Hi Judi,
The only comment I have is about the area of Arches.
Arches is one of my favorite National Parks.
While there, you are only a few miles from Canyonlands. Plan a full day there renting a Jeep Wrangler (early morning to late night) from Farabees in Moab, enter the canyon thru Potash, see Musselman Arch (I dare you to walk across it) drive down to the Colorado River (don't chicken out), then up the switchback mining road. Once out of the canyon, tour the rim road and get to Pucker Pass and drive through it too.
Do NOT take your own vehicle because it will have permenent rattles and squeeks after that excursion. Farabees has a map of exactly what I am talking about. Call them for prices on renting a Wrangler and about the Jeep trail I mentioned. Do NOT rent from any of the other Jeep rental outfits around because they rent old tired Jeeps. Farabees rents brand new Wranglers and in the end the price is the same. Unlike the others, you can return Farabees Jeeps dirty and after hours. Given you will be there in summer, you might consider an enclosed Jeep with a/c. Arches, Canyonlands, and Moab are about 5 minutes away from eachother.
That one Adventure Anywhere pic of our PC with little red car parked next to it in the canyon with Irene sitting in a lawn chair, the canyon wall across the water is Arches, but we were camping in a BLM campground across the street from the trailhead to the 3rd largest arch (maybe called a natural bridge) in the USA called Morning Glory. That hike requires lots of drinking water though relatively flat. We ran short of water and suffered in September. The BLM campground was 5-10 minutes outside of Moab but in another direction of Arches & Canyonlands.
If you can swing your visit to the area in middle of September, you will enjoy the experience so much better due to lack of heat. That also allows for a top-down experience with the Wrangler.
If you come back from your vacation and post that you did not rent a Farabees Jeep Wrangler and go down into Canyonlands, I will be so very disappointed. People of all ages and back grounds drive that trail so don't ever think you are too old or inexperienced for it. Anyone who is only a little daring can do it safely. Aside from the adventure, the scenery is some of the best jaw dropping in the entire region. Unlike most canyons, that one is best seen from inside on the middle plateau.
It is a full day adventure, but you won't burn but a 1/2 tank of gas, so don't worry about that at all.
Adding:
About your time in Arches, it's a small park, but much to enjoy. If pressed hard for time, you MUST hike through The entire Windows section, hike to Delicate Arch, and also the loop trail with Dark Angel. You don't have to hike all the way to Dark Angel but take that loop trail. The three hikes I mentioned covers the cream of the crop. But if you have the time, don't pass up the others including the Firey Furnace ranger guided hike as Sue mentioned below. One afternoon we drove our tow vehicle down the rough road along with a moderate hike to tower arch. We really enjoyed that.
As I mentioned earlier, we enjoyed camping in the area in a BLM on the Colorado River, but there are a number of RV parks close by in Moab, minutes from Arches. Camping in Arches is ideal to me, but is in high demand. Given our flexible trip schedule, making reservations 9 months in advance doesn't work for us.
