Adventures in the Desert.

So, Satunday (Saturday that acts like a Saturday but is the second day (Sunday) of the weekend) we made the hour long drive out to the sand dunes at Fossil Rock.

But before we could leave, I had to give Mango his loves.

On our way out to Fossil Rock I won the licence plate game, AGAIN!!  It's hard to tell but the licence plate was in the 30's, low enough to be epic but not low enough to be royal family low.

And we saw more roadside camels.

As with all of the blog posts I've done so far, I did some research on where we were going.  I had a hard time finding information about Fossil Rock.  But what I did find was fascinating in its own right.

Look, they do have mountains!!  This isn't Fossil Rock, but it's part of the ranges around the area.

Fossil Rock is the nickname the mountain has been given.  The official name is Jebel Maleihah.  I tried to look up the meaning of that particular name, but came up with very little.  Jebel was easy to find a definition for, it means mountain.  The nearest thing I could find to Maleihah was an ancient village not too far away named, Maleiha.  Which I suppose it could have been named after, but I couldn't find any information on that.  I found the word Maliha which in Arabic means, mountain.  So, maybe Mountain Mountain?  I did find one reference where it said it could mean "The Salty One," and considering that millions of years ago this was all under water, that could make some sense.  I also found the name Malihah which is a female name and it means "With Beautiful Features."  So, there you go, pick whichever you like and run with it.  I'll stick with just calling it Fossil Rock as that is what everyone knows it by.  It is also known for its big dunes of Ruby-colored sand.

It is called Fossil Rock due to the abundance of marine fossils that can be found on the slopes.  Rich with fossils of shells and small sea creatures that were on the ocean floor millions of years ago.  Apparently millions of years ago, the UAE and Oman were under the Tethys Sea.  So it's possible that fossils found here are anywhere from 80 million years old to 500 million years old.

It is a favorite spot for the local dune buggy and 4 X 4 drivers, called, "dune bashers".  Instead of going "4 wheeling", you go "dune bashing."  Dune bashing is where the mettle of man and the power of machine is put against the rolling and treacherous dunes of Dubai in an entertaining manner........a roller coaster in the desert.

And it was the perfect day for some "dune bashing"

Geographically this area lays where desert sand meets the mountain rocks of the western Hajar mountain range that begins at Maleiha (Sharja) and continues onto the eastern coast of the UAE and Oman before they spill into the Gulf of Oman.

Not more than 985 feet high and 4,921 feet long with sand dunes as high as 164 feet.

We had quite the adventure in the sand.  I took lots of pictures and videos which I will post here as well.  We ate Schwarma for dinner and had a grand time.

We played at two different spots.  The first spot was up near the top of one of the sand dunes that had blown up against the mountain.  It was really windy and the sand was really hot.  We did some fossil hunting, then Aaron, the nephews, niece, and I went to do some more 4 wheeling while grandma and grandpa stayed behind to hold down the fort.  We found a much better place to set up camp so the kiddos and I stayed behind to explore while Aaron went and got mom, dad, and all of our stuff.

Four wheeling on the dunes!!

We HAD to find a hill big enough to go sledding down.

This is as close to the top as we could get.  I did some fossil hunting and found some really cool rocks.  I'm not sure if I found any fossils, but I found some cool rocks!!  And yes, I brought them home with me.  So if anyone lifted my bag and said, "what, do you have rocks in here?"  I could literally say, "Yes, yes I do."

The sand was so HOT!!

The nephews climbing the hill

 Can I just tell you how stinking hard it is to climb sand?!?!?!?!?

I started out on my feet.

Gave up halfway and went on my hands and knees.

But even that was a struggle

I DID IT!! I MADE IT TO THE TOP!!!

Now to slide down

 The view from atop the sand dune was breathtaking!!

Selfie on top of the sand dune time!!

 The sand was so AMAZING!!  It flowed like water and when you dug into it enough, it would make these really cool patterns.

The niece helping grandpa dig.

I got in on the digging action.

That is a LONG way down!!

 The pictures from here out are in our better camping spot.  It was shaded and protected from the wind by other, bigger dunes.  The sand was cool and so much fun to play in.  This is where the real fun began!!

While Aaron was gone getting mom, dad, and our stuff, I had my nephew take a picture of me like I was "lost and dying of thirst in the desert."

The gully or "wadi" that was right by our camp.  I thoroughly investigated every inch of it!!

 I had a slight bit of fun playing in the sand.  Climbing up the huge sand dune was tiring work.  What does one do when climbing up a huge sand dune and stops for a rest?  One makes silly videos, of course.  Yes, I know, I'm weird.  But I had tons of fun doing it.

Every now and then I amaze myself with some pretty cool shots.  This is from the bottom of the "wadi" looking up.  I even climbed this sucker!!  Well, crawled up it is more accurate.

The nephews took the easy way up.

Interesting sand patterns.

Again, sometimes I amaze myself.  I was about half way up the dune when I got this shot.

Hashtag: Half way up the sand dune selfie shot!!

WOO-HOO!! Queen of the sand dune!!  I made it to the top!!

The top of the dune looking down towards our camp.

This is the one sand dune that goes almost all the way to the top of the mountain.

I got sand EVERYWHERE!!

And after all that hiking, I naturally had to slide down the hill..

While everyone back home in Utah was in the middle of a blizzard, I went sledding........sand sledding.

And to stay in line with my theme, I also made a "sand angel"

Well, you can't see it all that well, but there's my sand angel.

 Alas, all good things must come to an end.  We had to pack up and head home before the sun set.  But I think I got some really nice sunset in the desert pictures.

Goodbye Fossil Rock!!  My mom and I "may" or "may not have" brought back 14 pounds of sand with us........

On the drive home from Fossil Rock, I TOTALLY WON THE LICENCE PLATE GAME!!!

This licence plate is from Saudi Arabia.  I have no idea if the people in this car are important or not, but I thought it was cool

But the WINNER of the night is this car right here.  You can't see it because it's so blurry, but the number on THIS CAR IS #16!!!!!  That means that who ever is in that car is PART OF THE ROYAL FAMILY!!  I was so excited that I even got a video of it that I will post.

Apparently I was quite filthy at the end of the day, so naturally, I had to get photo documentation of that......

Oh, and here is what I did with the sand that my mom and I "may" or "may not" have brought home with us......  I put some in small bottles that I put up on my mantle, but the majority of it went in here so I can play in it whenever I want to.  If I can't go to the beach, I'll bring the beach to me!!!!!

I took some pictures of all of the rocks I found and brought home.  Like I mentioned, I don't know if I found anything interesting or not.  Maybe someone who knows a thing or two about geology can give me some clues.  Before I put the pictures up, I did a little research on the Geology of the area.  As I mentioned, Fossil rock has an abundance of marine fossils from millions of years ago when the area was under the Tethys Sea.  The main type of fossils that you can find at Fossil Rock are Gastropods, which are more commonly known as snails or slugs.  Gastropods can be of various sizes and can live in the sea, fresh water, or on land.  The fossil history of this class goes all the way back to the late Cambrian (500 million years ago).  Gastropods are the largest group in the Phylum Mollusca.  So, there's that.  Some of these rocks would look really epic if they were to be polished.  Something I'll have to think on.

I completely enjoyed my adventures in the desert.  Tomorrow is the epic "Global World" traveling day......