Day at the Beach

Yesterday, we went to the beach!  We were invited by a couple that have a car and followed some Exxon friends whose driver knew the way to the beach.  (Our friend who was driving said that it is always best to have someone show you the way the first time.  One time, he was given directions to go somewhere in KSA and the final turn off the highway was to turn off when you saw a post with a goats head on top.)  I am not sure of the spelling, but I think perhaps, it is called Al Hassi Beach.  It was about a 1 1/2 hour drive to it.  On the drive, the Red Sea was to our left and the mountains/hills in the distance on the right. 

It was a nice drive.  We saw groups of camels just hanging out in the desert.  :)  There was a caution Camel Crossing sign, with a picture of a camel.  I wish that I had gotten a picture of that.  But really, I see these things in a flash as we are driving on the highway.  Our friend was driving when the instrument panel started beeping.  I thought "Oh no, we are running out of gas."  But it turns out that all of the vehicles sold in KSA have an alarm installed, so that when you venture over 120 kilometers per hour (which is about 75 mph), the alarm activates to remind you to slow down.  :) 

 

There are certain beaches where Westerners can go and the ladies do not have to wear the abayas.  But if you get to the beach and Saudis are already there, then you either leave or wear the abaya or Aqua abaya to go swimming.  Also, this one has a Coast Guard station, and our guys hop out and give the soldier your passports or iquamas (long term visas).  They hold onto them until you leave.  And they watch over things.  They carry machine guns.  When we were leaving, we drove from the beach up to the station on a small cliff and the guys hopped out to retrieve the passports.  I decided that I would get one last picture.  There was a cute little row boat anchored on the water.  It looked so pretty on the aqua blue water with the mountains in the back.  I had my abaya back on.  But as the guys were walking up the office, they saw a soldier, frantically waving from downhill at another office.  The guys thought that he was yelling at me not to take the picture.  I thought well OK, but I was just going to take a picture of the beach, not the Coast Guard station.  But whatever...  and I got back in the car with no picture.  But then when no one was at the office that they had walked to, we drove down to the other office where the guard was waving and realized that he was just probably frantically waving to tell them that no one was at that office, to come downhill, NOT telling me not to take pictures.  :) 

 

Here is a picture of the beach, with the mountains in the background.  Unfortunately, the gorgeous aqua color did not come out in the picture.  It is a beautiful aqua color from the beach out to the reef and then from there on, a dark topaz.

 

This following picture might be better.

Here is my cutie pie in the Red Sea!  I still can't believe that we are here!  We went snorkeling.  There is coral and lots of pretty fish swimming around the coral.

I asked the driver to take a group picture of our friends and us.

On a different note, I have been trying to find fabric to make a canopy for an outdoor swing.  Ken bought this cute swing for our upstairs patio from a family that was moving back to the States.  It is missing the canopy, which would be fine, but the birds discovered the central bar and must sit there all day pooping on the swing.  I can't seem to find outdoor fabric.  A friend suggested that I get a cheap rug from the grocery store.  It would cover it and would be heavy enough not to blow away in the winds.  So, we got one.  Ken was concerned that the birds would just sit up there and poop on the top of the carpet and we wouldn't be able to clean it easily.  So...we got a cheap plastic tablecloth to attach to the top that we can remove on a regular basis and throw it away and put a new one on.  Well, now, we look like the Beverly Hillbillies, or for younger readers who would never have seen that old TV show, maybe, it looks trailer park chic.  Back home, our community association would have had a note on the door the next day.  Here, so far so good.  Here is a picture of Ken and Chris in the swing in their weekly cigar smoking session. :)  I will probably bring some outdoor fabric back here next time that I go back home.