Hatta Fort in the Hajar Mountains

This weekend, for a completely different change of pace, we headed to the mountains.  After the desolate beauty of the Empty Quarter, I was expecting something more lush and vibrant.  The mountains were not it...but the hotel grounds certainly were.

Kim rented a car to drive there.  It was his first experience driving since last November, so he was a little nervous....to put it mildly.  I had the "con" for navigation!  We only had 1 glitch:  the road we were supposed to take was closed due to construction, but there was no sign.  We found out by stopping for gas, where the guy told us to take the next road that cut through.  That road was totally deserted...except for some camels heading the opposite direction from us!

The "oncoming traffic"

Curious little guys

Hatta Fort Round-about

We stayed at the Hatta Fort Hotel.  The rooms were in separate little chalets, quite lovely.  There were 2 pools:  1 for adults, and 1 for children (that's right up your alley, Steph!).

Chalets:  The patios overlooked the mountains, and we ended both evenings with just some quiet time sitting out on the patio

Hotel room
  All the staff were so friendly and nice, it almost felt as if we were back in Sri Lanka!

Adult Pool with Mountain Views

Rock Pool where all the action was

Pool Waterfall....our own massage parlor....

This was our walk up the small hill in front of the hotel.  There was a great breeze and view from the top.  We considered taking a meal up there for the second night.

Garden Chess

Camel Rides through the hotel grounds

First night's sunset

Saw this Friday morning at sunrise.  A husband and wife in Kandoora and Abaya were having their morning walk up the hill, and it just looked so natural to see them there.

This peacock was part of the menagerie on the hotel grounds.  I liked this view of him with the mountains in the background.

This one's trying to impress his lady....

Heather and Cory decide to ride a camel, but the tree was a little close!

Coming back down....hold on!!

Smile for the camera!

Oh, he is a sweetie!

This was right before he burped on me....HOW RUDE!!!

Second night's sunset from the hillside

Father and Daughter

Sunset

Still sunset....We loved sitting around on all the comfy grass!!

On our last day, Cory and Kim decided to drive to the Wadi and do some exploring.  They checked out the Wadi and the Hatta Dam.

Cory and Kim -- heading into the Hatta Pools Wadi

View from the Hatta Dam

This was definitely another relaxing weekend away from school with Heather and Cory.  The total travel time involved was less than 1 1/2 hours from our home!  I had my final "official" observation at school on Sunday, so it was nice to not think about that all weekend.  Looking forward to our next adventure.....