Hello - It's time again for Intel's annual ISTEP conference and Janel's been invited again so we're off to Istanbul on Saturday. Unfortunately we'll miss Elizabeth's wedding (probably be flying overhead at the time) but I'm sure it'll be wonderful. Will start reporting back next week after spending 23 hours enroute.....(4 hour stopover in London).....We'll be there for the conference and then start having our own adventures until the 26th when we come home. Look for more later.......... read more

We’re just about to get back on the tiny tiny plane and go back to Nassau after a lovely five days here at Fowl Cay. We spent most every day on our little boat exploring the fabulously beautiful waters of the Exuma island chain. The boat was a very good one. It cruised at about 35 knots to 40 knots without jumping up and down too much. The trick was to learn to read how the water looked because sometimes it became so shallow that we might get the propeller in the sand and sometimes dark spot were rocks and sometimes just patches of grass. We’re not trying to upload pics to Travelblog because there’s just too many – but Kelly has posted them all on Facebook and here’s the link to see them all. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150212650881888.319091.667256887 ... read more

This is our third day at Eluthera. Yesterday we drove down to the south end of the island – definitely less upscale and less inhabited. We saw lots of guys just hanging out in front of dilapidated buildings – probably Haitians. Haitians in Bahamas are like the Mexicans in California – we’re told they’ve come there legally and illegally and they do the jobs Bahamins won’t do (or won’t do for as little money). But it was very interesting. We also saw the Ocean Hole - strange place slightly inland - said to be bottomless and used for free diving competitions. Today we went out with a real estate agent to see places for sale. Kelly told the guy wemight like to get and fix up a place so the first spot was crazy. He drove ... read more

Today we are in Eluthera – its name means freedom, and it is the island of the Bahamas furthest out in the Atlantic. It’s long (100 miles) and skinny – at some place you can look both ways and see both the Atlantic and the Caribbean – two very different views. The Atlantic is…well, the Atlantic – dark blue and full of waves. The Caribbean in these parts is bright turquoise, calm and shallow enough to walk hundreds of feet out into. Yesterday we had an interesting day in Nassau. The old town of Nassau is charming and full of shops, but also entirely dependent on the giant cruise ships that come there. For all you big ship cruising types remember that the town you visit is totally different when you’re there than when you’re not. ... read more

Getting ready to go on our trip - this start page is a test of using the travelbog and inviting readers... read more