Off-roading





 Went off-roading a couple of weekends ago.  We had a great day, although a bit scary!  We rode the dunes and then headed to the desert outside of Dubai for a meal under the stars.  There was belly-dancing, music, fun, and laughter.  This was the first weekend I felt that I had really experienced a weekend (not trying to accomplish a list of chores to get paperwork completed or an apartment ready to move in).

Baby camel in the desert where we stopped the car.....we were lost.....had gotten separated from our other 2 cars.

Gives a whole new meaning to "Over the Hill..."

 Queen of the Desert

 About to ride the camel....then my camera died....

 Lynn and the Falcon....a new book title?

 The Expert

Belly Dancer

Settling In

Well, I have moved out of the Hilton Hotel (H3 for those in the know) and am now settled in my "flat."  I am on the fifth floor.  Each floor has 2 flats, serviced by 2 elevators.  The place is beginning to feel like home.  We were given money to help furnish it, so I have bought bedroom, living room, and kitchen furnishings.  I'm posting some pics on here so you can get an idea of how it feels.  The pictures cannot do justice to the size of the place.  The rooms are HUGE, with maybe 12-foot ceilings?  (Jumping up and down on my bed, I still cannot touch them!)  Hope this gives you an idea of what I've been doing in my "spare" time the last few weeks.  In between getting the flat furnished, I have been trying to get paperwork settled.  Still lots to do....and lots of stories to tell.  We've learned to laugh here a lot......so you don't cry from frustration.  Each story gets a little more bizarre!  I will work on catching up my blog slowly because school consumes a LOT of my time!

Outside view of Hili Apartments, where I now live....and where Kim will soon join me.....once I've done all the hard stuff....Is that what you're waiting on, Kim?  Ha-ha!  No, he's hard at work on the other place we live!!

This is the entry to our apartment--Building 7

Here's the view as you come in the front door.  The guard desk is on the left, and there are 2 elevators on the right.  We have a phone in our apartment to the guard to call for emergencies...and I think to see if people can come up.  Not sure about that yet!  You can also see steps through the other set of doors.  Then, there's a hall leading to the back of the building, which is where you pull up when you have things to carry up.

Here's the view as you get off the elevator.  That's our door on the left.  There is also another flat directly across the hall from us.  A young couple with a 1-year-old boy live there.  They've been sweet to help me out with being here to let the internet man inside and figure out my TV channels!  We also have a trash chute, which I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed.  Each time I fill a small bag, I just step out and drop it down the chute to the trash.  No more holding on to it until trash pick-up day!!

Here's what I thought was a King-sized bed.   I ordered it in the store, not realizing I needed a Super-King!!

This is the master bedroom, looking back toward the hall door.  You can see part of the big wardrobe on the right.  It's huge and still has about 4 feet of clearance to the ceiling.  (There are NO closets here!)

This is the view looking toward Oman from the bedroom balcony.  You can see the mountains in the distance.

This is a partial view of the master bath.  The commode and bidet (of course!) are behind the door.  There is not one single electrical outlet in the bathroom.....(Why would anyone need to use electric appliances like hair dryers in the bathroom?)  Ha-ha!  You should see me in the morning sitting on the floor of my bedroom trying to do my hair....with no mirror!!  I plan to fix that, of course!

This is bedroom #2.  Right now it's pretty empty except for some blinds.  Soon, it will hold the bed that is currently in the master bedroom.  (I thought I bought a King-sized bed, but here King-sized is what we consider Queen-size.)  I will purchase a Super-King bed and donate the other (very comfortable!) bed to our visitors.....Hope some of you will come see us!  :)

This is the 3rd bedroom and second bath.  You can't see much of the bath, but it's pretty nice!  The piece of furniture here is a shoe cabinet. (It's about as tall as I am.) I think it will eventually go near the front door to store shoes!  This room is dedicated to our clothes rack (no dryer here, so I put clothes in here to dry on the rack.)  It's behind the door.

This is the third bath, right off our front entry hall.  Again, it's hard to take pictures to show very much.  All the baths have bidets.  I currently use the bidet in the master bath to hold my laundry basket.  (One lady at the hotel told me she washed her clothes by hand in the bidet......great rinse action.....)

This is the hallway leading to the kitchen from the front door.  Not much going on here yet.

Here's one side of the kitchen.  You can see the washing machine and microwave.  We also have a small table for two, looking out over our view of the park area below....where it is quite fascinating to watch, especially at night as the people come out to congregate.  That has been my dinner-time entertainment for the past two nights.....as I ate my lonely meals....awwwww.......

Here's the entry way from the hall.  I love this piece of furniture.  Should have taken a better view of it.  It's black with red distressed areas.  Great storage!!!

The living room.....what can I say?  I needed some excitement after the dull, drab view in my hotel the past few weeks.  Red seemed to be calling my name....more like maroon, I guess.  The furniture is VERY comfortable.  I have enjoyed lying on the couch the past two nights and not listening to people partying outside my hotel room until 2 and 3 o-clock in the morning while I wondered how I would stay sane (and awake) through the next day!!!

This is the view of Oman from our living room balcony.  There is a street between us and Oman, but you don't see it in this picture.  This part of Oman looks quite lovely.  To get to our place (Hili), you go past the Industrial Area, which is not very attractive.  The border crossing is also just a short way down the road from us.  I plan to go there soon and investigate.....