More Touring with Mary Ellen & Michael

The view out the bedroom window this morning was even more different today than it was yesterday. There was more light coming in because the African tulip tree had been removed!

Removing the tulip tree really brightened things up. The stump in the background is also being removed.

The guys from Aikane Nursery were back again, removing more of the invasive trees. They are also cleaning the huge grass clumps out of Grandma's anthurium patch; I know some anthuriums are being damaged but overall it will be better for the area with the work they are doing. Rick found the orchid that Suzanne bought for Mom; he planted it out in one of the hapu'u. Unfortunately I think this hapu'u may have to be moved for the extension; I will ask him to move it when they are back tomorrow.

Here's the new, invasive-tree-free views from the kitchen and the sewing room.

Kitchen, June 7th.

Kitchen, July 25th. You can now see Dena & Delphine's house. They will be taking it down but aren't sure where on the lot they will build the new house.

Sewing room, June 7th.

Sewing room, July 25th.

Michael & Mary Ellen came by in the afternoon to see the house and do the tourist thing in North Kohala! They started with a tour of the house and the garden. They decided to try a calamansi lime straight off the tree; Michael says he's sure they got their RDA of Vitamin C now! They also tried a jaboticaba.

Mary Ellen with a calamansi.

We started by going to the end of the Akoni Pule Highway to the Pololu Valley overlook. We were in luck and found a parking spot at the end of the road right away. On the way out I told them about King Kamehameha I and how he was born in Kohala near Upolu Point and was secretly taken to the area beyond Pololu to be raised at Awini.

Awini is the area over Michael's left shoulder. (Mary Ellen is standing on the wall.)

We stopped at Patrick Rankin's gallery on the way back to Kapa'au. As usual, he was in fine form, and not as curmudgeonly as they said he was in the AAA article. Mary Ellen bought some of his cards, once the house is squared away I would like to get a couple of his prints.

We stopped in Kapa'au at the King Kamehameha statue. When in North Kohala, it is the one place that you should make an effort to see. Many of the places in this part of the island were given their names because of the journey to take the infant Kamehameha to safety. It was foretold that a male child would rise to power and conquer all the islands; so Alapa'inui one of the chiefs on Hawai'i island tried to have Kamehameha killed when he was an infant.

Michael & Mary Ellen at the King Kamehameha statue in front of the senior center.

We headed down the road a short ways to the town of Hawi. Our ultimate goal was dinner at the Bamboo Restaurant & Gallery, but first we stopped in to see a couple other galleries. The Bamboo Restaurant & Gallery is in the old Takata Store building; the restaurant is downstairs, the gallery upstairs. We started with the appetizer of Nori Crusted I'a. I had the Macadamia Nut Crusted Chicken with Kalua Pork, Mary Ellen had the Sesame-Nori Crusted Shrimp, and Michael had the meatloaf made from local beef. It was all excellent!

A display honoring the building's previous life as Takata Store.

Sesame-Nori Crusted Shrimp

Macadamia Crusted Chicken with Kalua Pig.

Mary Ellen and Michael are leaving tomorrow. :( It's been fun doing things with them for the last couple of days. Hope they will return soon! (Now its back to cleaning up the house & getting things ready for the next phase of repairs.)

Happy Birthday to Jesus & Margie!