Hilo, The Big Island

So happy to be getting off the boat

We made landfall and scurried off the boat. The plan was to walk to town and check out the farmer's market, look into a couple museums, and enjoy the laid-back island. Hilo is the supposed to be the most laid back and serene of the islands.

 

The walk was much further and hotter than we had been led to believe. We were not moving very fast and there wasn't a bus to be seen. We plodded along, steadily heading towards our destinations.

3/4 of the way into town, Krys realized she had left her cell phone a quarter mile back while taking a photo of a statue.

The statue

Krys was struggling with the heat and walk the most, so we told her and Becca to continue to the farmer's market. Alexis and I then sped walked back to the place Krys remembered taking a photo. We looked around but didn't see it, so I called Idaho Tech Support a.k.a Michael and requested help. He was able to turn the Google location on Krys's phone and give us an exact location, from half a world away. Unfortunately, that location was under a tree where it had been tossed after the screen was shattered. This left Krys completely shattered. A seller at the farmers market offered us a ride to the T-Mobile store, but we decided while we were at the farmers market, we might as well shop.

 

I bought a keychain, I ate lots of apple-bananas and tried mangosteen. Despite it appearing like fat little larva, it was quite tasty.

We then caught a bus heading to the T-Mobile store. The passengers on the bus told us all about the bus system, the closest stop to the T-Mobile store, the bus we would need to get back, the best place to visit, why Hawaii was wonderful, and even which street they lived on. It was a pretty intense bus ride, but also enjoyable. Unfortunately the people at the T-Mobile store were not nearly as helpful as the bus patrons, and they simply told Krys to file an insurance claim, which would leave her without a phone for the entire trip. Alexis then went next door to Walmart (which we had already shopped at) and picked up a burner phone for Krys to use for the remainder of the trip. I am downplaying the sheer amount of angst that was buzzing around, but know it was a lot. After we ate lunch at the outdoor mall food court (it was pretty good), we didn't feel up to much more sightseeing, museums, or riding the bus again so I installed the Lyft app on my phone and requested a car.

 

For $8, a nice man in an air conditioned car picked us up. He was surprised that there were four of us, and his front seat was not passenger ready, but we assured him we didn't care. He seemed embarrassed and admitted he had just begun driving for Lyft, and I told him I was new to Lyft as well as I was gently pushing his water bottles off the passenger seat and climbed in. I told him as long as he took us to the pier, we were happy campers. He relaxed, there was a/c, everyone was happy. Our driver then told us about local food and things we should try on the island while we were there and what he loved about the next island we were going to. He had a car, a/c, and food recommendations. We were best friends by the time he dropped us off.

 

We didn't see a lot of the island, but we were all able to see what we wanted and I got to eat apple-bananas. We also tried papaya, but we all hate it. The pineapple was great though.

I also stopped to take pictures of all the plants. Even though my children were not even there, I could feel them sighing every time I pause to take a photo of the plant life.

We got back onto the ship. Alexis worked on setting up Krys' new phone, Krys worked on submitting a claim, and I glanced at my Fitbit. Almost 22,000 steps and all were somewhere I had never been before. It wasn't perfect, but it was still interesting.

 

That night we all made it to dinner!

Ship Days

Captain's Log: Ship Day 1

Becca still feeling wobbly, slept most of the day on a pool lounge.

Krys, feeling slightly better, joined Alexis and me for two meals, attended a hula dancing class and an art history course.

Alexis is feeling stable, watched people in the hula class, and attended an art history class.

 

I am mostly well. Had explored the entire ship, still remains lost 82.4% of the time. Participated in a hula class, left the art history class with a headache.

After dinner, which three in the party attended, Krys and I attended a strange yet beautiful musical production titled Magic To Do, including songs from Wicked and Pocahontas. Krys then proceeded to the casino, where she lost all her bankroll, excepting $5. With her last bet she won back her bankroll, plus $5. She took her winnings and ran.

 

All parties are currently present and accounted for. We have been informed that tomorrow the seas are supposed to be calmer, and we pray it is true.

Ship Day 2 -

All parties found themselves exhausted. Sleep claimed many hours.

Day was spent eating, swimming, reading, dancing, and in my case, knitting.

Becca made a game effort to eat dinner in the dining room. She made it through half her salad, managed to lose a tooth crown, and was feeling sicker than ever.

She left abruptly before her dinner was brought. Is scurvy imminent?

Ship Day 3 - 

Everyone arose before six in the morning, ready to take on the new day. The four hour time change has made early birds of us all.

 

Breakfast, swimming, history lecture, and more hula dancers.

Despite the best attempts of all, sleep claimed the members of our party before we could take in another show.

 

Alexis frequently makes off color jokes, disappears when overwhelmed, and harasses everyone to wear sunblock. It feels exactly like traveling with Michael, so homesickness has not set in for me. Despite taking all the seasickness medicine we packed and herbal patches from another passenger, Becca is still sick. She is investigating the option of taking a plane home after visiting our last Hawaii stop.

Day 6 -

We remain at sea. Becca was strongly encouraged, and conceded, to visit med bay. More pills were added to her current regimen. It is possible she may not remember this trip.

She is feeling marginally better. We discovered it would cost approximately $1,000,000 to leave the ship before hitting a foreign port. She is now heavily drugged. This seems to make her happier.

We attended another seminar about the Hawaiian Islands, and we are excited to finally make landfall.

 

Laundry has been completed by all members, Krys and Alexis made ribbon leis. All attended the music trivia show, which we lost despite a lot of cheating/helping of one another.

All members made it to the formal dinner, where the waitstaff were truly happy to see us. Our waiter, Antonio, told Becca he hopes she is not a runaway bride again this night. She made it half way through her main course before bolting. Antonio's disappointment seemed real, as he sent us off with a plate of dessert for her.

Tomorrow we are supposed to land on the island. Hopefully dry land will soothe our souls and tummies.

San Fran Day 1-2

Heidi made us promise to take Krys on good trips. So, I asked Krys where she has always dreamed of going. She got a little dreamy eyed and said she has always wanted to go to Hawaii. I did some research, did the price breakdown, and realized a 16 day cruise to Hawaii was the cheapest and least complicated way to make the dream happen. All the sisters and sisters-in-law were invited. In the end only Becca, Krys, and I were able to go. We still had one opening so we invited Alexis, Krys' daughter-in-law and mother to the boys we watch on Saturdays. We also adore her. Surprisingly, she was able to go. After a lot of planning, the big day we arrived. September 28 saw the start of our Girls' Trip!

Day 1:

It begins well before the first hint of dawn. Michael and I load into the car at 3:15am and head out. He should be safe sleeping in bed, but I need a chauffeur (mainly so the van doesn't end up somewhere that is not home). He gamely drives across a sleeping town to gather my sister Becca and niece-in-law, Alexis. He then drives the three of us to Nampa and meet up with my sister Krys. We all load in her car, while Michael heads home for a few hours of sleep. The women begin their adventure, point the car a vaguely western direction(maybe, who knows, we just did what the map voice told us to do) and headed for San Francisco.

The next ten hours were filled with lots of driving. Long, tedious driving, frequently interspersed with inappropriate jokes. I'll save us both the pain of retelling this portion.

2pm found us only 10 miles from our destination!  We started searching the car for cell phones, checking reservations, and dreaming about food. It was all a little preemptive. The last 12 minutes, including a couple mile stretch across a bridge, took an hour. Becca drove, and only closed her eyes twice while merging. We also may have run a toll? We had exact change, we had credit cards, we had everything in place, but there was nowhere to pay. *As I write this several weeks later, we have received the invoice in the mail and all is well.

We safely arrived at our hotel, which looked incredibly sketchy on the outside, but was clean and comfortable on the inside. After unloading everything from the car so we didn't get robbed, we went out on adventures. 

Our expert selfie.

I tried to follow a walking map to Chinatown, but it almost killed Krys. After climbing our 400th hill, we ended up at the real end of Chinatown, with food we didn't recognize, packed sidewalks, and signs in languages we couldn't read. I was game to eat at one of the restaurants, but was outvoted. Becca and Alexis found a bus route, and we left behind the traditional Chinatown with shops full of ingredients we had no way to prepare, and hit the tourist area. The whole thing was packed, stressful, exciting, and fun. Also, very very tiring.

We bought a few trinkets and then found a place to eat. I'm still not entirely sure how we ended up at on Italian place, but we did, and we were fed. We then walked back to our hotel, climbed into bed and slept like the dead.

Day 2

Early morning we found the city asleep while we wandered the foggy streets.

It was amazing to be able to gape at the architecture in a slow and leisurely manner. We then packed the bags back up, dropped them at the cruise port, with Alexis driving. Traffic was nowhere as bad as the day before, and Alexis is a forceful driver. We got around with no problems at all. Before loading onto the ship, we walked around Pier 39 for some time. 

The entire pier is basically an open air mall, selling kitsch to tourists, which is exactly what we expected. We enjoyed some poking around and looking at the ridiculous stuff that was for sale.

A pretty decent view of Alcatraz, alas, we did not have time to visit.

Krys was excited to find her name in graffiti, with a shared spelling.

In the early afternoon we boarded the ship, and despite what my anxiety was telling me, we did have all the correct paperwork, we did get all our bags delivered to our room, we did finally get a fridge that stayed cold to keep medications in. It all worked out swimmingly, except of course my anxiety. But what are you going to do?

We sailed out directly under the Golden Gate Bridge and we were on our way!! We were all beaming with enthusiasm and excitement. Our stomachs did not return the sentiment. Krys and Becca weren't able to make it to dinner, as they were busy doing the opposite of eating. Alexis and I were able to keep the motion sickness at bay long enough to attend dinner, but then we pretty much called it a night. We put a few dollars in the slot machines, and the slot machines did what they do, so we walked out a few minutes later and a few dollars poorer. We then headed to bed, and everyone was snoring by 9pm.

Last Two Weeks in September

 

After a few weeks at home, it was time to take Libby to Bellingham to attend Western Washington University. She was heartbroken as we left early Saturday morning. She struggled as she said goodbye to everyone. Saying goodbye to Gertie may have been the hardest. Poor girl.

We drove all day, stopped at IKEA for her bed, and then moved her into her shared house. It was a long day, and starting to build IKEA furniture at 10:00pm led to a few short fuses. Thankfully, we got everything built, with help from Aunt Katie who tagged along. We left her around midnight and crashed at a very questionable hotel before heading home early in the morning. It was a very long weekend, but we managed to get her safely moved and her bed is still holding strong. We even managed breakfast with some friends in Kirkland before we drove home. It was a crazy 1,200 miles in 34 hours.

The next Saturday I had my great nephews over. The five year old had seen some Halloween decorations up and asked me where Mr. Bones was, a long-loved skeleton decoration. This led to decorating for Halloween. The three year old was so excited when he saw the trash monster peeking out. He got a bad case of happy feet and kept signing monster. Most fun I've had decorating for Halloween in a long time.

Sunday I worked a library booth for the first ever Open Streets hosted by the Boise Bicycle Project. Latah was shut down to cars for a mile and was open to pedestrians and bicyclists. It was sunny and hot, but also a lot of fun. One of the Boise Bicycle Project employees even stopped by to say hi to me! Love this kid!

While I was keeping things running in Boise, Michael was assisting a work conference in Sun Valley. Usually I'm his plus one, but it wasn't feasible this year. So instead he took his friend Andrew. They managed not to get in too much trouble, there was a wee bit of fence jumping, but everyone survived, and he came home to me. I was a trifle worried he might run away with Andrew, but he resisted the temptation.

Five days later we took the whole family out to Chinese food. I was leaving the next day for seventeen days, and we wanted some time together. We ate a lot, talked a lot, and Sam tried crayfish for the first time. He was not impressed, but he did try it. Grace stuck to safe foods. The girl knows what she likes.

This pretty much covers September. We are alive, the kids continue to grow, the pets and parents continue to age. All is well.

Libby's Brief Visit

Libby finished out her volunteer year in Delaware and managed to make it home just in time for her birthday.

I made her a cake.

She decorated the house. 

We invited family and friends. When everything was all set, she celebrated nineteen years on earth. The audacity. Somedays I just want my house full of babies back, but I also love watching them grow and take on the world. 

While she was in Delaware, she was awarded AmeriCorps member of the year! Her director wrote the following letter about her. I'm so impressed how she keeps taking on the world, even when she is terrified. I can't help but be proud.

The letter:

We are delighted to honor Elizabeth Hobson as the Children’s Beach House

AmeriCorps Member of the Year. Hailing from Boise, Idaho, Libby has truly embodied

the mission of the Children’s Beach House by providing children, youth, and families the

opportunities to realize their own strengths and talents.

Through her dedicated service in camp and the afterschool program, Libby has

engaged school staff and students alike, creating age-appropriate activities that foster a love for learning and teamwork. Her commitment to enriching the lives of the children she serves is evident in the joy and enthusiasm they display during her sessions.  Libby’s ability to create a nurturing and stimulating environment has not only made learning fun but has also significantly contributed to the personal growth and development of each child.

Libby exemplifies what it means to be a service member. She is always willing to step in and address any needs, ensuring that no gap is left unfilled. Her proactive approach

and keen sense of responsibility have made her an invaluable asset to her peers and

the entire camp environment at the Children’s Beach House. Libby’s support extends

beyond her direct interactions with children; she has been a dependable resource to her colleagues and a steadfast support to the seasoned case managers who work tirelessly to support youth and their families.

By committing a year of her life to service, Libby has cultivated a lifelong spirit of giving back. Her impact resonates not only with the young people she has guided but also with the adults who have had the pleasure of working alongside her. Libby’s dedication, kindness, and unwavering support have left an indelible mark on our community.

It is with great pride and gratitude that we recognize Elizabeth “Libby” Hobson as our

AmeriCorps Member of the Year. Her contributions have made a lasting difference, and we look forward to witnessing the continued positive impact she will undoubtedly have in the future.

Congratulations !