May 14th, 2014

Tanya's Mother's Day trip to Vegas and Moab, Utah

May 12, 2014
This past weekend Tanya took a weekend trip in celebration of her boyfriend, Dave's birthday. It was a road trip that started from her home in Anaheim California. Although traveling of any kind never prevents us from texting, I was hoping for more photos along the way. As I was settling in last night from my Mother's Day celebration with my family (which included my parents Camille and George, sister and brother in law Danielle and Carlo, nephews Nolan and Julian and of course my daughters Rebecca, Gianna and Kelsey and husband Tedd) I finally got two photos from her as she was headed two hours into her 10 hour drive back home.
Although its getting warmer here in New York and was a flawless day with a perfectly blue sky and a high of 75 degrees, Tanya was driving through some of the most spectacular snowy landscapes in Utah. Here is one of the pictures she sent me while driving.  She got back home to Anaheim at 2:30am today but I know she will want to share with you, her amazing road trip story.

Meanwhile, I spent the day setting up our new Travelin' Cousins Twitter page and making some modifications to our Facebook page.  Don't forget to LIKE both!! This will be a busy week of school events for me - band concert and Social Studies Fair for Gianna and May Crowning for Kelsey.  Then I have three family birthdays next weekend to plan for - Gianna will be 10 and Dad 79 on Friday the 16th and Rebecca will be 24!  And through it all, we will be posting about the progress on our upcoming New Mexico road trip in the Fall.  Until later...

Elisa

Getting familiar with this site...

Howdy, I've been futzing around with this site today - adding some new pictures to the slide show on the Travel Blog Page. Also texting Elisa about her Prague/Vienna Blog (I so wanted to go with them on this trip - but it just didn't work with our schedule...which left me JEALOUS). 
Elisa has been real a busy bee this morning doing some birthday shopping for Gianna (such a sweetheart - I love this kid!) 
And JSYK we are about to start a Pinterest and an Intragram  page for Travelin' Cousins - check us out all over the web!
Both of us are very eager and excited to continue building lots of information right here on our little blog! 
Ok, almost time for me to go get my sweat on (exercise that is)..
~T

---

So much to write, so little time

I cannot believe I'm only just getting a chance to write at almost 11pm!  I have so many things to add to our travel blog, but this week has been a challenging one!  As Tanya said, I've been a busy bee, with the unending school events to attend this week and birthday preparations for Gianna, Rebecca and Dad, I'm running around like a chicken without a head!  But getting on our site tonight, I was amazed at the amount of work Tanya did redesigning Travelin' Cousins and how much easier it is to navigate!  I hope you enjoy all the new posts.  Tomorrow will be just as crazy as today, running around picking up a Mrs. Field's cookie cake for Gianna to bring into school on Friday,  finding a great handbag for Rebecca's 24th and figuring out what to get dad for his 79th. Not to mention, wrapping everything and ordering food for a family birthday celebration at my house Friday night. (only sad part is that Tanya, Cosette & Dominic will not be with us in person - but thank goodness for FaceTime so they can be with us virtually).  In spite of the enormous "to do" list, I am hopeful to post Part 2 of Tanya & Elisa's New Mexico Road Trip tomorrow in between all the craziness.  We are both so excited about our growing social media connections!  Don't forget to check our Travel Blog Page for a whole bunch of new photos posted to our slideshow by Tanya today! Till tomorrow...
~E

Balloon Fiesta 2014 New Mexico road trip is born

May 11, 2014
Today, Tanya and I launch our first blog post!  We thought Mother's Day would be a great day to do our launch!  We are hopeful that those following our blog will come to know both of us in a very personal way, including our children and families, through the course of our blog posts about our trip planning and general day to day lives. The voice of the blogs may differ slightly as we shift back and forth from Tanya and Elisa making the blog entries, and we hope this will add an element of interest for our readers. Today, I am on Long Island with my family and Tanya is in Moab and Arches National Park, Utah, on a weekend trip for Dave's birthday. But, traveling will never prevent us from blogging!

With each of us living on opposite sides of the country, we are always looking at fun ways we can "get together".  This usually means either one or both of us getting on a plane. So last year while Tanya and I were on a  road trip to Gettysburg and Williamsburg, Tanya started telling me about how she was planning to do a road trip all around New Mexico to coincide with the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  I had never heard of this event before, so I immediately looked it up.  I found a video on YouTube, which was a time lapsed film of this amazing 9-day event, posted by RoadTrippers.  I was immediately sold and told Tanya that I was in for this trip in October 2014. Okay, so you're probably wondering what this event is all about.  For the past 42 years, Albuquerque has been host to what is now known as the world's premier balloon event worldwide.   It attracts thousands of balloonists and spectators from around the world  and in 2013 this event had pilots representing 18 countries, including the United States, Brazil, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdom. 

So, why Albuquerque? I found out that this city is the ideal location for launching a balloon - or in the case of the fiesta - hundreds of balloons.  First,  in early October, when the fiesta takes place, Albuquerque's cool mornings and evening temperatures are just right for a balloon launch. The city's geographical location possesses a combination of weather patterns and geography that provide balloonists with the perfect conditions for having great control over their balloons. The event has an excellent safety record, and as a result, viewers can walk among the balloons and talk to the pilots.  (Is this exciting, or what!!). Imagine walking through Balloon Fiesta's 78 acres of launch field, seeing balloon after balloon and watching this massive ascent!!  

Well, that is precisely why Tanya decided to attend this event this coming October, 2014 and why I decided to join her!  Since the 2014 Balloon Fiesta takes place October 3 through 12, we decided to build our trip to New Mexico during this week.  Our plans grew and we created a week long road trip that would take us from Albuquerque to Taos to Santa Fe and back to Albuquerque.  Tanya, her son Dominic (15) and daughter Cosette (12) would begin their trip from Anaheim on October 1st , traveling  by car to Sedona, Arizona for two nights and arriving in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 3rd.  I will meet them there the same day, arriving by plane from New York with my two daughters Gianna (9) and Kelsey (7) on the 3rd of October.  We will travel together through October 11th, at which time, I will be heading back to New York and Tanya will continue her road trip from Albuquerque to Carlsbad Caverns, National Park, White Sands and then continuing on to Saguaro National Park, Arizona and then heading back home to Anaheim on October 13th.

And so begins our Fall 2014 New Mexico trip planning.  So many more details to work out - accommodations, flights, restaurants, and local sites.  Stay posted for more on our trip planning progress!!  And Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!

~Elisa


FOR YOUR INTEREST:Balloon Fiesta Official Site
http://www.balloonfiesta.com

Balloon Fiesta Time Lapsed Video (2 minutes 42 seconds): 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8YaMK4-MYg

Balloon Fiesta 2013 Video (11 minutes 40 seconds): 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwl6lE2kkxc 

Balloon Fiesta Fun Facts:

In 2011, the Balloon Fiesta received a Guinness World Record for the Greatest Mass Hot Air Balloon Ascent, for the most balloons launched within the shortest period of time.

Balloon Fiesta Park is over 360 acres and the launch field is 78 acres

The Balloon Fiesta is the largest ballooning event on the earth.

The Balloon Fiesta is the most photographed event on the planet.

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the largest annual international event held in the United States.

Balloon Fiesta has a Facebook page with more than 58,000 followers. Read memories and tips from worldwide fans.

Balloon Fiesta's launch fields total the size of 56 football fields