Granny (aka Sara Bell) and Jackie Frazier made a trip to Dubai to visit the Bell Family. After spending all of their money in the gold souk (market) the day before (just kidding, Pop!) they decided they needed to do some "thrifty" sight-seeing, so a trip into the Arabian Desert was planned.

The duning trip covered four of the seven United Arab Emirates...Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah. Participants were three Brits...Chris (who brought lobster for lunch!) and friends visiting him, Charles and Claire: one New Zealander...Glen (the experienced "duner"): the Dubai Bells...Kenny, Allison, Josh and Jessica: and Granny Bell along with "Uncle" Jackie (according to Jessica). Souviners included sand, rocks and bruises (but they were worth it). Camel "do" was everywhere, but due to the odor none was taken. A good time was had by all. As you might expect, everyone slept well that night.

Following are photos:

	Here we stop for a breather at the dune affectionately known as 'Big Red' before heading off the highway.
	Our Tour Leader Glen from New Zealand takes us off into the desert. Wheels digging and sand flying.
	Here Chris Lenn (a real PHD, really) assumes the position and starts digging the Jeep out. He and we did this often.
	Granny calls this one the 'Hunch Back of the Arabian Desert' To me, it's a camel. He's showing us his teeth, so he's probably calling us something, too.
	We really took this photo dispite the trademark left in the sand by the boot-leg software used to get it out of the digital camera. Here Glen cruises through some of the 'easy' desert. Chris shows us another shot of the 'hard' desert next.
	Ok, whose fault was it this time? Should we use the shovel or the hocky stick? If we get it out, keep driving and don't stop,OK? And don't shift gears going up hill, either. No, the tow truck won't come here for a hundred dirhams, so just dig, OK?
	Jackie and Sara (Granny) waving from the top of a dune. That's before we went down the next hill....
	The Sheik Mobile heads down a big red dune. Not TOO steep. We did those later.
	Granny holds on to the 'Oh Shit' handle when we head down a dune. A popular thing to do with Kenny Driving.
	This guy just wasn't paying any attention to us. You can see how high he can reach by looking at the level of the bottom of the leaves in the tree.
	Our mission was to go through the dunes and reach a place called 'Fossil Rock' for lunch. We had so much fun digging Chris out and re-filling the over-heated Sheik Mobile that we were a tad late for lunch. Fossil rock is the prominent rock on the right hand side. We had to approach it from the back side. We never did quite make it up to the rock, but had a nice lunch in the shade of one of the rocks nearby anyway.
	Kenny scouts the terrain for a better way to get back to the black top. That or else this is just a good place for a good view.
	Granny taking a rest while everyone else digs. A good supervisor, she didn't let any of us leave a vehicle in the sand.
	The Sheik Mobile on level ground. Finally.
	Everyone stops at the Oasis to cool our feet. Story has it that the water is so deep that you can't touch bottom. Despite the heat of the day, Chis said it was too cold to try for the bottom.
	Jessica just being too cute in her mom's shirt.
	Aunt Jackie takes a break just before we head for home.
	A nice Mountain sunset at the end of the day on the trip home.

kbell@slb.com