I’m on my virtual vacation, lounging by the ocean in the summer sun.  I needed a vacation, so I took one!  I couldn’t get away to the beach, being in a land locked state so I decided I could at least take one virtually!  All my friends, new and old, are welcome to join me on this relaxing adventure.

How can you join me?  By linking up your vacation blog posts, ocean and beach inspired art, anything that makes you feel like you have taken a virtual vacation!  This way we can all vacation together!  You can use posts from previous vacations to relive the memories or you can make new ones – it is up to you.

I have a virtual vacation creativity pack to give away at the end of the vacation to one of my fellow “travelers” who link up and share their virtual vacations.   I’ll be “returning” from vacation on Friday, June 15th.  After I unpack, I’ll be randomly drawing for the giveaway on Saturday, June 16th!  I hope you’ll join me!  This is open to everyone (newbies, veterans,  my friends at  Paint Party Friday, Creative Every Day,   Art Journal Every Day,   Inspire Me Monday , Summer of Color, and well, EVERYONE!).   I will happily ship internationally.

You must have tasty treats on vacation- namely ICE CREAM!  Kristin over at Twinkle Twinkle is hosting The Summer of Color 2 Ice Cream Inspirations.  Her photo of a scrumptious rainbow sherbert kicks off the inspiration.  You can read all about her event here.  This is the art journal page I made inspired by her colors.  I used Donna Downey’s poppy stamp to start my and then the paint took over!

My virtual vacation has brought me Exuma today.  Where is that? What is that?  Here’s how bahamas.com explains it:
“The Exumas are an archipelago of 365 cays and islands, beginning just 35 miles southeast of Nassau, an exotic collection of tiny jewels set in the most beautiful aquamarine and sapphire water you’ve ever imagined.”

They aren’t kidding about the blue. This photo has not been Photoshopped.  I expected the blue.  The airport I didn’t expect.  It was the smallest airport I have ever been in.  It may have been a double wide trailer.  Baggage claim was simply a guy handing you your luggage from the other side of the door.  The good news, since our tiny plane only held 19 passengers lines were not a problem.

Small airports must need small planes…The plane tested my resolve to get to Exuma since it was the smallest commercial plane I had ever been on.  No restroom.  No flight attendant.  No electronics allowed turned on the ENTIRE flight.  No jet engine- it was propellers.  I checked my purse for extra rubber bands to help the propellers turn…I’m a bit of a princess when I travel and this plane was not princess level.

While IN FLIGHT we watched the pilots get out the maps and start figuring out where we were going ( cue the Gilligan’s Island theme). There was no door or even a curtain separating us from them.  We saw it all.  The air conditioning was about as high tech as an old VW bug.  You just turned this little metal disc and it allowed air to flow through- so the higher we went, the cooler the air.  When we landed, hot hot air.  The best part of the plane was it was low to the ground it flew compared to one that cruises at 35,000 feet.  That meant we could really see all the little islands, and they have plenty.  I am a sucker for blue water – best in flight entrainment ever that made up for the primitive flying conditions!