`
Travelin' Cousins
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Media Kit
    • Press >
      • October 2018 Press
    • Contact
  • The "Almost" Daily Scoop
  • Travel Articles
    • Travel Adventures Articles
    • Throwback Thursdays >
      • Elisa's Throwback China Trip Adventure
    • Foodie Fridays
    • Travelin' The NYC Outer Boroughs with Elisa
    • Walt Disney World Wednesdays
  • Things To Do
    • Entertainment Reviews
    • New York Area
    • Southern California Area
  • Where to Stay and Things to Do
  • Where to Dine Vegan
  • Fun Fact & Travel Trivia Articles
    • Fun Facts List Directory
  • Tanya's Photo Gallery
    • Pictures from Auschwitz/Birkenau - WARNING: Mature Content/Depressing Images
  • Elisa's Photo Gallery
  • Travel Tips
    • Know Before ya Go

May 19th, 2014

5/19/2014

0 Comments

 

Tanya's Daily Scoop

Happy Monday!

Too many people start of the week with Monday blues; 
Ho Hum...Why people?! Wake up!

It's the beginning of a new week, why not start it off HAPPY! 
I just can't understand the dread. Some people actually even ruin their own weekend (namely Sunday) because they are dreading Monday and the beginning of a new week. 
SURE - that makes plenty of sense to me - ruin your day off, because you aren't looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Come on now!

Well, like little orphan Annie, I say "The sun will come out tomorrow"!
Beginnings are suppose to be exciting, fun, and exuberant! Where is the LA JOIE DE LA VIE?

Personally I think it's lost when the individual is lost and not living the life that they are meant to be living! 
Ya know - living in... THE BOX? 
Just a cut out of society. 
Following the advice of other miserable people. You know who I'm talking about.. 

Be the change you want to see! 
Get out there and dance! Shake that A$$...You'll feel better for it!

I've got tons on my to-do list for today, some of which are putting together a travel proposal for The International Peace Choir, for them (and us) to go to Disney World in Feb 2015! Fingers crossed!
 
I'm on their board of directors and we have an Associates meeting tonight, along with a vote on travel and one for a new board (I'm running again). Both Dominic and Cosette have been singing as Ambassadors with this choir since they were 6 and 5 years old. It's a wonderful organization and I love helping them and anybody else with their travel needs!

I'm also doing a featured post for another site (hopefully we'll get some new followers from this awesome opportunity) and I'm going to bang out a Recap of my Fun Filled Weekend - which you'll find right here on this page later on today! 
And so much much more! 

So off I go, gotta go Shake my A$$!
~T

Elisa's Daily Scoop

Monday Photo Frenzy

I woke up to yet another gorgeous, sunny, crisp day here on Long Island! Makes getting up at an un-godly hour to get the kids to school more bearable. Lots happening today on Travelin' Cousins. First, Tanya is going to re-cap her fun-filled weekend of biking and festivals! While she was busy traveling around the past few days, I was busy writing lots of travel blogs to be posted throughout the week, including a segment of Foodie Fridays and Elisa's Trip to Picturesque Prague and Imperial Vienna Part 2! During our unending stream of texts this weekend, Tanya and I also planned some great improvements for our site which will include lots more slide shows on our various themed blog pages. We are especially excited about this as the selection of photos will be themed to the subject matter of the Blog Topic pages, respectively. Keep checking back to see our progress! Now I'm off to start digging through hundreds of old photos for some Throwback Thursdays posts I'm working on!! Here's to my day of scanning away!!

-E

My weekend recap - 
Feeling the burn in Catalina and Having fun at the Sicilian Festival in San Diego

Picture
Another stay-cation weekend down in the books! 
So while I don't exactly stay home on these stay-cation weekends, I do stay fairly local. 
And this weekend I started off with going to Santa Catalina Island. 
We had the bikes loaded and took off for the Long Beach Catalina Express. We made good time getting there and just hung out in the terminal until it was time to board the Catamaran that would take us to our home for the night. Arriving at the docks in Avalon, dry, safe and sound...and with no adventures on the way over! 
We walked and headed over from the docks to Crescent Ave in search of our hotel The Snug Harbor Inn on Sumner Ave. We happened to be the last to check in (do you see a trend here?!..lol) We were shown to our room - the best room on the entire island! Great location & great view! And then in the blink of an eye the office closed! Wow, that was FAST!

Not having dinner yet, we were hungry; but from the previous research that was done regarding vegan eats here on Catalina - there wasn't much to choose from, especially late at night. So I had planned ahead and earlier in the day I placed a take out order from Freesoul Caffe for us to bring along. Once we were all settled in, we sat down and enjoyed our late but still very yummy dinner!

Well, if you have been keeping up with us here on 'The Daily', you would know that Dave and I were visiting Catalina primarily to race in the Gran Fondo bike ride. 
I decided to stay at this award winning quaint luxury boutique hotel which has only 6 rooms and is located on the second floor of this beachfront property. We both thoroughly enjoyed staying in the Santa Catalina room. And would never stay elsewhere. Absolutely lovely, that's all I can say! 

Lucky for us this race didn't start at the crack of dawn as they usually do. So we were able to wake up comfortably and have a nice relaxing morning taking in the sights and sounds of harbor that were just outside of our windows, I even got to watch a playful little seal bobbing around in the bay!
 
Then it was time to get serious! Get into race mode! Yea right - I don't race mountain bikes! 
I'm self admittedly going for a scenic tour and I don't care who gets in front of me. So we checked out, stored our luggage and went to collect our bib numbers and goodie bags (which were conveniently right outside the hotel!) 
We then hopped on our bikes and went in the direction of the Casino, where the starting line was located. 
Picture
Picture
Now we were amongst the silly, the fun and the SERIOUS, and all ready to go! Then with an on time start of 10AM we were off! And with no time to waste we started the uphill...the never ending uphill. I was doing okay until we started climbing! Then people of all shapes and sizes were passing me, as I huffed and puffed and grinded up the Eucalyptus tree lined trail on the never ending path of this Gran Fondo! 
I'm gonna be taking plenty of "picture taking" breaks (where I text Elisa). I am staying very well hydrated, but yet the only thing I have going for me is that I refuse to get off and walk the bike (which some of these people are doing). 
CRAP...I'm cursing an awful lot and coming up with some very interesting profanities (all in my head)! 
This is Grueling, and I'm pulling up the rear!

Eventually the sweeper catches up to me and I jokingly tell him that I'm going for the "most lame" or "pathetic" medal! He was overall very encouraging and wanted to be certain that we were both staying hydrated, I assured him that we were, and that my only mistake was not being more hydrated the day prior to the race. He reminded me that another mistake I made was not training for this ride for the past six months! True you got me there. But I did inform him that I wasn't able to, and that I was just barely recovering from a torn MCL. 
Now, as I was appreciating every extra moment of this breather, a first aid/support vehicle had drove past us heading downhill with a cyclist with his arm in a sling - no bueno! 
We then continued, and with only 1/4 of a mile to go before the first rest station (only 3 miles in).

I pushed and pedaled my way up. Damn that was a tough 3 miles! 11 miles to go! UGH!!!

The volunteers at the rest station were all welcoming and offering us fresh fruit, water, and smoothies (with dairy), so I opted for a couple of slices of crisp sweet watermelon. 
As I took this break and we filled up our camelbacks and water bottles, started conversing with other sweepers and ride coordinators. I happened to mention how I was just glad that the BIG climb was behind me, they mentioned how 50-60% of this route is climbing and that I have another upcoming climb ahead of me which is even worse! The sweeper explained how she rides all the time, but for "that" climb, she has to hike her bike up the exposed hill. Exposed to the sun with no shade at all. She went on to scare me (I’m sure unintentionally) about how it was 110 degrees out there and how several riders in last years ride went home with IVs and some even worse. YIKES!! What the hell am I doing??? I was still game for a ride, I’m not ready to quit, but I’m not doing that hellified route - smh (shaking my head) - nope nope nope.

Picture
So after having a discussion with Dave and finding out from the organizers what our other options were, we agree that we’ll follow the route that leads to the Airport. With it's rolling hills and meandering road with Fox crossings and Bison some where out there. We rode out for another 4 miles, and then I knew I just didn’t want to do anymore climbing then I already knew I had to do in order to get us back to the downhill portion - my poor rubbery noodle excuses for legs! 
This was it - time to turn around, and so we did. I finally got to the downhill - my favorite part, and Dave tells me that it’s my reward. Honey, I don’t need to kill myself for a reward. I’ll reward myself just because I deserve it for being MEEEE! 

Next up the Sicilian Festival in San Diego - which I think I will post tomorrow - I’ve chewed your ear off enough for one day :) 

0 Comments
    Picture

    Our Blog 

    Travel around the world
    ​and the NYC outer boroughs everyday!

    Subscribe

    * indicates required
    /* real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups */

    Intuit Mailchimp

    Categories

    All
    15-cool-facts-about-lititz
    15-cool-facts-about-maui
    15-fabulous-facts-about-kauai
    15-facts-about-boca-raton
    15-facts-about-boston
    15-facts-about-bratislava
    15 Facts About Friday The 13th
    15-facts-about-luna-park
    15-facts-about-niagara-falls
    15-facts-about-norway
    15-facts-about-prague
    15-facts-about-sea-turtles
    15factsaboutstpatrick
    15-facts-about-st-patrick
    15-facts-about-st-thomas-usvi
    15-facts-about-st-valentines-day
    15-facts-about-the-grand-tetons
    15-facts-about-yellowstone-national-park
    15-fun-facts-about-horses
    15-fun-facts-about-lancaster
    15 Fun Facts About Pancakes
    15-fun-facts-about-paris
    15-fun-facts-about-potatoes
    15 Fun Facts For April Fools Day Around The World
    15-longest-running-broadway-shows
    15 Most Interesting Facts About Las Vegas
    15-things-to-do-in-mendocino
    15-top-facts-about-doughnuts
    15-top-unsafe-cities-in-the-world-for-female-travelers
    15-valentines-day-facts
    16-cool-facts-about-breckenridge
    16factsaboutmonterey
    16-fun-facts-about-death-valley-national-park
    16-fun-facts-about-moab
    16-nutty-facts-about-pistachios
    16-of-the-most-interesting-facts-about-montreal
    16-of-the-most-interesting-facts-about-quebec
    17-mile-drive
    1st-blog-post
    2016-in-review
    40-cities-in-2015
    52-places-to-go-in-2015
    5traveljournalingtips
    Adventureland-long-island
    African-american-museum
    Afternoon-tea
    Ahwahnee-hotel
    A-la-carte-cooking-school-long-island
    Alanis Morissette
    Alaska-national-parks
    Albany
    Albuquerque
    Albuquerque-balloon-fiesta
    Algarve
    Altitude-sickness
    Andorra
    Angelas-house
    Animal-kingdom
    Antelope-canyon
    Aquarium-of-the-pacific
    Arbor-day
    Arches-national-park
    Arizona
    Arroyo Seco
    Arthur-avenue-bronx
    Auschwitz
    Austria
    A-vegan-thanksgiving
    Azores
    Balloon-festival
    Barbados
    Barcelona
    Beach-day
    Being-happy
    Belgium
    Best-ski-resorts-for-families
    Bethenny-frankel
    Bethpage-air-show
    Beverly-hills
    Beverly-hills-hotel
    Big-apple-circus
    Big-sur
    Bike-nyc
    Bike-the-bay
    Biking
    Bilbao
    Birthdays
    Black-history-month
    Blog-anniversary
    Boston
    Boticas
    Bratislava
    Breckenridge
    Bridges-around-the-world
    Brontosaurus-roadside-attraction
    Brugge
    Bryce-canyon-np
    Budapest
    Butterfly-wonderland
    CA
    Canada
    Canoe-races
    Car-free-townsvillages
    Caribbean
    Carlsbad-caverns-np
    Carnac
    Catalina-island
    Chamonix
    Chateau-marmont
    Chaves
    Cheap-airfare
    Cherry-crest-adventure-farm
    Chicago
    Chicago-cubs
    China-cruises
    Chinese-new-year
    Christmas-in-florida
    Christmas-prep
    Christmas-time-in-nyc
    Christmastime-in-san-diego
    Christmasy-fun-things-to-do
    Christopher-byrne
    Cincinnati
    Cinnaholic
    Clearwater
    Co
    Colorado
    Colorado-bbs
    Colorado-state-capitol
    Community-service
    Coney-island
    Cortinadampezzo
    Cortina-dampezzo
    Cotswolds
    Crater-lake
    Crestline
    Croatia
    Crossroads-kitchen
    Cruises
    Cyber-monday-sales
    Cycling
    Death-valley
    Denver
    Dinosaur-ridge
    Disneyland
    Disney-world
    Disney-world-attractions
    Dog-sledding
    Dutch-wonderland
    Earth-day
    Easter
    Eastern-europe
    Eastern-europe-rail-trip
    Eclipse-2017
    Edinburgh
    Eiffel-tower
    Elisas-2014-christmas-card
    El-matador-state-beach
    England
    Eventsfestivals
    Expo-west
    Facts-about-halloween
    Facts-and-festivals-all-about-beer
    Fall-festivals
    Fao-schwarz
    Fire-cracker-ride
    Fis-alpine-world-ski-competition
    Fis-snowboard-world-cup
    Fitness-challenge
    Fl
    Flowers
    Foodiefriday
    Foodie-friday
    Fort-bragg
    Four-corners
    Fourth-of-july-celebrations
    France
    Friends-or-soul-mates
    Fun-stuff-to-do
    Galway
    Game-capture-adventure-in-the-s-african-bush-part-1
    Geneva
    Gladiator-rock-n-run
    Going-to-the-azores
    Goleta-butterfly-grove
    Grand-canyon
    Grand-cayman
    Grand-tetons-national-park
    Granfondo
    Great-salt-lake
    Great-views
    Groundhog-day
    Guadix
    Guest-blogger-jason-biondo
    Guest-blogger-kaye-perron
    Guest-blogger-oscar-waterworth
    Hallockvillemuseumfarm
    Halloween
    Harry-potter
    Hawaii
    Hawaii-national-parks
    Hempstead
    High-roller
    Hiking
    Holy-door
    Honduras
    Horses
    Horse-shoe-bend
    Hot-air-balloon-ride
    Hotel-travel-tips
    Hsi-lai-temple
    Huntington-gardens
    Iceland
    Idaho-falls
    Inca-trail
    Innsbruck
    Inspiration
    International-snow-sculpture-championships
    Ireland
    Irvine-global-festival
    Italy
    Jersey-boys-the-movie
    Jones-beach-holiday-light-spectacular
    Jones-beach-ny
    Joshua-tree-national-park
    Julius-sturgis-pretzel-factory
    Kakawa-chocolate-house
    Kalalau-trail
    Katy-perry
    Kauai
    Keystone-ski-resort
    Killarney
    Kings-canyon-sequioa-national-park
    Kings Of Leon
    Kirkwood
    Kitzbuhel
    Krakow
    Labor-day-weekend
    La-fair
    Lake-dillon
    Lake-tahoe
    Lancaster-county
    Las-vegas
    Lipsense
    Little-italy-bronx
    Little-italy-festa
    Locks-of-love
    London
    Long-beach-marathon
    Long-flight-tips
    Long-island
    Long-island-museums
    Loretto-chapel
    Los-angeles
    Los-angeles-county-fair
    Love-letters-broadway
    Love-or-fear
    Luau
    Luna-park
    Luxembourg
    Macaron-crawl-nyc
    Macaron-crawl-vlogs
    Macys-thanksgiving-day-parade
    Makeawish-foundation
    Making-a-difference
    Manzanar
    Maritime-museum
    Maritime-museum-of-san-diego
    Maui
    Memorial-day-wkd
    Mendocino
    Mendocino-ca
    Mesquite
    Michele-16-lemon-drop-cookies
    Michele-16-you-tube
    Midway
    Milwaukee
    Mlb
    Mlb-all-star-game
    MLB Spring Training
    Moab
    Moby
    Mono Lake
    Monterey
    Montmorency-falls
    Montreal
    Mont-st-michel
    Monttremblant
    Monument-valley
    Morro Rock
    Mothers-day
    Mountain Biking
    Mount-rainier-national-park
    Multnomah-falls
    Museum-of-the-city-of-new-york
    Muzeo
    National-balloon-festival
    National-empanada-day
    National-ice-cream-sunday
    National-parks-grand-tetons
    National-parks-week
    National-pretzel-day
    Neon-museum
    New Hampshire
    New-jersey-state-capital
    New-mexico
    Newport-beach-boat-parade
    Niagara-falls
    Nv
    Nv-to-anaheim
    Ny
    Nyc
    Nyc-columbus-day-parade
    Nyc-food-wine-festival
    Oahu
    Oakland
    Ojai
    Oldest-grocery-store-in-north-america
    Olympic-national-park
    Olympic-training-park
    Once-upon-a-time
    One-republic
    One-world-observatory
    Online-card-retailers
    Oregon
    Oregon-state-capitol
    Oslo
    Outer-hebrides
    Pa
    Packing
    Paris
    Park City
    Pasadena-rose-parade
    Pasadena-rose-parade
    Passports
    Patriot-day
    Philly
    Piazza-novona
    Pittsburgh
    Plunge-at-ganesvoort-meatpacking-nyc
    Poland
    Portland
    Portugal
    Prague
    Presidents-day-facts
    Puerto-rico
    Pumpkins
    Quebec-city
    Quebec-winter-carnaval
    Queens
    Quogue-wildlife-refuge
    Radio-city-christmas-spectacular
    Ramblewild
    Raynham-hall-museum
    Recap-of-2015
    Red-bull-air-races
    Reno
    Ring-of-kerry
    Rise-of-the-jackolanterns
    Road-trip
    Road-trip-reno
    Robert Plant
    Rock-center-cafe
    Rock-climbing
    Rocky-mountain-national-park
    Romance
    Rome
    Ronalds-donuts
    Roosevelt-field
    Route-66
    Rustic-wedding
    Sacred-sites
    Sad-sam-and-honey
    Saguaro-national-park
    Saint-malo
    Saks-fifth-avenue-holiday-window-display
    Salt-lake-city
    San Diego
    San Francisco
    San-marino
    Santa-barbara
    Santa-fe
    Sao-miguel
    Sapelos
    Scotland
    Scottsdale
    Sea-otter-classic
    Sea-otter-classic
    Sedona
    Seven-magic-mountains
    Seville
    Shark-attacks
    Silly-stuff
    Sixth-street-bridge
    Skellig-michael
    Skiing
    Skiing-on-a-budget
    Ski-resorts
    Small-business-saturday
    Snugharborinn
    Solvang
    Spain
    Stanford-inn
    St-augustine
    Staying-fit-while-traveling-is-easy
    St-kitts
    St-lucia
    St-maartenst-martin
    St-moritz
    St-moritz1c7c0e8bc8
    St-nicholas-day
    Stonehenge
    St-patricks-cathedral
    St-patricks-day
    St-thomas
    St-thomasc3d62a8e96
    Surprises
    Switzerland
    Tanyas-photo-shoots
    Taos
    Tbt
    Tbt-october
    Terceira
    The-audience
    The-butchers-son
    The-cyclone
    The-oscars
    The-press-at-ink-48
    Things-to-do-in-nyc
    Things-to-do-on-valentines-day
    Thomas-edison-memorial-tower
    Throwback-thursday
    Tiny-prints
    Top-15-facts-about-barbados
    Top-15-facts-about-puerto-rico
    Top-15-facts-about-san-diego
    Top-15-facts-about-st-kitts
    Top-15-facts-about-st-lucia
    Top-15-facts-about-st-martin
    Top-15-fun-facts-about-oregon
    Top-15-fun-facts-about-san-diego
    Top15placestovisitinireland
    Top-15-tips-for-disney-world-travel
    Top-6-activities-in-maui
    Toronto
    Traveling-with-kids
    Travelin-traditions
    Travelin-tuesday
    Travis-barker
    Trekking
    Tucson
    Turkey-hill-experience
    Turtle-bay
    Unesco
    Universal-studios
    Us-open
    Uss-iowa
    Ut
    Utah
    Vail
    Val-disere
    Vanderbilt-museum-long-island
    Vegan
    Vegan-airline-food
    Vegan Bakeries
    Vegan-beer-food-festival
    Vegan-festival
    Vegan-food-tour
    Vegan-food-tour
    Veganism
    Vegan Luau
    Vegan Road Trip
    Vegan-street-fest
    Vegan Treats
    Vegan-trip-planning
    Venice
    Veterans-day
    Vienna
    Voodoo-doughnuts
    W2gw
    W2gw-april
    W2gw-aprild35aa9cb07
    W2gw-august
    W2gw-december
    W2gw-january
    W2gw-july
    W2gw-june
    W2gw-november
    W2gw-november85b7ba28ba
    W2gw-october
    W2gw-september
    WCOPA
    Weddings
    Wengen
    West-coast-trail
    Where-to-go-wednesdays
    Where-to-go-wednesdays-june
    Where-to-go-wednesdays-september
    White-sands-national-monument
    Wild-horses
    Winnie-the-pooh
    Wondercon
    World-best-shopping-cities
    Worst-tour-companies
    Wynn
    Yellowstone-national-park
    York
    Yosemite-national-park
    Zermatt

    Archives

    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    Blog Directory & Business Pages - OnToplist.com
The Scoop Blog
Travel Adventure Articles
Travelin' the NYC Outer Boroughs with Elisa
Walt Disney World Wednesdays
Travel Resource Guide
Vegan Dining Guide

                                                      
Fun Fact and Travel Trivia Articles
Elisa and Tanya's Favorites
Travel Tips - Know Before You Go
​
About
​Contact Us 
​Media Kit 
​
All of the photos on Travelin Cousins are taken by the Travelin’ Cousins Photographers unless otherwise noted. If you wish to use any content from Travelin Cousins please credit and link to the source or request permission by email.
(c) Travelin' Cousins 2020 -2024 All Rights Reserved