We arrived at the Wadi Rum Visitor Center in the afternoon and were greeted by Nayel, Obeid’s oldest son. He took us in his truck to their traditional Bedouin camp out in the desert, where we would stay for 24 hours experiencing Bedouin life and saturating our clothes and skin in camp fire smoke. Upon arrival at the camp, we dropped our bags in a large sleeping tent. Sweet tea in little cups was served by Salem (the younger brother, cook, and musician) in the main living tent while we waited for the camels to arrive. Lots of laughs were had as we did a loop through the desert for an hour. Such silly animals!  We watched the sunset from a large sand dune across the valley that was perfect for throwing yourself off of. Dinner was unburied from the sand pit that it had cooked in all afternoon… delicious chicken, rice, roasted vegetables added to spreads, salads, pita, and more sweet tea. The evening carried on around the indoor fire with some music, darbuka (Bedouin drum) lessons, visiting, laughing, a bit of hookah later that night, and more sweet tea. It was really cold, but we all slept great under 5 heavy blankets each. We spent the next day driving around the desert in the backs of 2 trucks; kids in one and adults in the other. Wadi Rum, part of an ancient route called The King’s Road, was among others, used by the Nabatean Tradesman. Yup, those same guys who bought Joseph for a good deal and sold him to Egypt. Lawrence of Arabia also spent a lot of time in the Wadi during the Arab Revolt. The desert floor is broken up with large sand-stone mountains. Imagine Glenn Canyon before they built the dam, filled it with water, and called it Lake Powell. Stunning! We could have easily spent many more days there exploring. The only thing missing at the dunes was a snowboard. Next time!