Our Own Sand Rose Adventure

About one hour north of us is a turnoff which takes you by a garbage dump. Once you pass through this foul area you hit open desert. Here we paused to let a little air out of the tires and put the car in 4 wheel drive. At first the sand was REALLY soft but we also went through rocky places and semi firm. Within about a 15 minute bumpy drive we arrived where the desert roses bloom.

Minutes after parking we had an unexpected guest. He got super close!

He was right there among us. He walked around our camp for a few minutes then headed off. At one point he started calling to all his friends and they started heading our way. The kids were getting a little frightened that the whole herd would come but they veered off before coming too close.

It was a WINDY day! The sand was blowing hard but the skies still seemed somewhat clear. The sand stung our legs as it whipped by. It gave us all a good buffing.

Each car load picked a spot and started digging. The entire area was littered with sand roses that either previous diggers had tossed aside or had risen to the surface on their own. I did gather some of those but mostly I wanted some of our very own found treasure.

As usual Graham was a trooper. The wind was really bad at his level but he didn't complain and just got busy with his own digging.

We all took turns and it didn't take long before we started finding the roses. They were really caked with sand so we didn't know if it was a dud or a beautiful bloom until we rinsed it off. We just put everything we dug up in a pile and at the end were pleasantly surprised, after a quick rinse, with what we found because at first they really didn't look like much.

As lunch time approach the wind became stronger. It started to get difficult to do anything much more then spit out dust and sand. We all decided to pack it in and take our treasures home. We filled our holes back in as we didn't want anyone's prize camels falling in. I would have taken more pictures but at one point I set Chris' new camera down on a chair and the wind blew it over dumping the camera into the sand. It hasn't worked properly since.

Upon arriving home the sand roses weren't the only thing that needed a good rinsing. We had sand in every crack and crevice. After showering there was a small beach in the tub. That windy morning turned into the worst shamal (sand storm) we've had this spring. The entire family has been suffering respiratory ailments since that morning adventure.

Now that I have a decent collection we don't have to go back for a while. At least not until next fall when it cools back down. We have had wonderful weather until last Sat. All of the sudden it went from upper 80's to 100. Ugh! The evenings are still very pleasant...thankfully.