Hawaii, here we come! First, Bob and I visited Las Vegas, Nevada, for two days. We wanted to see Laura, Nancy, and Steven. When Bob's Mom Louise passed away in December 2024, she left many photographs and albums.
I had my hair done on Wednesday before we left San Antonio.
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| Short and sassy hair for Hawaii. |
March 7-8: The siblings spent Thursday and Friday perusing family photos while reminiscing about growing up in Hawaii and California. The photos were sorted into piles for distribution to the people who would love them the most. Stories were shared and people in the photos needed to be identified.
Thursday night, Bob and I had drinks and dinner at Peppermill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge with our great friends, Pat & Kevin, who we met on our RV Caravan trip to Alaska in 2022. We discussed their upcoming travel to major-league baseball stadiums and our trip with them to the Canadian Rockies in the summer of 2026. Great fun!
Friday night, before we flew to Hawaii, the family had a wonderful dinner at King's Fish House at The District at Green Valley Ranch. We shared oysters, and Bob and I each had Macadamia-nut-crusted halibut.
Steven and Nancy are purchasing our share of Louise's house. They moved to Las Vegas from Hawaii a few weeks ago, and have been remodeling and modernizing the house. They have a beautiful vision of what it will look like when it is done. When we go back in early May, we can see the progress they've made!
At 6 am Saturday morning, we returned our Las Vegas rental car offsite from the major rental car garage. This necessitated an extra shuttle ride to get to our terminal. Thankfully, we gave ourselves three hours to get to our gate. (When the airport is exceptionally busy, it is recommended you give yourselves four hours!)
When we arrived at the transfer point to take a second shuttle to the Hawaiian Airlines terminal, we asked the workers at the shuttle station which shuttle bus we should take. At two different times, the workers told us to take Shuttle #1, which we did. When we arrived at that location, we found out it was the wrong terminal. We needed Shuttle #3, but none of the employees we talked to could tell us exactly how to find it.
We were tired and frustrated, and dragging around lots of luggage. We had to walk across six lanes of airport terminal traffic, through one terminal, and out the back side of it. There were directions to shuttle #3 here. We had to haul our luggage across a parking lot to get to it. The bus driver was so nice. She waited for us and I was in tears by that time. She assured us she would get us to the Hawaiian Airlines terminal. I swallowed down the tears and put on my big girl panties. The line to go through security was ridiculously long, but it moved right along. We made it to our gate with time left to eat breakfast.
Our flight to Honolulu was uneventful. From Honolulu, we took a short hop to Kona on the Big Island. We met Darren Medlin who arrived at the same time we did, even though he was on a different airline, picked up the rental car, had an early dinner at the harbor, and grocery-shopped on our way to the timeshare. All of us were exhausted by that point.
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| This mural, a replica of an old Aloha Airlines map of Hawaii, was in the Hawaiian Airlines terminal. |
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| Bob snapped this unique photo of a rainbow over downtown Honolulu as we flew to the Big Island! |
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| Our pile of luggage while waiting for our rental car to show up. It was super busy here! |
Our timeshare at the Kona Coast Resort for the week was a large one-bedroom unit with a hide-a-bed in the living room. To our dismay, this unit only had one bathroom, which we managed to share.
This vacation was much needed. In the months before this vacation all three of us had a lot of stressors:
- In September 2024, while we were on our 3-1/2 month summer trip to the Canadian Rockies, Bob's mom Louise took a turn for the worse and was put in a skilled nursing facility. Bob flew from Calgary, Alberta, to Las Vegas, NV, on September 12, to help his sister care for his mom. I drove him from Fairmont Hot Springs, B.C. to Calgary for his flight. It was a three-hour and 15-minute drive in each direction. He returned to Calgary on September 19. I did the round-trip drive again to pick him up. I stayed at the campground in Fairmont Hot Springs while he was gone to hold down the fort and take care of the kitties. We cut our vacation short by four days and returned to San Antonio on October 10.
- On October 22, Bob flew to Las Vegas to help his sister and Mom. His sister had been caring for Louise since she was discharged from the skilled nursing facility on October 2. Bob flew home on October 28.
- Susan Medlin (Darren's wife and my best friend) had a rapid decline in her health due to ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease. She was diagnosed in October 2024, but had symptoms for two years before that. Darren was caring for her by himself as her muscles deteriorated. I was able to help care for her for the last months of her life in San Antonio, Texas, and Bend, Oregon. It was an honor to be there with her and her family.
Susan accepting West Texas Trail Walkers
Special Award for 2024. - We decided to sell our manufactured home in San Antonio in November 2024 and move to Oregon permanently. We thought we'd have until April to sell our place, but we had a buyer within two weeks! And she wanted to move in by January 14, 2025. Yikes!
This necessitated finding a place to live in our 5th wheel until we could find a place to move in Oregon. Darren and Susan had a paved, full-hook-up RV site on their property and they graciously invited us to move there. That made it very easy to help care for Susan!
Our RV site at the Medlin's property. 
Our RV site at the Medlin's property. 
Our RV site at the Medlin's property. - My sister Janyce visited us from Dec. 3-10. We had a really nice time. We saw "My Penguin Friend" and "Flow" movies; both were excellent. Bob took Jan and me to see Christopher Cross in concert.
Bob, Janyce, and I are at the Sunken Garden
Theater in San Antonio to see Christopher Cross.
Christopher Cross's concert at the
Sunken Garden Theater.
We also attended a Christmas party.
I took Jan to Six Flags Fiesta Texas for the Christmas show and then we did a Christmas lights walk along the RiverWalk in downtown San Antonio.
"The Majesty of Christmas" show at
Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio.
Janyce and I are at Six Flags Fiesta Texas
in San Antonio.
Janyce imitates the abominable snowman. 
Janyce loves giraffes, so she chose to
ride one on the carousel.
Christmas parade boats line up along the
San Antonio RiverWalk.
San Antonio RiverWalk's gorgeous
Christmas lights.
San Antonio RiverWalk's gorgeous
Christmas lights.
An illuminated tree at La Villita,
San Antonio, Texas.
We found a great day to hike to the top of Enchanted Rock north of Fredericksburg, and that night we saw "Illuminate" at San Antonio Botanical Gardens.
Janyce is partway up the trail to the
top of Enchanted Rock.
The lower part of the trail to the top of
Enchanted Rock in Texas.
This is not an easy trail and it will
challenge you!
Hoodoos on the Enchanted Rock Summit Trail,
north of Fredericksburg, Texas.
Janyce at Enchanted Rock's summit. 
The view from the summit of Enchanted Rock
north of Fredericksburg, Texas.
"Illuminate" at San Antonio Botanical Gardens. 
"Illuminate" at San Antonio Botanical Gardens. - Bob spent time with his mom and sister in Las Vegas from Dec. 19-23. His mom passed away Dec. 22.
- January 4, Bob and I did a one-day road trip to spend time with Kris and Rich Jost in the Houston area. We showed them local sites, had lunch, and then returned to San Antonio. It was a wonderful visit, but too quick.
The view from the top of the San Jacinto
Monument.
San Jacinto Monument State Historic Site.
Rich Jost, Susan Alton, and Bob Alton. - January 9-11, we flew to Oregon to find our new home. We put in an offer on a double-wide manufactured home on a double-wide lot in Sutherlin, Oregon. The offer was accepted.
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| Our double-wide manufactured home on a double lot. |
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| The informal living room. |
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| The open-floor-plan kitchen. |
- Bob's sister-in-law Rosemarie passed away unexpectedly in January. She was in a single-car accident caused by a stroke. Bob was named the executor of her estate and is trying to get everything squared away.
- We packed all our furniture and belongings in early January, putting most of them in storage until we move to Oregon. We moved into our 5th wheel on January 14 and live on the Medlin's property.
- On January 16, I started working for Susan Medlin through the VA as a Companion Caregiver.
- January 25 through January 29, Darren and I drove Susan to Bend, Oregon. Darren rented a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, ADA-accessible home close to the Bend hospice. It served as their family's home for three weeks.
Our ADA-accessible VRBO in Bend, Oregon. 
Our ADA-accessible VRBO in Bend, Oregon. 
Susan in the living room of the VRBO in Bend, Oregon. 
This was my room in the VRBO.
Susan's family visited her over three weeks: her sister Betsey and brother-in-law John; her two brothers Steve and Mike; son and daughter-in-law Kyle & Megan, and their son Travis. The hospice doctors, nurses, and caregivers were wonderful and helped in every way they could. Susan passed away on Sunday, Feb. 16, surrounded by family.
The living room in Bend: Steve, Kyle, Megan,
Darren, Travis, and Susan.
Travis, Mike, Megan, Kyle, and Steve. 
Kyle, Travis, Steve, Susan, Darren, Mike,
and Megan.
A beautiful bouquet for Susan Medlin
from John and Sheila McClellan, Florida.
We received quite a bit of snow in Bend, Oregon.
Kyle and Travis had to shovel snow for a few days.
Anniversary and Valentine's flowers. 
SURPRISE! Kyle, Megan, and Travis decorated
the living room for Valentine's Day
- Megan and I flew home on Feb. 19. Darren, Kyle, and Travis drove back to San Antonio.
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