Day 7 The Final Chapter

It's here, the last day. A little pool time, one more meal delivery from "Hot
Chicken, and a little last minute shopping (surprise). The air temperature was 91 degrees plus today, the pool temperature was brrrr. That didn't stop Dustin from diving in and getting his refreshing cardio workout. Kayla and I opted for a little poolside time. We didn't stay long as it was really warm, but the water was too cold too cool off. Does that make sense? We went in and ordered a smorgasbord of food from "Hot Chicken" delivered to our doorstep. Their menu has hundreds of items to choose from with no explanation of what the dinner actually consists of. Dustin ordered some "Spanish" juice to go with his meal and I was really worried that it was going to be "spinach" juice when it arrived. You know, proper spelling of English words in this country is left to the discretion of the writers...never being spelled the same way twice. When the drink arrived, it was actually a nice fruity concoction, not green as I had suspected. What they call juice around here is closer to a smoothie. Fancy fruit drinks are the rage in this country, maybe due to the fact that alcohol is virtually a no no (a few major hotel chains are the exception). There is one liquor store in Qatar, which is run by the state. You must have a license to purchase alcohol, and of course they will not sell it to our Muslim friends. Kristi made our plans for the evening, deciding that we would meet her friends at City Centre Mall for dinner and ice sledding. Going to the mall on the weekend is always on the bottom of David's list, in fact it doesn't even register on his list. But knowing the hard time that we give him for being this way, he put on a happy face and got behind the wheel of the Tahoe...good boy! The traffic was even more ridiculous than usual and Dustin was in the backseat spouting off about it as Kayla, Kristi and I were giving him the evil eye. We didn't need anyone egging David on, especially since he was handling it so well. Well, that all fell apart when there was not one spot in the parking garage available and cars absolutely everywhere waiting for someone to back out and that, my friend, was not going to happen. So, David promptly told us to get out and get a cab home and quickly drove off into the sunset. Lol, he won. He was getting to go home and laze on the couch, his favorite pastime. After a bite at Applebees, we split up...Dustin, Kristi and friends off to sledding and I went with Kayla to help her finish spending her leftover Riyals. Mission accomplished, we all met back at the taxi queue for a ride home allowing only an hour for the kids to pack up for their flight home. We dropped them at the airport at midnight and said our final goodbyes. Dustin told me to book his flight for May asap, as he plans to come back as soon as school lets out and stay for six weeks or so. A nice testament to the great time he had on his first visit. I did warn him that the pace would be much slower next time, but that didn't deter him. It really was an enlightening visit. Recap: We went dune bashing and survived, rode camels, drank camel milk, ate camel, rode donkeys, toured mosques, took in tea at The Ritz, visited the souqs, got hennaed, and still managed to get a little r & r at the pool. Kayla and Dustin, thanks so much for spending your spring break with us. The memories are precious. We love you, be safe.