Just catching up: Two weekends ago we went with a group of ex-pats on a desert adventure. We loaded into five SUVs and headed south along the Persian Gulf to the sand dunes. You stop at the edge and let air out of the tires for traction, then head up over the dunes. It is a spectacular area, very desolate and difficult to navigate. Our destination was the inland sea that borders Saudi Arabia; you can actually see across the water to a Saudi border station. We set up camp and grilled food, swam in the sea, generally enjoyed a "day at the beach." Great fun with interesting people. One of the drivers, though, discovered that he could not get his SUV into four wheel drive, very bad news. On the way back we were doing ok until we hit one dune with extraordinarily fine sand. The disabled SUV got stuck. Another tried to pass on the high side of the dune and got stuck. A third ( a Hummer no less) got stuck trying to pull the first one out. So three of the five vehicles are stuck in the sand and it is clear that the other two cannot pull them out. So, we dig out the wheels, push and push, get them a little ways out, they get stuck again. We repeat the procedure over and over. About an hour and a half later (and it's damn hot out there) we finally get all three out. There were a lot of tired people that night, but what a great time.