This door and the front gate, painted in the same traditional style, were what started our delightful afternoon with a Saudi family (explained with the group portrait below).

I told Tim to pull over because I wanted a picture of the colorful designs on the gate, and in the midst of photographing them an SUV pulled into the driveway and the driver called and motioned to me. I wasn’t sure I had heard him right when he said to “Come in!” and started to go back the car, and then he made a phone call (so figured I really must have done something wrong, with the “Private property” sign in English in plain view ;-)). He called to me again, and suddenly a number of people appeared at the gate, all telling us to please come in, that I could take all the pictures I wanted inside. This kind of thing just doesn’t normally happen anywhere in the world I have ever lived, but somehow I knew it was a genuine invitation and a great opportunity, so we parked the car and went inside.

That turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!