I must be the last person to discover Moab and xtreme4x4. I can’t believe I’ve lived here this close this long and never had the chance to go see Canyonlands, Moab Slick Rock, and Arches just to name a few. We drove through once and had lunch but I had no idea the beauty that surrounded me. I kept giving my hubby options to cancel but he said, ” Let’s Go” and I’m so glad that he did.
We started out by going to Canyon Lands National Park and drove straight to Islands in the Sky Visitor Center. The views were amazing and the crowds not so bad. I was amazed at the color and light and grandeur of God’s handiwork. The majesty and awe make it hard not to acknowledge his hand in all things. After we hiked to see the Mesa Arch, we then hiked along the ridge of the Grand View trail before we found the last picnic table in the ring road loop that was for picnics.
It was the perfect picnic spot before we headed back to Arches National Park.
When you see something for the first time, that you’ve heard about your entire life, you never forget that moment. When I came around the corner of seeing Delicate Arch, I knew it was to be epic so I was anticipating that moment. It did not disappoint! I could have stayed at looked at this arch all day and into the night. That is what I wanted to do but when you travel with people, especially teenagers, you tend to be hurried and distracted. I know that when I go back, I will go alone or with my hubby, ( he is patient that way) and I will be able to see it till sundown. As we neared the parking lot on our way down, we saw 3-4 sets of people with tripods, cameras and gear. I took note of the time 5:45 pm and thought, “next time, I will follow this group” hahahha
We stopped at Park Avenue and Sand Hill Arch on our way out of the park. The setting sun was too gorgeous to even look away from. I felt like I had come home in some ways yet in another, I felt totally homesick. I could not even explain those emotions but I know that God has something to do with them. Golden hour in a National Park is not to be underrated and someday my son will think of me when he is long gone and finds himself bathed in it.
The last day we spent it Moab was the best even after I didn’t think it could get any better. When we were driving around Canyon lands the day before, I was trying to find a 4×4 tour so that my son would have a trip to remember other than just driving around looking at stuff. We kept losing cell service and so I had to just google 4×4 tours and hope a number could find my search. I found a few numbers but they my phone would die, I’d call back but then couldn’t’ get through and this went on. Finally I found a number and dialed it and I got through to a person’s voice. I asked her if she had openings for Sat morning and she did. I lost service a few more times then called back again not knowing if I had the same place. To make a long story short, I ended up making a reservation to a place I wasn’t even sure about. ( I don’t ‘recommend this) I was awake all that night wondering why I had done that and if there was going to be a way to cancel. 
Well, I didn’t cancel and I have to say that this was one of the most adventurous, scary, exciting, fun and dangerous thing that I have ever done. xtreme4x4 was the best tour we could have found. Dave builds his own vehicles and this crazy thing we rode in was made out of on old Suburban. I can’t tell you the specifics of why it did what it did but I do know that there was no other vehicle on the rocks that could do what we did. You could see in the faces of the ATV drivers that this was a seriously crazy get up. Dave was the best driver and even though he was pretty crazy and I mean crazy at where he took us, I knew that he was confident in what he was doing and in his wheels. This is the best tour and would be number 1 on Trip Advisor but because he has less inventory ( Its just him and his wheels) he gets less reviews. We were so lucky to find him by accident and we would spend the money to do this again in a heartbeat. 
There was a jeep stranded in the bottom of Hell’s Revenge Canyon and Dave offered to tow him out after our tour. When my hubby asked Dave how much he charges to bail people out like that ( he was the only one with a truck strong enough to do it) he just said ” Free, Hey, this guy is already having a pretty bad day so why add anything on top of that?” Can I say we were totally impressed with this guy and when you see people doing good to other for the sake of just wanting to help out, it is pretty darn cool.
The place that we stayed was cheaper than the chains but I don’t think I would stay there again.http://www.rivercanyonlodge.com I think next time I will try Moab Under Canvas as that looked so fun and adventurous as well as beautiful. Oh well, live and learn. It was fun staying in town but the traffic to get in and out was very backed up at the beginning and ending of the days. We learned how to avoid this the second and third days. I won’t let this lemon of a hotel stay cloud my sunny and awesome experiences in Moab. Adventures are never for the faint of heart or the faint of pocketbooks. Besides, the boys could walk to Wendy’s for dinner! 
On our way out of town, we stopped at Wall Street to see where our older son would go climbing. We saw the coolest Indian Art on these cliffs while standing on the road and lots of climbers. 14 year old boys hate having their photos taken but sometimes that’s the best story and isn’t that why we travel, to tell the story? I thought so. 
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