We Hiked Diamond Head!

Our big trip in 2023 was an eight day stay on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. It was a tropical adventure filled with beautiful sights, fun activities and amazing food! We went in early April. The weather was mild — perfect for outdoor activities!

Diamond Head State Monument (a 300,000+ year old volcanic tuff cone) was high on our “to do” list. A friend advised us to go early before the sun was high and hot. Reservations for entry and parking are required for non-residents. Operating hours are from 6am-6pm daily (closed Christmas and New Years). The last entry to hike is 4pm.

Diamond Head State Monument sign

Diamond Head Summit Trail is 1.6 miles round trip. The trail is moderate and takes an average of 2 hours to complete. There are switchbacks, steep stairs and a 225 foot lighted tunnel. Keep an eye out for local wildlife. We spotted several mongooses!

Diamond Head Summit Trail

Switchbacks up the side of Diamond Head

Photo op and a peek inside the crater

From the summit you’ll see breathtaking views of the O‘ahu shoreline, historic bunkers once used by the US military for coastal defense and a navigational lighthouse along the coast.

View of Waikiki from the Diamond Head summit

Exploring the Diamond Head bunkers built in 1915

Be sure to check out the visitor center booth for maps, info and souvenirs! Operating hours are 7am-3:30pm. Junior ranger booklets and badges are available! More info on Diamond Head State Monument can be found at: dlnrhawaii.gov.

Diamond Head (Lē‘ahi) junior ranger badges

Mahalo for visiting! You can also find us on instagram @sixbyland.

♡ The Garcias

Art in the Mojave: Seven Magic Mountains by Ugo Rondinone

Seven Magic Mountains is an art installation created by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is open to the public and FREE to visit! You can find it about 10 miles south of the city center near Jean Dry Lake off the I-15. There is a dirt parking lot and short walk to the exhibit.

The seven colorful rock towers stand more than 30 feet tall. They are a creative expression of human presence in the desert and add a fun pop of color and form to the Mojave!

The exhibit first opened May 11, 2016. The artist and its producers, the Nevada Museum of Art and Art Production Fund, would like to keep the installation at its current location longer (if not indefinitely) for everyone to enjoy. At the end of 2018 the Bureau of Land Management extended its stay through 2021.

Seven Magic Mountains has had great success since its opening, and people from all over the world have shared thousands of photos with the colorful exhibit on social media.

We have visited twice so far and enjoy the contrast of the bright, colorful rocks against the monochromatic desert backdrop. It’s the perfect photo op! 🌈

[Pro tip: Go early in the morning to beat the crowd! You can use a photo app with an eraser tool to “erase” random people and shadows.]

For more information about this art installation, please visit the official Seven Magic Mountains website at: sevenmagicmountains.com.

♡ The Garcias

US National Parks: Where We’ve Been

Here is a list of our nation’s national parks in alphabetical order. Our goal is to visit them all (and as many NPS units we can along the way). It’s a slow process since we both work full time and have four kids with school and year round sports. We try to do two road trips a year — one in the spring and one in the summer..

As of summer 2022 we’ve been to 26/63 national parks! A check mark means we’ve been there. I will update this post as we go!

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NATIONAL PARKS (63)

1. Acadia, Maine

2. Arches, Utah ✔️

3. Badlands, South Dakota ✔️

4. Big Bend, Texas

5. Biscayne, Florida

6. Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado

7. Bryce Canyon, Utah ✔️

8. Canyonlands, Utah ✔️

9. Capitol Reef, Utah ✔️

10. Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico ✔️

11. Channel Islands, California ✔️

12. Congaree, South Carolina

13. Crater Lake, Oregon ✔️

14. Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio

15. Death Valley, California-Nevada ✔️

16. Denali, Alaska

17. Dry Tortugas, Florida

18. Everglades, Florida

19. Gates of the Arctic, Alaska

20. Gateway Arch, Missouri ✔️

21. Glacier Bay, Alaska

22. Glacier, Montana

23. Grand Canyon, Arizona ✔️

24. Grand Teton, Wyoming ✔️

25. Great Basin, Nevada

26. Great Sand Dunes, Colorado

27. Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee-North Carolina

28. Guadalupe Mountains, Texas

29. Haleakalā, Hawaii ✔️

30. Hawai’i Volcanoes, Hawaii

31. Hot Springs, Arkansas

32. Indiana Dunes, Indiana

33. Isle Royale, Michigan

34. Joshua Tree, California ✔️

35. Katmai, Alaska

36. Kenai Fjords, Alaska

37. Kings Canyon, California ✔️

38. Kobuk Valley, Alaska

39. Lake Clark, Alaska

40. Lassen Volcanic, California ✔️

41. Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

42. Mesa Verde, Colorado

43. Mount Rainier, Washington

44. National Park of American Samoa, American Samoa

45. North Cascades, Washington

46. Olympic, Washington

47. Petrified Forest, Arizona ✔️

48. Pinnacles, California ✔️

49. Redwood, California ✔️

50. Rocky Mountain, Colorado

51. Saguaro, Arizona ✔️

52. Sequoia, California ✔️

53. Shenandoah, Virginia

54. Theodore Roosevelt, North Dakota

55. Virgin Islands, Virgin Islands

56. Voyageurs, Minnesota

57. Wind Cave, South Dakota ✔️

58. White Sands, New Mexico ✔️

59. Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska

60. Yellowstone, Wyoming-Montana-Idaho ✔️

61. Yosemite, California ✔️

62. Zion, Utah ✔️

*63. New River Gorge, West Virginia

*Not in alphabetical order

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

[Editor’s note: As of December 20, 2019 White Sands has been promoted to a national park.]

This spring we visited White Sands National Monument. White Sands is a natural wonder engulfing 275 square miles of the northern Chihuahuan desert with gypsum sand dunes. It is amazingly beautiful, and there are many fun things to do here. Read on!

The entrance fees for White Sands National Monument (unless it is a free day) are: adults 16 and older $5, children 15 and younger FREE! There is also a White Sands National Monument annual pass available for $30. We have the Interagency Annual Pass ($80) which is good at any national park or federal fee area for one year. See the other America the Beautiful — National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes available HERE.

The White Sands Missile Range regularly conducts missile tests. For visitor safely the road leading into the dunefield may be temporarily closed. Be sure to check the White Sands NPS website for closure dates/times.

Our first stop was the visitor center to pick up the kids’ Junior Ranger booklets. The Junior Ranger program is a FREE educational program open to kids and kids at heart! Complete the booklet by exploring, watching an educational video and interviewing a ranger.

Once the booklet is complete a ranger will review it, swear you in and present you with a badge. Our kids love to collect park badges! HERE is the NPS official list of all parks that participate in the Junior Ranger Program including badges you can earn online!

We purchased round plastic sleds from the gift shop to slide down the dunes. The heavy duty sleds were $19 each — not a bad price, and they will even buy them back for $5 when you are done. Once we found a dune we were happy with, the kids climbed up and tried to sled down. We soon found out is not easy to slide on soft gypsum! We moved onto a steeper dune, and my middle son was able to pick up some speed. The family had a blast playing on the dunes!

The spring weather was clear and warm, but very windy — normal for the dunes (notice the gypsum suspended in the air). The sand whipped against our skin and the sun was a bright against the white sand. Shades and sunscreen are a good idea!

There are bugs and animals that live amongst the dunes. We noticed a lot of stink bugs in the cooler afternoon hours — watch out!

We walked the interdune boardwalk, a 20 minute round trip walk that leads you to a scenic view of the dunefield and the Sacramento mountains. The boardwalk is perfect for strollers, wheelchairs and those who might have a hard time walking on the soft sand.

Other things to do at White Sands National Monument include: adventure packs (for loan at the visitor center), backcountry camping, bicycling, horseback riding, picnicking (picnic areas with tables and wind guards provided), hiking, scenic drive and the native plant garden tour. Please visit the White Sands NPS website for activity details.

We had a great time at White Sands National Monument and made core family memories! We hope to visit again soon!

♡ The Garcias

Hello — We are SIXBYLAND!

Hello and welcome! We are the Garcias — a road tripping family of six: Rosemary, Neil and four kids Noah, Nate, Natalie and Nicole. We explore the US mainly by car (currently a 7 seat Toyota Sequoia). Our dream is to one day travel across the US in an Air Stream!

In front of the Alamo on our “Big Adventure” road trip, Spring 2018. There was no basement.

Over the past several years we have put a lot of miles on our car driving from San Diego, California to as far north as British Columbia, Canada and to as far east as Corpus Christi, Texas. Along the way we visit national parks, monuments, seashores, landmarks and everything in between! We search out nature, history, culture and good food.

Our faithful car at White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, New Mexico.

We hope this blog will inspire you to take the scenic route! Our experiences can offer information and helpful tips for traveling and camping with kids. Thank you so much for visiting! You can also find us on Instagram @sixbyland.

♡ The Garcias