First Drive-about, the long way to IKEA

The round about way to IKEA

Took my first drive last weekend. Wanted to see a little of the 'nearby' area and figured I'd stop in at the IKEA in town since there was supposed to be a sale (Up to 80% off!!!).

Headed up to the mountains east of Jeddah past the university, which was apparently built on a wadi because no one was living there. There was a reason for that, it floods sometimes. I guess there was some damage to classrooms, labs and the computer center. Might have been a good idea to consult with the locals first. Funny thing I noticed in some of the tent cities where I can only imagine some poor expats living in, occasionally I'd see a satellite dish by one of the tents. Internet? Phone booth? IDK. The tents are large and black, I can't imagine wanting to spend any time in one of those.

It was a nice drive up to Usfan. I didn't really stop and see much because I was just scouting out the area, but, as with many other cities there was a statue to identify where you were. (Many roundabouts have some sort of statue like a camel in the north end of Jeddah or a fruit boat which is near where I am.) 

Usfan

Drove down the road towards Mecca. Interesting little road, paved but not smooth. It was how I imagine a road would feel if the blacktop were placed by hand (shovel) and then compacted with a roller. The speed limit for cars was 140 KPH which is about 87 MPH. I was trying to keep up but there were still cars passing me.

All this is in what I would call a high desert, really dry and a huge flat between the first range of mountains and the next one. Large clouds of sand as it was very windy. Odd to see obvious living quarters/farms/ranches way out in the desert away from the road. Quite a few camels, sheep and probably some goats. There was actually vegetation growing out here, grasses and such.

It is dry here.

Then I headed back towards Jeddah past the Eastern Forest which is up in the mountains. I'll have to go back to get pictures since there are no underpasses (or over passes on these roads so it is difficult to get from one side to another now that the u-turn places are blocked off. Suffice to say it was very green and there were trees.

It is about 1-2 miles back to the hills.

Ended up in downtown Jeddah at the IKEA, some prices were good, some were not so good. I picked up a small wall clock for less than $2 and a couple coffee mugs for about the same price. It was a little odd but I had to have the meatball meal - $10 including dessert. 

Did I mention that gas has gotten a little expensive here? It is $1.514 per gallon! But that is 91 octane not the 95 octane, of course that would be high test in the U.S. Fortunately, if I get a receipt and turn it in with the mileage, the company reimburses me for that expense. It's something at least.