Arches National Park
We didn't take any trails here, but the views were something worth seeing...
White Rim Trail
We went into this knowing that the trail was 100 miles long, and had no plan to take the whole thing. We just wanted to go down some of it and camp for the night.
Lesson #1- You can't just camp wherever on the trail (here in Colorado, I'm pretty sure you can). There are a few camping sites along the trail, but none are very close to river access, which is what we wanted so we could do some fishing.
For the most part it was a good drive. We followed a Chrysler 300C for a short time until he got smart and turned around. We went to the Lathrop Canyon turn off and decided to turn around and head up to Horsethief campground for the night.
Campsite the next morning at Horsethief...
After White Rim took a good part of our day, I told my wife we would spend the next day hanging out and fishing.
Lesson #2- Don't tell the wife something you're not sure will happen.
We woke up the next morning and headed to Ken's Lake right outside of Moab. The plan after some research was to go up and hang out at the waterfall for a bit, run Steelbender (which was supposed to be ten miles and end at the city limits of Moab), and come back to set up camp at Ken's Lake by 6:00p.m. Yeah right!
Lesson #3- Make sure your supplies are plentiful. We didn't have a problem with this one, considering we had our three year old and our dog with us, we pack like normal paranoid parents.
Waterfall...
Steelbender...
GAME OVER!!!
This obstacle, known as "The Wall" had four foot ledges and a nice steep drop off on the approach side. I gave it a half-heartedattempt, but once I started slipping off to the side, I admitted defeat and went back the other way. The worst part of it was that that obstacle was the last one before the end of the trail. Unfortunately going over it was impossible and there was no way around it.
We headed back to the way we came so we could set up camp in the dark. The trail proved to be a little bit more difficult this way but the TB handled it well for the most part. That was until 9:40p.m. Going down a steep section of the trail, 3/4 of a mile from the end, I got to far to the inside, caught a rock, and snapped my lower ball joint.
Lesson #4- Carry as many of the little parts as possible. You may not think you'll ever need them, but someday you will.
We made the decision to sleep in the truck for the night and start out walking in the morning. We left the next morning toward Moab with absolutely no idea how we were going to get the truck, but assumed there would be someone who could tell us.
Lesson #5-Bring more water than you ever think you'll use.
We walked from 3/4 of a mile into Steelbender to the nearest gas station. It ended up being somewhere between 8-10 miles. Needless to say, a backpack full of water, a three year old that was done walking after a mile, and a dog was quite the experience. We got to Nation's Towing in Moab where they got one of their guy's who had a buggy on 42's to go out and fix the TB in the field. Two hours and $525 later the TB was moving again.
A big thanks goes out to Nation's Towing for there helpfulness. If anyone is ever in a bind in the area, I would highly recommend them.
Hope you all enjoy and take some of these lessons with you next time you're out, whether far or close to home.
I already carry a UCA because Greg broke one once while I wasn't carrying a spare, and AAA had to tow him 100 miles to my house to fix it. (Or I would have had a 200 mile round trip to go get it, which I would have done gladly because he did a 200 mile round trip for a tie rod end for me once. 
And the LBJ! I'm with Bill... nervous now.
