Rain in the Desert?

Don and I decided to do a little local exploring over the weekend. We got into the car and headed down the highway. There is a road that is cut into the side of one of the tall mountains not far from our house. You can actually see the zig-zag of the road up the side of the mountain as it makes its way to cross over it. It has always intrigued us, so we decided to see where the road went. 

If you look closely, you can see the zig-zag on the front of the center mountain.

As we climbed higher, we could see all the way to the ocean and in the valley below the city of Muscat.

It is usually hazy in Muscat, obscuring clear views of the ocean. But today, a different kind of haze is in the air: rain clouds with actual rain. This is an uncommon occurrence in the area. It was preceded by a fierce wind that swept up the sand. The sand is very fine; it reminded me of how snow blows across the road to make drifts in a snow storm.

We drove on, into the rain. We had no choice--there was no place to turn around on the road as it crossed over the mountains! We had to drive to the next town at the end of the road before there was an actual place (a roundabout!) in which to turn around in.

Do you see a similarity in the building styles from both sides of the mountain? Buildings are
built virtually in the same style with few changes. I guess it's a case of "if it works, don't fix it!"

I just HAD to take a picture of the sidewalk with raindrops on it. You are
thinking I've lost my mind, but since this doesn't happen too often
in this part of the world, I wanted documented proof!

It continued to rain and thunder all afternoon and into the evening. There were a few sand "puddles" around town the next day, and our car looked like it had been sprayed with miniature muddy sand balls!

The last shots of our day trip are from scenes I've shown you before on a sunny day. We got  stuck in a bad traffic jam, and detoured back on Romance Road by the sea to get back home. Only this time, it was raining, lightening and thundering. People were still on the beach, wading, swimming in the water, and walking on the seawall, even as massive lightening bolts were striking from cloud to ground!

Indians playing game of cricket in an empty lot; rain or no rain, it's their day off!

I guess nobody's mother told them not to play outside when it's lightening........

My next few blogs will be from sights around Turkey, where we are headed tomorrow during the Muslim holiday of Eid. Be watching for it!