Friday, September 28, 2012

Stoked!

One of my favorite things about South Africa were these carbonated juice drinks called Appletizer and Grapetizer. They are super delicious and very thirst quinching. After our trip I looked everywhere for them. I even went so far as to see if I could order them online through Amazon. No such luck. =(  But...yesterday Jordan found them at the grocery store. We were walking down the aisle and I was a a few feet ahead of him, but when I turned around to see what he was up to,  he was holding up a bottle of this!


I was stoked! Who would have ever thought we'd find these in Saudi Arabia. The best part? They are about 50 cents. They also have a new flavor...Pomegranate. 
Now I'm well stocked with my favorite carbonated drink.
What a good weekend!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The Edge of the World


Last weekend we headed out into the desert with two other couples.  Driving in a convoy is preferred when heading out in the desert, especially since we almost got stuck countless times. We drove two hours northwest of the city to "The Edge of the World".  The drive consisted of  an hour on highway and an hour in the desert.  The desert drive consisted of dirt (hard packed sand) roads and dried river  beds which was either made of deep sand or deep rock gravel. The river bed is where things could get tricky. When driving in sand you can't go to slow, but you can't go too fast. Jordan was usually in the back of the convoy, so he had an even tougher job of trying to keep his speed up when cars in front would slow. There was one occasion that we slowed so much that we got stuck. Luckily, Jordan is a master driver and he was able to reverse enough that we could get the car slowly moving again. I of course put my body movement into and would like to say that I helped by rocking the car forward. =) 

After a 'stressful' (I was stressed, Jordan was thoroughly enjoying his 4wheeling experience) desert drive we arrived at our destination...The Edge of the World.  It is a massive escarpment with a thousand foot sheer drop. What makes the formation possible is a metamorphic layer of an old sea floor containing coral and shellfish fossils. It was an amazing sight with views that stretched tens of miles. 


Conferring directions before heading out into the vast desert
Here We go...


Camel sighting





Desert watermelons? Not sure, but
we cut one open and it smells like watermelon

The desert isn't just sand


Camel Crossing




Mama and her baby
We made it....The Edge of the World


The final stretch of road that we came in on

Fossils

Looking at fossils and coral

WOW...that's a long way down

Jordan at the Edge of the World...good thing he didn't fall off!



The Arabian Desert

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Riyadh Road Runners

Riyadh has a running group known as Riyadh Road Runners. They race every couple weeks with a variety of runs ranging from 5k's to marathons. Jordan skipped the first race due to it taking place at 4pm in the 110 degree heat. His first race was a 5 mile run on Friday at 8am...a more realistic time, but still hot by the start. When we left the house at 7am, the temp was 29 degrees Celsius (85 degrees F), but quickly raised to 33 degrees (92 degrees F) by the end of the race. The race was ran on a nearby compound. This compound was pretty small, so the 5 mile race consisted of running 5 1/2 laps around the compound. 
And it begins...



Checking his time at the 3 mile marker
Finishing strong, but exhausted from the heat

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Historical Diriyah

Last weekend, we headed out beyond Riyadh city limits to see the old town of Diriyah; the original home to the Saudi royal family and capital of the first Saudi dynasty. Most of the city was closed due to restoration, but we were still able to explore some of the ruins that weren't closed. This area is also known for their date farms.  
driving into Diriyah
Old city ruins.
Most was left to our imaginations, but we were able to
recognize house foundations, a few  building walls, the city wall, and possibly a
mosque tower

Jordan and Mark exploring

Date Palm farm


Jordan inside what we believe to be the mosque tower




HOT and DRY




Date Palms

not quite ripe

exiting the ruins

Jordan trying to get a better view.
We happened upon some abandoned houses in
the "new" city of Diriyah
Checking out the abandoned neighborhood.
The houses were old, but had been updated with electricity



On top of Diriyah city wall