip to Lancaster, PA - Day 1

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN HAWAII

Last Day on this Vaca

Well folks TODAY is our last day here in Hawaii. (Insert sad face here) 
We've had such an AMAZING time!!

Isn't it funny how Elisa and I have our calendars scheduled?! Today is my last day of vacation and Elisa's first day of vacation!

Although we are not going to be back to SoCal until tomorrow, we checked out of our lovely stay in Poipu yesterday and did a fantastic road trip from Poipu to Princeville!

Who remembers Fantasy Island?

OMG this view!

After a couple of hours of exploring we felt like it was about time that we got some Hawaiian Shaved Ice...

I mean we were on Day 14 of our Hawaii Tour and still haven't had any Hawaiian Shaved Ice!

Before today, the kids kept opting for Gelato, or Coconut Ice Cream and even though the kids finally got their Ice, I went to Pineapple and Banana Fruit Whip!

Look at those MASSIVE things!

During our drive, the kids really cracked me up
when I overheard them talking about a song playing on the radio "Omg! This is so old it's from 2011"!
Geesh - that's old?!?!

Our next stop was one of my favorite view points overlooking the Taro fields - it's AMAZING!

Onward to Hanalei, where we stopped for lunch and then to the beaches!!!!

These little creepy crawly crabs really freaked me out!

At the first beach we hung out at was Waikoko Beach, looking across the Hanalei Bay towards Princeville.

After hanging out a while we noticed that there were these little crabs coming up from the sand. TOTALLY FREAKED ME OUT!

And got me these comments from the kiddos:
Cosette told me to "Stop freakin' out!"
Dominic said "You're the cowardly Mommy G"
I was LMAO - the kids thought the crabs were SOOOO cute, but I don't like creepy crawlers!

The next beach we stopped at (Kahalahala) quickly became one of my favorites, it was dreamy & we stayed and enjoyed ourselves here for quite some time!

We then continued to drive to the end of the road - where we were originally going to do a hike, but Cosette wasn't into it and this is what she had to say to me "it’s my birthday month. I don’t want to do hike.” 
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Soooo, I gave in and instead we spent the day seeing amazing places and sightseeing. Which I was plenty okay with!

Check out these awesome facts about this fantastic island:

15 Fabulous Facts about Kauai!

Kauai is Hawaii’s forth largest island

Approx Population:
69,512 (2013)

Kauai is the most isolated inhabited landmass in the world

Travel & Leisure Magazine  readers recently named Kauai as the 2nd Best Island in the World!  

Kauai is considered the “Garden Isle”

It is the oldest and northernmost island in the Hawaiian chain. Over six million years old.

Waimea Canyon, referred to as “The Grand Canyon of the Pacific”, is about 1 mile wide, about 3,000 feet (914 m) in depth and 12 miles (19.3 km) in length. 

Over 97% of the land on Kauai is used for conservation and agriculture.

Kauai coffee is the largest coffee plantation in the United States 

Kauai grows more taro than any 
       other island.

Captain Cook made his first landing in the Hawaiian Islands at Waimea beach on Kauai.

Kauai is 2390 miles California, 3850 miles from Japan, 4900 miles from China and 
       5280 miles from the Phillipines.

Kauai's Mt. Waialeale is the Wettest Spot on Earth, averaging 450 inches of rain per year.

Kauai's Building Code dictates that "no building shall be taller than a Coconut Palm"-- thus the 4 story limit on vertical construction! 

Kauai is the legendary home of the Menehune, a mythical race of very small people who performed legendary feats of construction and engineering. Think of a Hawaiian leprechaun.

Even though it is our last day here (for now), that isn't going to stop us from having one last fabulous day in paradise!!

I welcome you to come back tomorrow and read all about the great fun that is about to go down today - not only on my side, but on Elisa's column too!

And being that it is FOODIE FRIDAY, and it is my turn - I've got an WONDERFUL place that I am gonna share with you...the only thing is that I probably won't be able to post it until tomorrow - but I know that it is gonna well worth the wait!!
So much so, that I'm pretty sure that I'm going back there for Sunday dinner - more on this and my action packed first weekend back in California plans that I will share with you tomorrow!

Be here or be square, and if you are already square then be here anyway. :)

I'm off,
-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN LANCASTER, PA

Hitting the Road for a Weekend Food Fest!

Howdy!!! Friday already??
​Wow, this week flew by! I had so much going on that I feel like I blinked and here we are at the end of the week.

I will admit, I have mixed feelings today.  On the one hand, I'm VERY excited to be going on my mini road trip to Lancaster, PA!!  Gianna and I will hit the road about 11:30AM today. (She'll do half a day and then I'll take her out and off we shall go!).

But, on the other hand, I'm sad that Kelsey will not be joining us (Insert sad face).  I know she will have a fantastic time with her dad out east for the weekend and at the barn tomorrow - her favorite place to be!! But, Mommy is going to miss her youngest.

Me & Kelsey this past Summer on the SkyWheel in Niagara Falls

Alrighty then, onto the excitement at hand -- Lancaster!!

We've got quite an exciting day ahead!  First of all, we both packed our respective weekend bags last night.  This road trip is clearly a short one compared to the many others we've taken with our favorite travelin' cousins.

Lancaster, PA is a 3 hour and 25 minutes drive from Long Island. And considering we will be stopping along the way, there will be three legs to our trip today.  

The World's Largest Lightbulb at The Thomas Edison Memorial Tower and Menlo Park Museum

First, from Long Island to Edison, NJ to see the World Largest Lightbulb at the Thomas Edison Memorial Tower.  I also plan to go into the Menlo Park Museum there as well.
(48 miles)

Next, it's off to Trenton and the Garden State's Capitol, for a photo op. (35 miles)

Then, finally, we'll head from Trenton south to Lancaster County on the longest leg of our trip (84 miles).

Now, Gianna and I will be doing filming all day!! As I promised, I WILL be doing more and more vlogging and you will happily be able to follow the Travelin' Cousins on YouTube regularly, moving forward!

We made a few modifications to the original trip itinerary.  Since Kelsey is not joining us, Gianna and I decided to nix Dutch Wonderland.  Although it's an amusement park and we both love rides, it really does skew very young.

Instead, we decided to visit the Turkey Hill Experience in place of Dutch Wonderland (which was originally scheduled for Monday) and then on Monday make a trip to the Herr's Snack Factory!!  

So, in total, we are going to a Pretzel Factory (Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, Ice Cream Factory and a Potato Chip Factory!!! I'm telling you - this is really just a "FROAD" TRIP - a food trip!!  Because if you combine the factory tours with the fact that three of our dinners will be Amish Smorgasbords, we are basically going to be on a weekend food-fest!!  
Works for me!!

CLICK IMAGE for the history of Herr's Snacks!!

​I'll give you a full run down of each day, and of course, I'll also be vlogging!

​Here's another Travelin' Cousins 15 for 2015:

   15 Fun Facts about      
     Lancaster, PA
1. Lancaster is America's oldest inland city.
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2. The Lancaster Central Market is the nation’s oldest continuously operating farmers’ market, dating back to 1731.

3. The Sturgis Pretzel House in Lititz, is America’s first pretzel bakery was established in 1861.

4. Lancaster was capital of the nation for one day - September 27, 1777 – when the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia and met in the Lancaster County Courthouse. 

5. Lancaster served as capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812. State offices were in the old City Hall.

6. The first newspaper, “The Lancaster Gazette” was published in 1752. News articles were written in English and German.

7. In 1763, Lancaster gunsmith William Henry built a steam engine for a model stern-wheel boat that he tested on the Conestoga River – it sunk.  It was the first trial of a steamboat in the world.

8. The Lancaster-Philadelphia Turnpike was completed in 1794, but there was no bridge across the Conestoga River. Wagons and stagecoaches had to ford the river until a privately owned bridge was built in 1800.

9. Raising silkworms and making silk were major industries here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thousands of Mulberry trees were planted in Lancaster and Lancaster County for feeding silkworms.

10. The Demuth Tobacco Shop on E. King St was established in 1770 to manufacture and sell snuff and cigars. It is the oldest tobacco shop in America.
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11. In 1846, the nation’s first commercial telegraph provided service between Lancaster and Harrisburg. The first telegraph message read, “Why don’t you write? You rascals.”

12. ​Armstrong Cork Company made linoleum in Lancaster. It was the world’s largest flooring manufacturer and the city’s largest employer for most of the 1900’s.

13. The Fulton Opera House on N. Prince St. is the oldest ‘living’ theatre in the United States.

14. In 1886, Milton Hershey established the Lancaster Caramel Company with two employees - his mother and aunt. He sold the company in 1900 for $1 million and bought land, in what is now Hershey, Pennsylvania, to build the Hershey Chocolate Company.

15. Marshmallow peeps were first created and sold by Lancaster’s Rodda Candy Company.  

It is amazing how much history there is to Lancaster County and how much industry originated in this area!

For lots more facts about Lancaster, CLICK HERE for the Visit Historic Lancaster site.

​(Tanya also added a 15 for 2015 with "15 Fabulous Facts about Kauai" )
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This morning, I met my sissy for a quick breakfast at Starbucks!!  A few laughs before hitting the road is always a good thing!

And don't forget to check out Tanya's "Tasty" feature today for Foodie Friday!

Well, my bags are packed; I have all my cameras, electronics and chargers.  I'm ready!!

Talk to you from the road!!!

-E
​xoxo

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