August 1, 2016 - Elisa's New Orleans Getaway - Day 1 and Tanya's Recap of Kings Canyon and Sequoia NP

Elisa's Daily Scoop
DEPARTING TODAY FOR:
NEW ORLEANS, LA

New Month, New Trip

My goodness - it's August already!!!

I literally am in shock.  Is this Summer flying by or what!

To recap - July pretty much went by without a hitch.  The girls rode four to five days a week throughout the month and made amazing progress!

Originally, they were supposed to ONLY ride for August, but, as it turns out, they will continue part-time this month as well.

It will probably be 2-3 days a week.  The good thing about the summer is that they have the luxury of time so the consistency of riding several times a week makes a big difference in their skill, verses the once a week throughout the school year.

We also saw several movies this past month...
First we saw Finding Dory, Ghostbusters and The Secret Life of Pets. All VERY enjoyable.

For August, I'm planning to see the following:
* Jason Bourne
* The Infiltrator
​* Bad Moms

Of course, these are adult movies, so it will NOT be with the kiddies.  

I actually had planned to see Jason Bourne by myself this past Friday night.  

But, I have to tell you, I decided to "relax" for an hour in the late afternoon, but that turned into never really getting my energy back to get up and go lol.

In any case, I am truly a Bourne Identity fan!  I have seen the full trilogy which includes The Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).

I even saw The Bourne Legacy, which did NOT star Matt Damon, which, I will say, was good.

But, I'm very psyched about Jason Bourne and the return of Matt Damon in his famous role!

Me and the girls did want to see Central Intelligence, but I'm not sure it will be playing by the time we return.

So, here is what is on the "family-friendly" movie list for August:

* Nine Lives
* Sausage Party
* Pete's Dragon

​Today, we were up bright and early as the taxi was picking us up for the airport at 7am.  We packed light since the weather is supposed to be quite hot, so all we really needed was shorts and tee's.

I'm alittle concerned about the flight taking off on time due to the weather.  My sister left for Florida the other night and their flight was delayed as a result of the rain.

Oh well, no use worrying. It is what it is.

I'm just super psyched for the good eats we'll be enjoying once we are in NOLA!!

Guys, apologies for the past few days with our blog.  I'm not sure it was emailed.  Tanya has been MIA on her trip to Kings Canyon and Sequoia, so I'm assuming it's bad or no WIFI.

Click here to catch up on the previous days' Daily Scoop.

Saturday July 30th
Sunday July 31st


Well, I'll catch up with you from The Big Easy!!

Have a splendid Monday!!
-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 15 DAYS

Pollution in the Park!

Hellooo there. I'm baaaack! 

I can't believe that I wasn't able to get online since Friday.       Had I any idea - I would've warned you. I'm not the type to just go MIA. That's just not me. So I do want to apologize. But now I'm back and ready for action! 

It's August 1st. Can you believe it? 
This year has just been full of so many wonderful memories, events, and trips that I can't believe that we are already in August. And yet there are still so many more fabulous things left to do.

Obviously the most recent and the trip I'm just coming back from was up in the Sierras, visiting Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Parks - and for the very first time!!!

One sad thing that I had definitely noticed at these two parks was the pollution.

I've loved our National Parks and have for quite some time and I have always been enamored by the amazing views and vistas that our country has preserved.

Well something was quite different here at both Kings Canyon and at Sequoia National Parks -
I couldn't see all the beautiful peaks and scenery that were in the posted pictures. 

There was nothing wrong with my eyesight, it was all because of SMOG and POLLUTION!

Not quite what it could look like.

And here's what I found out:

Pollution is affecting Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Parks!

Not so Fun Fact:

Kings Canyon & Sequoia suffer from one of the worst air-pollution problems of ANY national park!
Pollution - particularly ozone - from the Central Valley and the Bay Area is carried into the mountains by warm winds and is a problem for us all.

It begs to challenge all of us - you included to help reduce air pollution!

Generals Highway (c)travelincousins.com

From Kings Canyon National Park, we drove along Generals Highway into Sequoia National Park!

Our traditional picture by the National Park Park sign! (c)travelincousins.com

Passing scenic meadows and what could and should be amazing viewpoints.

Until we arrived at the Giant Forest!

Cosette and one really big tree! (c)travelincousins.com

Treehuggers (c)travelincousins.com

We opted to go on a lovely little hike/nature walk on Congress Trail.

Can you spot me? I'm so tiny! (c)travelincousins.com

(c)travelincousins..com

Being astonished by Giant after Giant of these fascinating creatures.

(c)travelincousins.com

We can't even see the top of these trees! (c)travelincousins..com

Yup that's all 5 of us standing at the base of The President (c)travelincousins..com

We finally wandered back to see the most famous of them all - the General Sherman tree:

The gargantuan sequoia tree. While neither the tallest nor the widest, it is considered the largest living tree in the world!!! 

Weighing in at approximately 2.7 million pounds, with an at ground circumference of 102.6 feet, nearly 275 feet tall and best guess at 2,200 years old - this is a major attraction and to take a picture in front of it means standing in a crowded line and waiting your turn.

Which is precisely what we did... 

A long awaited photo! (c)travelincousins.com

We then spent some time around the Lodgepole visitors center, watched an educational film about the parks Black Bears, once again stamped our passports, did some shopping and enjoyed some yummy snacks.

Next up we were heading to Tunnel Log and Moro Rock. Passing the Four Guardsman, the turn off for Crystal Cave and plenty of winding roads.

The Four Guardsman (c)travelincousins.com

(c)travelincousins.com

And before we knew it, we were looking up at Moro Rock. Checking the map, we realized that we missed our turn a while back...ugh

Moro Rock (c)travelincousins..com

Not too incredibly eager to drive all the way back up the winding roads and then back down them once again, we decided to add these 2 stops on our things to do list for our next visit!

Moro Rock (c)travelincousins..com

We finally drove into signal and called it a day. 

Arriving home late last night, or early this morning - however you prefer to look at it. And now I have 15 days before my next trip.
With plenty to do between now and then!

Today, being Monday the kids have choir, and I have to drop off their costumes in prep for their Disneyland California Adventure performance - happening this coming Thursday.

I've also got plenty of other "stuff" to tend to today. 

But nothing as fun as Elisa and the girls - heading on their way to NOLA!!!

Be sure to keep checking back here for updates from both her and I. But as for today, I'm gonna wrap it up and catch ya back here tomorrow!

BFN,
​-T