Here are two happy faces as we snapped a picture of our arrival in our final destination of the Dominican Republic! After leaving our house at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night, we finally made it there around 2:00pm Sunday afternoon.
We found our Amstar representatives and rode in a van about 25 minutes from the airport to our hotel, the Iberostar Grand! The welcome drinks were very refreshing with a hint of ginger, honey, and lime! Yum! (At least I thought it was good...Clint, not so much. ;)
We had about an hour to get cleaned up, and make our appearance at the Sound Off Signal Welcome hour for drinks and appetizers on the boat in the courtyard of the hotel.
There was a short little rainstorm that passed through in about 10 minutes, but then after it passed, we walked around exploring the beautiful resort and catching up with people we have known through work for years!
Our evening itineraries were filled for us each night by dinners with all of the head people at Sound Off Signal, who Clint sells product for, and who are the ones responsible for sending us on these amazing trips every year!
So many unique and beautiful things to see!
We loved walking by the ship in the courtyard every night on the way back to our room.
We had one day where we got to choose to do whatever we wanted, and so of course, we relaxed on the beach!
Clint's second favorite place to be, was in the shade, with his obvious first favorite place being next to me. ;)
We signed up for an excursion while we were there with The Wild Tiger Buggy Rides.
I would say "wild" was a good way to describe them...
They required us to wear bandanas to cover our mouths, sunglasses to protect our eyes, helmets to protect our heads from the bouncing and jarring of our heads into the roll bars when we would go over big bumps...
We had quite the caravan of buggies...
It was neat to see parts of the DR outside of the resort, which gave us great perspective and gratitude for where we live.
They also had photographers following us around to capture all the adventures. But I HATED all of the corny posing that they made us do!!!
Cheese!!!
And EXTRA CHEESE!!!!
We drove to a mine, and then to this cave, which for me, was the highlight of the ride.
We made our way down to the bottom of the stairs, only after being surrounded by people who wanted to be your best friend so you would buy their products, or give them money.
The cave was very cool, but there were so many people just running and jumping, and flipping into the pool. I was so worried that someone was going to crack their head open on a rock!
But of course after thinking about it, I just had to take advantage of the opportunity in the moment, and go jump in for myself!
It was so cool and refreshing!
They said it was 25 feet deep, so if you don't know how to swim, then don't jump in!
There were some rocks to sit on though which was nice to watch others jumping in too.
My friend Miriam that was there for the Sound Off trip as well jumped in first and convinced me to come too! What an awesome girl from Philadelphia.
We saw lots pf cows on the ride back, and they all looked so skinny to me! It made me grateful for the steaks in America! ;)
We enjoyed more dinners at the resort...
lazy time on the beach...
I even had one morning all to myself while Clint was at a breakfast meeting with other Sound Off customers.
On our last night there, they always have an elegant dinner on the beach, with a photographer to take our pictures and everything!
I love my sweet man SO MUCH.
He brings SO MUCH light and love into my life!
We ate like royalty on the beach! My favorite were the grilled vegetables!
Brian, CEO of Sound Off presented the awards.
We clapped and cheered, danced in a Congo line, visited with friends, and said our goodbyes.
We LOVE Wayne and Julie Weiser! Such GREAT people who love God and love their family.
And just look at the cool moon we saw on our last night! I had never before seen a sliver of the moon on the bottom like that! Was it because we were closer to the equator down there in the DR?
Beautiful!
We soaked it all in as we took one last stroll through the resort on our way out...
We took pictures at the airport in Punta Cana, and then headed on to Fort Lauderdale, and then back to Salt Lake City!
Thank you Clint for all of your never ending hard work to provide for our family, and to treat me like the queen that you say I am. I feel so blessed to have you forever by my side. We make the BEST team!!! I love you!!!
