Hawaii-born Barack Obama left Honolulu late this afternoon to return for the homestretch of his presidential race, after spending much of the day with his gravely ill grandmother.

Obama's campaign plane took off from Honolulu Airport shortly after 5 p.m., nearly 22 hours after he arrived for a somber trip to see the woman who raised him for much of his youth.

Madelyn Payne Dunham, 85, has been described as gravely ill and was released from the hospital last Friday after suffering a broken hip. 

The Democratic candidate visited her after arriving last night and returned to Dunham’s apartment about 8:15 a.m. today. He spent the night at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki but spent most of to day at the apartment where Dunham and her husband raised him from age 10 to 18 as he attended nearby Punahou School.

As he did last night, Obama entered the apartment building today through an underground parking garage.

Just after 10 a.m., Obama, wearing a black polo shirt, jeans, black slippers and sunglasses, emerged from the apartment building and went for a walk through his old neighborhood.

After about 10 minutes, as the media approached him, he was picked up at the corner of Young and Villa streets and taken back to the apartment building.

Well-wishers gathered in the lobby of the Punahou Circle Apartments, some armed with flowers and others just hoping to see the senator. The property manager told supporters they couldn't give the flowers or lei directly to the candidate, but promised to deliver them.

A couple of supporters of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader protested outside the building, but the majority of the crowd was Obama supporters. 

At 12:47 p.m., Secret Service agents told the crowd to move to the other side of Beretania Street for safety purposes.

Soon after, Obama's motorcade traveled back to the hotel for lunch. Obama used underground access to enter the Hyatt Regency.  Obama left the Hyatt at 2:21 p.m. after eating lunch in the hotel. The motorcade arrived at his grandmother's apartment at 2:34 p.m. for Obama to say goodbye before leaving on a 5 p.m. flight to Reno. The vehicle carrying Obama went into the complex's basement. A crowd of about a dozen supporters are waiting in the lobby hoping to get a glimpse of Obama, though the campaign said he will likely not make any public appearances. Obama has three rallies scheduled tomorrow in Reno, Las Vegas and Alberqueque.

He left her Punahou-area apartment at about 3:45 p.m. today and headed for the airport.

Yesterday at abut 7:15 p.m., Obama arrived on Oahu for the second time in two months. His motorcade immediately took him to Dunham’s apartment, where she raised Obama for much of his youth.

Like last night, onlookers gathered outside the building today hoping for a glimpse of the candidate.

Many of the people outside the building expressed support and sympathy last night for Obama and Dunham, who broke her hip recently.

“It says a lot for him to come back to see his grandma,” said Chaminade University student John Walje IV, who stopped outside the building after class hoping to get a glimpse of Obama.

“Family is the most important thing,” said Walje, 24, who added that he missed the chance to say goodbye to his father before he died.

Obama says he’s not sure his grandmother will live to see Election Day.

“Without going through the details too much, she’s gravely ill. We weren’t sure and I’m still not sure whether she makes it to Election Day,” Obama told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in an interview broadcast today.

“We’re all praying and we hope she does, but one of the things I want to make sure of is I had a chance to sit down with her and to talk to her. She’s still alert and she’s still got all her faculties. And I want to make sure that I don’t miss that opportunity,” he said.

Obama has said he missed a chance to visit his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, just before she died of ovarian cancer — she was 53 when she died in 1995 — and didn’t want to repeat that mistake.

Madelyn Dunham, along with her husband, raised Obama for much of his youth as his mother worked and lived in Indonesia. Dunham’s earnings helped put him through Punahou School, where he graduated in 1979.

She was released from a hospital last week and is now being cared for in her Honolulu apartment by Obama’s half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng.

Outside Dunham’s apartment building last night, several people said they wanted to show him their support and hoped he was not bothered by their presence.

Rae Diane Sims, 53, who lives in the building, said she does not know Dunham, but sent her a get-well card.

“I just wanted to let him and his family know that we’re thinking of them at this time,” she said, adding that she spent three hours praying yesterday, hoping that Dunham “will live to see the inauguration” of her grandson.

One of the younger Obama supporters hoping to catch a glimpse of the candidate was Washington Middle School sixth-grader Tevito Lino, 11, who hoped to shake Obama’s hand.

He said he likes Obama because “he comes and visits Hawaii and his grandmother.”

Obama, wife Michelle and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, spent a week in late August on Oahu, just before the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

The August trip was filled with golf and beach outings but also included daily visits by Obama to see his grandmother. For this trip, Obama’s family did not accompany him.