Benchichs Abroad! Our Arabian Adventure: Another Trip to the Beach

This weekend we went to the Company-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named Beach. It's only about 20 minutes away from our house, so we just spontaneously jumped into the car and went. We went on a Friday morning, which is like Sunday morning, and we were the ONLY people there. The boys had a ball, and they spent most of the time on the enormous playground. Then we spent some time walking on the shore, but the water in the Persian Gulf was too cold to get in. It was great family time! Here are some highlights from our trip:

All of these pictures are worth clicking on to make them bigger!

The details are hard to see in these little thumbnails.

Environment immediately off-camp. Lots of power lines and garbage all around.

Also immediately off-camp. More trash.

Trash again. Keep your eyes peeled for camels!

Camels! A lot! Do you see them?

This is the interstate we take to get from our compound to the beach. We are going about 70 mph. Yes, that is a car going the wrong way on the interstate. Coming toward us at roughly 70 mph. Mike was in the right lane, but he got over to the left lane to avoid this dimwit. This is why we need to get a giant tank of a car!

This is my favorite part of the drive. It's just so incredibly FLAT! Flat, flat, sandy desert. There's nothing here. The reason it's my favorite is that you can really tell just by looking that this used to be the sea floor. It looks like a sea floor! It's really easy to imagine the ocean above us. Think of all the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous fish that swam right here, only just above our heads.

Definitely zoom in on this one! It's worth it! Read at least to #10. (The blue blocks are where I blurred out the company name.)

One of the many playgrounds at the beach.

Lots of beautiful jellyfish on the shore that day. Everett's refrain was "Mama, is that a jellyfish?" "Yes." "Is it dead?" "Yes." "Mama, is that one a jellyfish?" "Yes." "Is it dead?" "Yes." Repeat 250 times.