May 7, 2016 - National Tourism Day

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 12 DAYS

Packing, Travel & Tourism

Well well Well here we are again!
It's another busy fun filled weekend and super Saturday! 

After having a Freesoul breakfast this morning we will be off to spend the day down in San Diego.

Our first stop will be the Palomar Observatory, here is some info on that:

• Palomar Observatory, located atop Palomar Mountain in north San Diego County, California.
• Owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
• Conceived of almost a hundred years ago, Palomar Observatory has been at the forefront of astronomical research since mid-century.
• The Palomar Observatory is an active research facility. The Observatory operates every clear night and is an iconic facility for scientific advancement, instrument development, and student training.
• Research time is granted to Caltech and its research partners, which include the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Cornell University.
• The observatory operates several telescopes, including the famous 200-inch Hale Telescope and the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope. 
• The 200-inch Hale Telescope was first proposed in 1928 and has been operational since 1948. It was the largest telescope in the world for 45 years.

Hale Dome Telescope

To catch you up to speed, we never made it to the stables yesterday, as there was a major accident on the road that had closed the one and ONLY freeway that would get us home.

So I promised to take Cosette tomorrow morning. She reminded me that it is Mother's day, and wanted to be sure I was okay with that.  I have no problem with this new plan...as long as we go in the morning. I am a stickler for schedules!

Then our festivities for Dave's bday wkd actually kicked off last night with a lovely dinner at Equelecuá Cuban Cafe. Vegan. Cuban. And Mmm it was good!

(c)travelincousins.com

And then once we got back from LA, I checked off another one of our gangs packing for our upcoming trip to Europe.
This time Dave was up. And just in case you don't remember...Dave HATES packing. Really Really REALLY HATES packing.

Well I did most of the packing.
He is completely frustrating even at the thought of this chore. I really don't know what his problem is...

Packing is a part of traveling.

And the way I pack is not to save space, not to pack light, not to mix and match, and certainly not to wear the same clothes over and over.

In fact I do the absolute opposite!

Unless you are backpacking - I really don't understand or enjoy the articles that "help" you pack by having you look the same or at least close to the same EVERY SINGLE DAY!
                          BORING. UGH

And then once everyone of us is all packed, then comes time for the organization, coordination and planning out and listing each day while away.
Yup for each trip, I create a list of all of our outfits. 
Making it super easy and leaving no questions as to "what to wear" each day of our travels!

So pretty much if you hate packing then you mustn't really enjoy traveling. Perhaps you just enjoy being on vacation!

And quite honestly, I'm not sure that Dave enjoys traveling. He is constantly reminding me about how burnt out I make him. Boo

So perhaps it's time for him to stay home even more than he already does.
What do you think?

While we are on the subject of traveling, did you notice that today is:
The National Day of Tourism and that it lands on the last day of NATIONAL TRAVEL & TOURISM WEEK MAY 7-13, 2017

Information gathered by the U.S. Travel Association shows:
Direct spending by resident and international travelers in the U.S. averaged $2.6 billion a day, $108.1 million an hour, $1.8 million a minute and $30,033 a second.

Travel is a primary industry in America. And I certainly have done my share of supporting this industry even this week:

Booking trip to Sedona and Scottsdale
AND
Then just yesterday booking a Cruise for the Summer of 2017 which will take us to - Grand Cayman • Honduras • Belize • and Cozumel, Mexico
SUPER COOL right?!?!?!

Credit: belizeadventure.ca

Cozumel (c)travelincousins.com

Don't forget to come back tomorrow and wish us Travelin' Cousins a Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Yup this Mother's Day marks 2 years of our blog and 2 years of the Daily Scoop.

This is where you'll find me each and every day, whether I'm at home or at play. Rain or shine. Traveling or just being obsessed with my next vacation!
​
No matter what or where, just know that I'm so grateful for each of you and happy to share it ALL!

Time for me to go :)

Toodles,
-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop

Tired, Tired & Tourism

Howdy folks!! Wow, I've had just about enough of this rainy, wet weather! 
All Week!!! Enough!

I'm back out East again today, as the kids have their regular Saturday riding at the barn.  

Yesterday, with the kids being off from school, we spent the day at the barn. (Boy, was it muddy and wet!).  

Although I hadn't planned to do much filming, I wound up doing LOTS!!

The girls did amazing at riding and jumping! They both had tons of energy and confidence doing the course.  It helps when they have the barn to themselves like they did yesterday since it was an hour lesson on a weekday, as opposed to the usual Saturday "camp" day when all the kids attend.

The girls did have the company of Gianna's friend from school who joined them at the barn. 

Gianna's fun kept going as she went back to her friend's house for, what, according to her was a wonderful sleepover!!

Poor Mommy - I headed home after the barn (leaving at around 4:30) and hit all kinds of rush hour traffic (UGH).  Didn't get home till nearly 6 and had to do a 15-minute turn around, freshening up and changing, in order to meet my mom and dad for dinner at their Golf Club.

Of course, I was late to their house (supposed to be there by 6:30pm), but in the end, we made it to their club with plenty of time to spare to enjoy a killer cocktail hour!

It was Mediterranean night and the food was unreal! Hummus, grilled veggies, chick pea & zucchini fritters with Tzatziki sauce, grilled tomatoes, and much more!!

Dinner was terrific too with more vegetables like roasted carrots and beets, an assortment of fish and chicken dishes (which I did NOT partake) and a sweet-eater's delight table full of cookies, ice cream and fruit.  YUMMY.

I'm sorry I have no pictures folks - with all the rushing, I left my camera at home (insert sad face).

Anyway, since Kelsey stayed at her Dad's house last night, I had the night free, so after having a nice dinner, my mom asked me if I wanted to stay over for the night. 

By the time dinner was over, it was after 11pm. My mom drove with me to my house so I could grab some clothes for today and then we drove back to her house.  Of course, we chatted it up and I didn't get to "bed" till 1:45.  I didn't actually fall asleep until 2:30am!!!  

My alarm went off at 6 and I was comatose!  I had to drive out to the north fork of Long Island to get Gianna and then get her over to the barn for a full day of riding.

So, here I am sitting in my usual place at the Tanger Outlets writing away.   To say I'm tired is an understatement.  I think I will take a nice nap in my car back at at the barn once I'm done writing!!

Today is National Tourism Day.  

National Tourism Day is observed during National Travel and Tourism Week in the United States, which takes place annually, the first full week of May.

​National Travel and Tourism Week was established by a congressional resolution in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan. The purpose of this week is to encourage all venues to recognize the impact Travel and Tourism have to their communities.

Tanya details quite a number of financial facts about Tourism in her blog today. Please check out this information!!

Did you know that direct spending by resident and international travelers in the U.S. averaged $2.6 billion a day??

According to Select USA:

- U.S. travel and tourism output represented 2.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2014. 
- While the majority of activity in the industry is domestic, expenditures by international visitors in the United States generated a record-breaking $220.6 billion in sales and a $74.0 billion trade surplus in 2014.

- According to U.S. Department of Commerce projections, international travel to the United States should grow by 4.3 percent annually through 2020.

- The U.S. leads the world in international travel and tourism exports, and travel and tourism is the top services export, accounting for 31 percent of all U.S. services exports in 2014.  
 
- Of the more than 25 subsectors that make up the travel and tourism industry, three sectors – food services, air travel, and accommodations – account for more than 50 percent of total output.

Let's take a more detailed of these subsectors:

a) Accommodations: This is the largest and accounts for 19% of total travel industry output. Accommodations benefited from international overseas traveler growth of 7% in 2012. 

b) Food Services: This is the second largest and accounts for more than 16% of travel and tourism-related output. The National Restaurant Association predicts 3.4 percent growth for the restaurant industry in 2015. 

c) Air Travel: This subsector accounts for nearly 16% of travel industry output.  

PRETTY COOL INFO!!

​Tomorrow is an important day here on Travelin' Cousins. It marks the 2nd Year Anniversary of our Blog!! 

It also happens to be Mother's Day - yes folks, we launched our blog on Mother's Day 2014!!

We will be having some flashbacks of our own next week to celebrate our Two Year Anniversary of great Travelin' Cousins Blog moments!!

As for tomorrow, I'll be featuring some fantabulous Mother-Daughter Getaways in honor of Mother's Day!!

Here's to a fun-filled Saturday!

-E
xoxo