Mom Not Traveling Anymore?

We were on an 8 am flight to Kona and through most of the 45 minute flight I mainly heard about how Mom did not want to travel anymore. Except to Las Vegas. She kept saying she did not want to go to any more birthday parties except for people older than her. And funerals. She was quite adamant she was too old to travel any more.

We met Susan and Jen and their kids Ashton and Isaiah at the Alamo car rental stand. They followed us to Leilani Bakery in Waimea, where Mom kept telling Leilani this was her last trip to the Big Island; Leilani wondered why Mom tells her that every year but then shows up the next year. We had lunch at Charley's Thai Cuisine with Susan, Jen, Ashton, and Isaiah. (Don't judge it by the name, the food was quite good.) Mom enjoyed herself very much and stopped talking about not wanting to travel any more. I think getting her out around interesting people lifts her spirits.

They followed us on the Kohala Mountain Road to the house and we gave them a quick tour of the work in progress. Chris Johnson, the contractor that I am working with, has just started on fixing the floor and doors. He has started painting the walls, replacing doors, and laying more plywood on the floors.

Living room in progress

We also checked out the many fruit trees and flowers. The mountain apple tree was covered with fruit; some of it was ripe. They took some back with them for breakfast tomorrow. There should be a lot ripe when we return in July.

Susan with mountain apples

Unfortunately Jen started to react to the mountain apple she tried, so they ran off to get some benadryl at Takata Store, while Mom and I went to visit with Uncle Kazu. We also brought some mountain apple and lemons for Uncle Kazu. Since Uncle Kazu did not want to go for ice cream today, and he and Mom were having a good time just talking, I met up with Susan, Jen and the kids at King's View Cafe for some Roselani ice cream. We went our separate ways after ice cream. They went to find the Kamehameha rock; Isaiah wanted to see if he could lift it. I went back to check on Mom and Uncle Kazu. Mom was getting tired so we left to check in at Kohala Village Inn, where we are staying since the house is not habitable right now. The Kohala Village HUB is a pretty cool concept and has a great mission.

We ended the evening by visiting cousin Lem and were surprised to find cousin Fran was there visiting with him, until we realized it's the Father's Day weekend! We're planning to get together with Fran on O'ahu to visit with her mother Doreen. Mom ended the day not complaining about traveling. She is soundly sleeping as I write this. Getting her out and about seems to be good for her spirits.