Driving up a winding road through the forested area on a cinder cone and only 4 miles north of Waikiki on Round Top Road, is the Tantalus Lookout. This lookout provides a sweeping view of southern O’ahu from Diamond Head to Pearl Harbor, including Honolulu and Manoa Valley. This place is also called Puu Ualakaa State Park, and the road going up was windier than any snake road I've ever been on! (And there are many driving up to Lake Tahoe).
It was a gorgeous day weather-wise for a journey like this and an excellent opportunity for my mom to go someplace she had never been before (and I was pretty sure she’s been everywhere!) Our morning started out pleasantly enough and we left the west-side at a decent hour. In the last blog, we were thinking about naming our navigation lady and we came up with a good name. Since the true nature of a navigation system, whether its on your phone or in your car, is to get you from point A to point B safely. We feel ours also keeps us out of harms way, like a little guardian angel. The most fitting name to us is Beverley. That was my grandmother’s name (My mom’s mom), and she was always looking out for us.
With that said, Beverley guided us all the way to the top, where we pulled off for a couple of quick pix and enjoyed the quietness of the area. Just as we were pulling out of the area to go uphill more, a bunch of cars (Jeeps- the signature car of tourists) pulled in to where we were and took over. This was great because we had a head start of the morning crowds…. again, timing is everything.
We continued to cruise up the mountain and found Puu Ualakaa State Park easily. It’s a wonderful place, complete with some hiking trails and a separate picnic area available. We found our princess parking and were able to have some solitude before the Jeeps started arriving. We took in the views and got some nice shots and I even had time and opportunity to get some lensball pix (which takes time to set up).
After we were done was headed down and kept thinking back on how perfect this little journey was. My mom got to see some of Oahu she’s never seen before, we got to take in the vastness of the city from the top of the world and we got in and out of there without any issues! Next week we have another traveler joining us on our adventures. My Godson Raiden will be here for a few weeks, so we are gearing up the destinations to suite him! Can’t wait to see what we pull out of the Oahu Jar…stay tuned!
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