At the end of the first week in March, Deb and Ran flew out to Hilo for Great Grandma's funeral. She passed away at the beginning of January after suffering with dementia. She was 98 years old.

She was the nicest lady anyone could ever meet. Of my grandmothers I saw her the least but that didn't mean she didn't know me. When I visited she would have Ding Dongs even when I became a father and brought my own children to visit. In later years when the disease had robbed her of her ability to speak, she still recognized me and would smile.

Day 1

They arrived in Hilo on Thursday afternoon along with Uncle Joel and cousin Mason. While they took different flights from the mainland to Honolulu, they were all on the same plane from Honolulu to Hilo. In Hilo, they rented a Jeep Wrangler and proceeded straight to the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel where they met Grandpa and Grandma. Uncle Joel and Mason borrowed Grandpa's rental car and hit up a Pokemon card shop. Meanwhile, Deb and Ran looked for a shave ice (in Hilo it's called ice shave) place. Later, they picked up Uncle George so they could all eat dinner at the restaurant, Whiskey Steak Wine, downstairs in the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel lobby. The buffet dinner was amazing. They had an assortment of salads, prime rib, snow crab, laulau, kalua pork, fish, poke, poi, and a sundae bar for dessert.

Day 2

Friday morning was Great Grandma's funeral service at the Homelani Cemetery. We all worried it might rain, and while it did sprinkle a little, it was generally a nice day. The service was brief and attended by only family and some friends, just as Great Grandma wanted. One nice thing was Dad's cousin Grant flew in from Honolulu to attend. Dad hadn't seen his cousin in over 10 years. After the service everyone attended a lunch at the 1 Plus 1 Cafe where they ate chow fun, honey walnut shrimp, garlic chicken, and much more. After lunch Deb and Ran headed out to Two Ladies Kitchen where they bought mochi. They brought the mochi back to the hotel and then drove out to see Mrs. Higaki (Aunty Pauline's mom) on her lychee farm. They spent some time there catching up and eating a Holy's Buttered Apple Pie. Of course they toured the property and marveled at all that goes into maintaining such a large farm. Since they were out on that side of the island Deb and Ran drove to the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Visitor Center to get ice cream. To their dismay Mauna Loa no longer serves ice cream in back anymore! Disappointed, they looked around a little and then headed back into town to pick up omiyage at Wal-Mart and then got shave ice. For dinner, they went to Uncle George's where he had the freshest best sashimi, sushi, and steak. Even better was Cousin Drew flew in that afternoon from Honolulu to eat with us. Dad hadn't seen Drew in probably over 20 years!

Day 3

Deb's and Ran's final day in Hilo started off with breakfast at Whiskey Steak Wine with Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Joel, and Cousin Mason. The food was great and very filling. When they were done everyone checked out of the hotel and said their good-byes. Deb and Ran were on a later flight than everyone else so they took their time, got gas for the car, and eventually headed over to the airport. When they got there Grandpa them were still at the airport waiting for their flight in the Premier Club waiting area. Since they hadn't left yet, they got Deb and Ran in the Premier Club so they could relax, get some snacks, and drink free soda. When the time came to board their flight they sauntered up to their gate and waited to be called. Eventually, they landed in Honolulu where they ate lunch at Burger King. They had different flights back to San Jose, so Deb waited with Ran at his gate for his Southwest flight. Deb would leave about half an hour later on Alaska Air. It was a quick short trip but they took full advantage of their time in Hilo. Maybe next time they'll visit longer.