Tired from a very long day of traveling, we stopped by the Stampin' Up! Welcome Reception for a drink and a quick bite to eat before hitting the sack.
Julie with fellow incentive trip achievers Kim and Judy
views of the Hilton Waikola Resort as we walked to breakfast
at the breakfast hosted by Stampin' Up! on our first day
view of the lagoon waterfall from our breakfast table
After breakfast, we borrowed a friend's binoculars and went whale watching. I was lucky enough to catch them with my camera on zoom!
back in our room, I posed on our balcony (we had a view of the golf course)
Jim watched the Dolphin Quest pool while I was snorkeling
We took turns snorkeling in the resort lagoon (the other one stayed with Elise while she napped in the stroller)
In addition to lots of different fish, we got to swim with several sea turtles, including this one.
Each evening, we came back to our room to find "pillow gifts" like this one from Stampin' Up! It was so fun to see what surprise was in store for us.
This time it was a selection of island treats. Jim was a big fan of the "Maui Style" potato chips. It cracked me up that they were made in Texas.
Jim went golfing on the Beach Course on Tuesday. I made him take the camera and asked him to have his fellow golfers take a picture of two of him golfing. He came back with three photos just like this. Not even a golf club in hand! I was hoping for an action shot to scrapbook! Oh well! He golfed well -- one of the best games of his life!
On Wednesday, we did an 11 hour bus tour around the island. Elise was so cooperative and nursed, slept, and played at all the right times.
a view from the bus
We stopped at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach.
The view as we approached the Halema'uma'u Crater summit -- part of the crust had fallen in, causing smoke and ash to plume into the air.
(Our tour guide was excited about this "event" -- he doesn't see it happen very often)
Inside the Jaggar Museum, we check out the seismograph of the "event".
After lunch, we stopped at the Thurston Lava Tube and hiked down to walk through it.
This side of the island gets over 150 inches of rain each year -- as opposed to Kona (where we stayed) which gets only 4 inches!
inside the lava tube
Rainbow Falls in Hilo
After all that rain in Hilo, we spotted a rainbow on the way home
We ran into Shelli Gardner (the CEO and co-founder of Stampin' Up!); I thanked her for such a wonderful trip and she got some cuddles from Elise
kicking back in a hammock after the long day on the bus
my artsy picture of the palm trees reflected in Jim's sunglasses
while I'm being artsy...here's one more of the many statues along the beach walkway
Enjoying a Pele's Keiki -- pina colada with strawberries. Yum!
shopping at the Queen's Marketplace
at the luau hosted by Stampin' Up! on our last night
