As an Independent Watkins Associate there are so many rewarding aspects of my business. I enjoy the precious people I meet, watching my team members blossom, working at home, the monthly income and most recently my excellent vacation in Hawaii with my family! How could an all expense paid, luxury vacation not be excellent?
So let me share some of the highlights of my wonderful vacation with you. We were met at the Kona, HI airport by the travel staff and presented with a real orchid lei. Doesn’t hubby look cute? Shhh, don’t tell him I showed you that photo!
Our bags were collected by the friendly travel staff and we were tucked along with our bags into a taxi and whisked off to our hotel. My first impression of Hawaii was, that it wasn’t what I expected. There was acres of black lava with a few sparse bits of vegetation. We had a great taxi driver who as more than happy to entertain and educate us on the half hour drive to the hotel. He explained black lava is younger, brown lava is older and has started to rust (oxidize). What year each flow ocurred and much more. He also pointed out the Hawaiian graffiti, messages written in white coral which really stood out on the lava. There was even one that said, “JR WATKINS” to welcome us.
Once we arrived at the hotel we were warmed welcomed by corporate staff and Executives, hugs all around. We were promptly checked in and our luggage was delivered to our rooms. We had half an hour to change and freshen up for the welcome cocktail reception. The reception was awesome, we mingled with other associates and Watkins corporate staff, enjoyed beverages and plenty of gourmet treats. Lots of hugs and hand shakes were exchanged as I met up with old and new friends. Introductions were made all around so my Watkins family and my real family members could get to know each other. It was a wonderful way to start our holiday. We headed back to our rooms to unpack and visit dream land as we had an early start the next day.
We started the first full day of our holiday bright and early with an all you could eat breakfast buffet. Then we boarded a mini bus for an island circle tour with our team members. Our driver/tour guide was a wealth of information and he kept us well entertained with his great sense of humor. Aloha cousin! In random order we visited and/or saw:
- a coffee plantation, tasted wonderful Kona coffee, checked out the museum and gift shop.
- the black sand beach and we saw some sea turtles.
- we visited a macadamia nut farm, and factory. We enjoyed some macadamia nut ice cream and purchased some nuts to bring home and share.
- an orchid green house, I love orchids and have some of own that are flowering right now. Found the perfect birthday gift for one of my best friends in the gift shop.
- a bakery, the southernmost bakery in the US! Don’t you just love the smells in a real bakery? Delightful!
- a volcano, I learned lots I didn’t know about volcanoes.
steam vents, they are hot. - waterfalls.
- explored a lava tube, it’s dark and damp in there!
- lush tropical forests (like I expected)
One of the nicest things during our day of adventure is the time we got to spend together. I enjoyed chatting and joking with David and Alan my managers and good friends, we have a long distance relationship so it was wonderful to visit in person. I always look forward to sharing special moments with Jo my upline, and dear friend. Of coarse it was just awesome for my family and I to enjoy the day together.
Our family ended our perfect day of sight seeing with dinner at the hotel. The meal was pricey but we were too tired to go farther a field in search of cheaper fare. Besides it’s nice to treat yourself to gourmet food including a decadent desert, shared by the four of us.
Our next day started with a leisurely breakfast, we had lots of time to sample more goodies at the breakfast buffet. We also enjoyed visiting over coffee with our group. The kids booked 2 hours on sea-doos in Kona so we rented a car and headed into town to explore. We poked around some lovely shops, and chatted to a few interesting locals. One fellow made and sold hand woven hats and assorted items, another let us meet and pet his parrot, for a donation! Gotta give them credit for their entrepreneurialism.
We dropped the kids off at the sea-doo rental and headed off to Walmart to buy hubby a watch and some socks for our son. Hubby normally doesn’t shop so he went a little crazy filling up our shopping cart. Note to self, do not take him shopping! I don’t have any photos of the kids sea-dooing but I think they were having way too much fun to take pictures anyways.
So we picked up the kids and headed back to the hotel to get showered and dressed for the Lu’au. You can read more about the lu’au and my excellent vacation in part two. Mahalo, that’s thanks for stopping by.
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