We had been talking about doing something fun and unique with some money we were given for Christmas. And we were looking at an "Inland Sea" adventure where they take you dune bashing and then there's dinner and activities. But we weren't sure about going alone. That didn't seem like much fun. But then a neighbor, whose parents were visiting, invited us to go with them on this same adventure. So we went.
The driver came promptly at 2 pm. He was Palestinian and had been dune bashing for about 10 years. He drove us south for about an hour with three other car loads of families from Steve's work and a few other people following us. Both Big E and Miss A were with us and neither fell asleep until just before we pulled off the road, which is unusual. Miss A is usually out quickly when she's tired an in the car.
In order to go dune bashing you have to let some air out of the tires, otherwise you're more likely to get stuck. So we stopped to deflate the tires some and stretch. And then we were off. I was a bit nervous as I wasn't quite sure what to expect or how rough it would be. It turned out to be quite smooth for almost the entire trip. Big E woke up shortly after we began. He was so funny to watch. His eyes were wide in wonder and he said, "This is fun!" I, on the other hand, was just about scared out of my mind for the first 10 minutes.
We drove along the ridge of some high dunes, then we'd drive straight down, but we'd go at an angle an almost slide down the dune. There were times when I was sure the car was going to roll and all I could think was, "Oh crap, oh crap" especially when we'd drive up so that all you could see out the front window was sky and then we'd go over the top and drive down. I don't like "crap", to me it's rude, but that was honestly what was going through my mind. After a while I got used to how the car would handle things and it wasn't so bad.
Our driver was the lead driver and all the other drivers were to follow him. But at one point one of the other drivers didn't quite follow and got stuck. So we tried to get up to were he was to pull him down, but we couldn't get up there, so another driver went up and got there and pulled the other car down.
It was fun, and I'd do it again, but with a driver. I'm not about to do it with Steve driving, and I certainly will never drive on a dune myself. That was worth the cost.
Here's the car that got stuck and the other car rescuing them.
That's one of the dunes we drove down, but not the biggest.
We stopped twice during the dune bashing for pictures and such.
This was the second time we stopped. See those mountains in the distance behind me? That's Saudi Arabia. And this is the closest I'll ever be to that country.
After an hour of dune bashing and driving about as far south as we could so that we saw Saudi Arabia and Steve even received welcoming texts from their phone service letting him know the rates, we drove back up to where the company has a camp set up on the beach. There were tents for us to lounge in with traditional seats/cushions. They had a camel you could ride, of course you had to pay QR25 more to ride the camel, but that was worth it to me. There was a snow board that you could ride down a dune, beach volley ball, and tables for us to eat dinner.
Big E, when he first saw the camels, asked if he could ride one. But then he heard one grunt and lost interest. I had to hold on with both hands when the camel stood up and sat back down, so Miss A didn't go with me. But she was glad to have me back.
Dinner was good. There was of course hummus and other dips that were so good. They made the bread (kinda like pita, but more like naan) right there in a open oven. The guy slapped the dough ball between his hands. When is was the right size, he put it on a cushion type things and stuck it to the wall of the oven. When it was done, he pulled it out using two metal poles. We ate dinner at tables that were low to the ground and sat on cushions.
Here you can see the tents. The one on the right was the food tent, the others were the tents for us to sit in. The dinner tables are in the center.
Big E loved being with his friends. The other kids were the kids that I watch every day, so Big E plays with the all the time. One in particular is a good friend and they enjoyed making sand angels and running around.
Miss A handled everything quite well. I'm actually quite surprised how well she did. She got a little fussy at the end of the dune bashing, but that was it. And I think that was more related to how long she'd been in her car seat than anything. During dinner and afterwards she had no problem wandering away from Steve and me (which is almost unheard of, she never leaves us outside of our house and park). She loved crawling in the soft sand, and even got to where she could walk on it.
Here's Steve's account of the day.
So if we ever get visitors, we'll go on this again.
The driver came promptly at 2 pm. He was Palestinian and had been dune bashing for about 10 years. He drove us south for about an hour with three other car loads of families from Steve's work and a few other people following us. Both Big E and Miss A were with us and neither fell asleep until just before we pulled off the road, which is unusual. Miss A is usually out quickly when she's tired an in the car.
In order to go dune bashing you have to let some air out of the tires, otherwise you're more likely to get stuck. So we stopped to deflate the tires some and stretch. And then we were off. I was a bit nervous as I wasn't quite sure what to expect or how rough it would be. It turned out to be quite smooth for almost the entire trip. Big E woke up shortly after we began. He was so funny to watch. His eyes were wide in wonder and he said, "This is fun!" I, on the other hand, was just about scared out of my mind for the first 10 minutes.
We drove along the ridge of some high dunes, then we'd drive straight down, but we'd go at an angle an almost slide down the dune. There were times when I was sure the car was going to roll and all I could think was, "Oh crap, oh crap" especially when we'd drive up so that all you could see out the front window was sky and then we'd go over the top and drive down. I don't like "crap", to me it's rude, but that was honestly what was going through my mind. After a while I got used to how the car would handle things and it wasn't so bad.
Our driver was the lead driver and all the other drivers were to follow him. But at one point one of the other drivers didn't quite follow and got stuck. So we tried to get up to were he was to pull him down, but we couldn't get up there, so another driver went up and got there and pulled the other car down.
It was fun, and I'd do it again, but with a driver. I'm not about to do it with Steve driving, and I certainly will never drive on a dune myself. That was worth the cost.
Here's the car that got stuck and the other car rescuing them.
That's one of the dunes we drove down, but not the biggest.
We stopped twice during the dune bashing for pictures and such.
This was the second time we stopped. See those mountains in the distance behind me? That's Saudi Arabia. And this is the closest I'll ever be to that country.
After an hour of dune bashing and driving about as far south as we could so that we saw Saudi Arabia and Steve even received welcoming texts from their phone service letting him know the rates, we drove back up to where the company has a camp set up on the beach. There were tents for us to lounge in with traditional seats/cushions. They had a camel you could ride, of course you had to pay QR25 more to ride the camel, but that was worth it to me. There was a snow board that you could ride down a dune, beach volley ball, and tables for us to eat dinner.
Here you can see the tents. The one on the right was the food tent, the others were the tents for us to sit in. The dinner tables are in the center.
Big E loved being with his friends. The other kids were the kids that I watch every day, so Big E plays with the all the time. One in particular is a good friend and they enjoyed making sand angels and running around.
Miss A handled everything quite well. I'm actually quite surprised how well she did. She got a little fussy at the end of the dune bashing, but that was it. And I think that was more related to how long she'd been in her car seat than anything. During dinner and afterwards she had no problem wandering away from Steve and me (which is almost unheard of, she never leaves us outside of our house and park). She loved crawling in the soft sand, and even got to where she could walk on it.
Here's Steve's account of the day.
So if we ever get visitors, we'll go on this again.
1 comment:
It sound to me like "oh, crap" was just about the perfect phrase for that moment!
Post a Comment