The mother of all rollerslides!

Memorial Weekend the boys and I traveled down south with some friends to check out this park we found earlier in the week during Brandon's trip to the WWII Battle Sites. This park sits almost at the top of the ridge that was home to the Japanese Imperial Navy Underground Headquarters. For you WWII history buffs, this is the ridge where when accepting impending defeat, General Masahide Ota sent out his last transmission before he and all remaining Japanese forces took their lives. The final act, ending the battle of Okinawa.
You can drive up to the top of the ridge and tour the caves where this all took place. It is such a sobering place, but definitely a piece of history worth witnessing. Any of the battle sites on Okinawa are, but I'll save that for another blog.

Back to the park. This one has the mother of all roller slides, it actually has two! The awesome thing about these two is how they follow the ridge down, one of them even spirals! Once at the bottom there are a few playgrounds and a mini roller slide for the little ones. There are four swings that are really awesome too. They have basket seats. I don't know how else to explain them but I'll attach a a picture or two.

Here's a view from the top, getting ready to jet set down!

This park is not stroller friendly, but if you're feeling like being a monkey there is plenty to climb. For those with less of an animal instinct there are plenty of traditional steps you can take back up as well.

Here's the swings. They're perfect for just lounging in. More like a personal hammock of sorts.

Here's a view from the top looking down, should you opt to skip the steps this is where you'll end up.

Here's a little view of the park. I was trying to capture a little bit of the whole playground but there's so much it was hard to do in still photos so please don't mind the boys on the swing or Amanda's husband being a goofball.

Directions to this park:. Take route 58 south through Naha. Make a left onto route 7 just before crossing over the Meiji Bridge (the one right before the airport). Follow route 7 for about 10 or so minutes. You will go through a tunnel and as you come out, on your left hand side you will see the slides going down the hillside. Make a left at the first light after the tunnel. Make a left at the T and follow the road up the hill. You will turn left into the parks parking lot or you can continue straight up to the tunnels.
**Don't forget to bring cardboard, those slides can get a little bit toasty. ;)