<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAfter breakfast we wandered in and out of shops in Moab for a bit, buying souvenir stickers, ornaments, t-shirts, and rocks before heading back to the hotel for some down time. We planned to take it easy during the heat of the day and return in the afternoon to Arches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It worked out well for all of us; the girls took naps and we rested. Then around 3:00 PM we were ready for our next adventure- taking a back entrance into the park for an off-roading adventure! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Arches National Park visitor center, David had spoken with a ranger that filled him in on a backroad entrance to the park that never closes (even when the park shuts down at capacity). She said if your vehicle can handle it, it’s a fun adventure, but to be aware that tow trucks to the area start at about $2,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, that’s all David needed to hear to get a sparkle in his eye and the rest of us agreed we were up for it, so off we went!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nOff-roading through the desert won’t get you anywhere fast, but it sure was fun. We took our time and bounced through the uneven terrain. Oftentimes Grandpa would get out and walk ahead to help navigate the path. David was in his element and now is set on needing a truck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along the way we stopped to check out dinosaur prints that were embedded in rock. Pretty cool, I must admit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then we saw it- Balanced Rock in the distance and the entrance to the park! We pulled over just inside the fence to use the cleanest restrooms of anywhere we had experienced and took in the view. It felt like we had the park to ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/li> <\/figure><\/li> <\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nFrom there we headed to The Windows Section, considered by many to be the heart of Arches National Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The area contains a large concentration of arches and we got out to hike around. The girls loved scrambling up and down rocks and we loved soaking in the vast views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/li> <\/figure><\/li> <\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nWe spent more time than intended at The Windows section, not wanting to rush the experience. We finished up there as the sun began to set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We made two more stops, first at The Fiery Furnace Overlook, then at Balanced Rock, before saying good night to the park and heading back to Moab for a late dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did we see everything? Not even close! But were we satisfied with our one day at Arches National Park? More than I ever could have predicted!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We will be back, no doubt, but this day at Arches is undoubtedly one of my favorite memories of my life. Thank you, Arches, for the incredible memories! Until we meet again…<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Did we see it all in a single day? Of course not! But my goodness did we squeeze a lot of adventure…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":57724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2133,2296],"tags":[2381,2256],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}