Aloha allemaal! 22 hours on planes, trains, and buses is not usually worth a short 7-day holiday. But this time around was an exception! Beth earned a spot in the 2010 Winners Circle, an annual celebration held for the top-of-the-top contributors in her company. They pulled out all the stops, reminding us both of the free-wheeling dot-com bubble days back in Silicon Valley. With 6 nights in a 5-star resort, free activities like whale watching, scuba diving, and helicopter rides, full open bars (too many Mai Tai's), loads of top-notch food, and a present waiting on our pillow every night (including an Apple I-Pad), we didn't think that it could get any better until they piled us into buses on the last night and we found ourselves at a private concert with Elton John which was followed by some excellent fireworks. Whoa! What an experience! Here are a few pics from the trip.
The Mauna Launi resort was fantastic...
...nestled into a private bay...
...and built around an ancient set of lagoons created by the locals to trap and raise fish.
The humpback whales were also here on their annual migration. We could see them breaching from our breakfast table. When we got out on this boat, they were surrounding us.
Where we hiked into some secluded waterfalls and went for a swim.
Then it was up into the air for our first helicopter flight.
We were both surprised how smooth the helicopter was. Our pilot maneuvered us within feet of these sheer cliff walls.
Elton John, playing for a company audience of 3500.
Benny and the Jets
The evening was capped off by some great fireworks.
Let's all cheer Beth on so that we can see what the 2011 logo looks like! :-)
