The salt water pool at my hotel...
Headed towards the beach from my hotel

The Queens' Shops. You can see the black rock that is all over the ground here

My breakfast companion (well, I was joined by taller two-legged creatures later)

My beautiful lei

Some of the Flowers of Hawai'i

Some of the flowers I've seen so far...for now, just finished a relaxing breakfast with lots of visiting and meeting other Watkins associates and executives...headed to the Queens Shops to find a grass skirt for Susanna, then relax in the sun and snorkel!

Yesterday was an incredible day. We left the hotel around 9:45 after a lovely breakfast...served outside with birds flitting around the whole time...they have some WONDERFUL pecan sweet rolls! Lots of fresh fruit, different Hawai'an foods, juices, etc. Keith and Karen (my gold executives at Watkins) took their three associates here along with one of the spouses, and headed out on Hawai'i's highway. Of the 13 different climates in the world, 11 of them are represented here on the big Island. We went from black, ugly lava rock to dry and arid desert with cacti to lush green where we made our first stop, Waipio Lookout. After a small but steep hike to the lookout and lots of oohs and aahs, we headed back on our way. Lots of smaller towns along the way...in a way, it reminded me of driving along Coast Highway in SoCal..brought back lots of memories along with the reminder of how much I miss it!

We were headed to Hilo for lunch but made a stop at Akaka Falls first -- another hike, well worth it, took us to see these incredible falls. God's creation is just so amazing! We were in the rainforest part and the lush vegetation, the huge ferns...it is just so hard to describe!

We then headed towards Hilo where we stopped for lunch at a great place called Cafe Pesto and some quick shopping at a few quaint little stores. (Honey, I didn't spend too much money, honest! And I got you a really cool Hawai'ian shirt!)

After that, we piled back in and went to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Wow! We spent some time at the Visitors Center then off to a lava tube, a hole in the earth created by the hot lava to flow into the ocean. It appeared dormant :) It was about 10-12' under ground. After the Lava Tube we went to see the steam vents not too far from two of the active volcanoes...steam just shooting up all over from under ground! And then it was off to see Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano. We didn't take the five mile walk to the edge of the volcano, I don't think it was open due to some of the gasses in the air..plus, we were pretty wiped, at least I was! After this amazing site, we headed back to Waikaloa and the hotel, stopping at the Queen's shops for supper at Macaroni Grill. What a wonderful day! And now, off to another incredible, albeit quieter day, followed by luau tonight!

Driving Around Hawai'i

MAUNA LOA (WORLD'S BIGGEST ACTIVE VOLCANO)
STEAM VENTS

LAVA TUBE

AKAKA FALLS

WAIPIO LOOKOUT

My fingers aren't working too well right now, so I'll type out more in the morning, but here are some views we saw today....tomorrow...snorkeling and luau!

What I See Each Morning (this week)

This is what I see looking from my lanai

Flying into Hawaii

Here are a few pictures that probably won't thrill anyone but my kids (fair warning!)... and, well, maybe not even them!

The clouds were amazing coming in...I always am so amazed looking at clouds from above them...anyone else wonder if they are as fluffy as they look? Wonder if you would bounce on them if you jumped on them? I know, I know...I probably wouldn't even bounce after I landed on the ground trying to jump "on" them!

At last, though, we again saw the ocean...then the shoreline...which surprised me. We flew into Kona on "the Big Island" which is the drier side...it initially appears all black from the lava rocks...then you see the "graffitti" -- things people wrote on the lava using small white coral....then you see the gorgeous flowers all over. LOVELY!

We were greeted by the Watkins travel crew with beautiful leis made of plumera. And as we were waiting for the luggage to come off, like any good Watkins associate, I signed the porter up as a customer! He'd never heard of Watkins, so I whipped out a catalog I just "happened" to have on hand, and he immediately picked out several things he plans on ordering :) Working on next year's trip!

We had a welcome reception, met the few dozen others here with Watkins, and chatted for a bit. Today, I'm getting ready to head down to breakfast then off on an island tour with Keith & Karen (my upline), Deb, and Annette and her husband Adriene (I think?) -- a few more from Hagen's group. Tomorrow....luau!

THANKS WATKINS, FOR THIS GEAT TRIP!

Carter Family Get Together

Sunday after church, the local and visiting Carter's went to a great new restaurant on Main here in Park Rapids, The Good Life. The Good Life opened last summer, and we're kinda partial to it -- they use our yummy fresh produce (in season)! We had a great time visiting...and got together at the farm again later that night.....