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Bullet Sunday 231: Leeward

Posted on Sunday, May 8th, 2011

Dave!Hope all the mothers out there had a great Mother's Day.

Today's bullets will be fired from Part Two of my "Get to Know an Island" series: OAHU EDITION! Since yesterday was spent exploring the North Shore and Central Valley, today I decided to head West and take a look at the Leeward region of the island...

Oahu Travel Map Day Two

   
• End of the Road. Rather than having to continuously cross back and forth across Highway 93, I decided to head all the way to the end of the road, then stop at all the spots I wanted to see on the way back. And when I say "end of the road," I mean that literally. The pavement stops and, though a dirt road with craters in it goes on around the point, it's pretty much inaccessible unless you've got a really tough 4-wheel drive rig (which I didn't)...

End of the Road

   
• How I Roll. And what rig DID I end up with? A KIA Soul. It's not a bad ride, per se, but it does have one horrible flaw that can make it a terrifying thing to drive. MASSIVE FUCKING BLIND SPOTS IN THE BACK CORNERS! So not exaggerating here...

KIA Soul Blind Spot

Yes, you've got mirrors, but if you want to confirm that there's nobody sneaking up behind you in your mirror's blind-spot, you can't. I guess those giant hamsters that they use to advertise the Soul on television must drive using The Force or something.

   
• Kaena Point State Park. Anyway... at the end of the road is Kaena Point State Park, which is actually a very nice place to visit. There's a beautiful aqua-colored tidal pool there...

Kaena Point State Park

And a pretty sweet beach...

Kaena Point State Park

   
• Kane'ana Cave. About two miles outside of the park, there's a giant cave you can wander into. When I visited, there was a hot dog stand across the street...

Kane'ana Cave

It's not very deep... but it is pretty darn big.

   
• Beach Culture. I stopped at a few different beaches along the West Coast of Oahu. Many of them were absolutely beautiful. As I understand it, the waves get pretty insane during the winter months, but things were fairly calm today...

Beach Culture!

Beach Culture!

   
• Pearl Harbor Historic Sites. On my way back to Waikiki, I decided to stop at Pearl Harbor to see the new visitor center there. When I was here last time, they were just starting construction, and I decided to make a donation. They ended up putting my money to good use, because the new center is just beautiful...

Pearl Harbor Historic Sites

If you ever make it to Honolulu and have even a passing interest in history, this is a must-see.

   
• USS Bowfin. As I arrived around 4:00, there was only an hour until closing time. This meant there was no chance of visiting the USS Arizona Memorial... or the Missouri... or the film center. This didn't bother me, because I've already been through them more than a couple times (and with much better weather!). But I didn't want to leave without doing something, so I toured the USS Bowfin Sub Museum and Park. The submarine itself has been beautifully restored, and has a very cool steampunk look about it on the inside...

USS Bowfin Exterior

USS Bowfin Interior

USS Bowfin Interior

USS Bowfin Interior

USS Bowfin On Deck

   
Annnnd... that was enough for today.

Except a stop at Ala Moana Center so I could visit their awesome food court and get me some falafel. As expected, it was totally delicious and worth the wait.

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Categories: Travel 2011Click To It: Permalink
   

Comments

  1. the muskrat says:

    You were smart not to try the muddy dirt road at the end of 93…I had to be told by a local not to do it! You still need to do Duke’s breakfast and consider Alan Wong’s for dinner.

  2. Sybil Law says:

    Very cool!
    Still jealous, over here… 🙂

  3. walt says:

    That’s great stuff…beautiful pictures…hope to see it some day…maybe I’ll plan a Simmer stalking tour retracing your steps across the Islands! Maybe even get a group tour going with other Dave wannabes!

  4. StephanieP says:

    You’re right about the Kia Soul’s blind spots (obviously). I bought one recently (because I couldn’t fit an infant seat in my Mini) and often find myself saying, “Here goes” when backing out of parking spaces. It’s only a matter of time before a tragedy occurs.

  5. martymankins says:

    Pearl Harbor was very cool to see hen I was there in March 2009. I like how you traveled all of Oahu is trip. And blogged about it, too.

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