Got up this morning and tried to call home on Skype, but Carolyn must have gone to sleep, so I decided to take a walk around the compound for about half an hour before breakfast. Well, the walk turmed into a 5 hour hike (about 12 miles) following the Aramco perimeter fence (I wasn't always right next to the fence, but I was near it for the whole hike. Hiked over to the sewage outflow lake and evaporation fields (well beyond basic treatment - they use it on the landscape - just not potable). At any rate, I added about 10 birds to my checklist and saw some of the same ducks that I see back home. Much of the walk early on was along the path of a 10k run that was going on, but I soon got off that path and out into the rough away from the housing where the run was going on. Had a couple of security trucks drive across the desert to check on me. When I told them I was a naturalist observing the local fauna and flora and geology, they loosened up and became really excited that I was finding something really neat about their home - the desert. They would point to places to go find something special. Found a local skink under a old garage door piece someone had pitched out in the desert, but that was the only reptile I found. Saw lots of tracks, mostly dogs, cats and, what I believe, were fox prints. They are fairly common around here, but I have yet to see one. I was really looking for the spiny lizard that I saw in the presentation the other night. It's a large ugly lizard that lives in the desert. I think it is just too cool for them right now to be out. They are more visible when it is hot around here. Walked by the Hobby Farm and the Arabian Horse Association stables. I want to visit that place next weekend - Steph, my daughter, would love it.
Just got back from dinner with one of my former ExxonMobil colleagues who is now here with Aramco. Nice dinner and conversation. Doug, a petrophysicist with Aramco, knows my Shell colleague, David Murphy.
My hot bath was great and I am now ready for a few winks. Tomorrow its back to work. thje weekend is now over :(
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