Camping Saudi Style

I really should finish blogging about Christmas, but I don't want to forget this great memory.  This past weekend we did our first Saudi camping trip.  We do a lot of camping back home and have been missing it so much.  We camped about 75 minutes north of our home in a place called Rabigh.  Rabigh is known for its Oil Refineries.  You can see lots of them as you drive past the town.  Once in Rabigh you follow the main road to the beach and then you drive on the sand for quite awhile. 

You will see the occasional fisherman and sometimes the Coast Guard is driving around but usually no one else can be seen.  I was able to take off my Abaya and camp the way we do at home.  Now, I get a lot of Abaya questions when I am home.  Remember, I only wear the Abaya if I leave our bubble (compound).  I probably only wear it once a month.

I don't know if we could get much better camping conditions.  The weather is perfect right now.  We slept in our tent with the rain fly off so we could star gaze.  Jupiter hung in the sky above us most of the night and it was so peaceful listening to the waves.  In the morning the water was so flat.  Not a ripple anywhere.  We put on our snorkel gear and headed out to the reef.  This reef is incredible.  You swim along in the shallow water and then you hit the wall.  You can see the bottom but it is deep!  So many different things to see!  I just loved every moment of it.  However, we live in one of the hottest places in the world but right now the water is cold!  I wish I new the temp but it takes awhile to get in.  I think I might need to wear my wetsuit next time.  Maybe I am acclimating, or a wimp, or it is just plain cold!  Who knows but I was freezing!

This type of car is common on the sides of the road.  I am sure it still runs. 

This is the back roads of Rabigh.  Probably not the nicest part of town but the only way to get to the beach.

Each Mosque has speakers so everyone can hear the Call to Prayer.

We were racing the sun to get to our camp spot. 

Our tent is the first one in the line up.  We must have had about 10 tents.  It was great to camp with so many friends.

It was a little chilly when we woke up.  We don't often wear this type of clothing in Saudi.  Go Hawks!

We finally got to use our grill!  We have had it for about 2 years.  It worked well!  Bryan is making pancakes.

Cameron is usually a snorkeling machine, but the water was just a little too cold.

Can you find the Lion Fish?  Very dangerous!

We tried to do a family picture.  Carter stayed on the shore and played with hermit crabs.  He just doesn't like cold things anymore.

I love these blue clams!  The can get quite large.  If you look closely you can see the feeding hole.

This reef is full of these types of passages.  I really wish I had my scuba tank. 

The kids worked on this huge hermit crab fortress.  It had a hospital, restaurant, and of course a time out room.  What is with that?  Most of the crabs were in time out.  The kids must of played for a few hours. 

Our friend Sam built a toilet.  He dug a huge hole and gave it a nice view of the water.  I loved the toilet!  It was quite relaxing looking out to the see while you sat.

 

Now, I will always remember where I was when 911 happened, when Princess Diana died, when the Space Shuttle blew up, and now I will remember when King Abduallah died.  We were snorkeling on the reef when we heard this news.  It is a pretty big deal for us since we work at one of his biggest creations.  Our place is named after him and it was his vision to have a university with the top minds of the world working on ways to sustain life in the future.  There are some pretty amazing things happening here.  We feel so lucky to be given this opportunity to work here and may King Abdullah rest in peace.