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JULY 3RD – DAY 15:
So, forgot to mention that the wireless wouldn’t work in my
room when I checked in. I took the computer down to the desk and they spent 30
minutes on the phone with someone trying to find out what was wrong. It
wouldn’t recognize the wireless network (Swisscom). I finally gave up and went
back up to my room and as I was walking down the hall, the wireless popped up.
Go figure!!! Just another little problem to an already stressful day.
So first thing I did when I woke up was check the status of the flight that my
bag was coming in on this morning. Of course, it had been canceled. No reason
why…just canceled. I had planned to work out but realized I don’t have the
things I need to work out. Got dressed and went to the airport early to see
what could be done. I thought about changing my flight to Oslo to later in the
day but there were no seats left on any of the other direct flights. I figured
if I stayed in Zurich until my bag arrived, then flew to Oslo making a
connection, the airlines had a good chance at losing both my bags.
L So, my
flight to Oslo was delayed and I was hoping the flight from Amsterdam with my
bag would arrive before we departed. No such luck. It landed about 15 minutes
before we took off but of course, the Lost and Found crew didn’t make an effort
to get it on the plane.
Flight to Oslo was on a really OLD SAS plane. Lots of turbulence even though
there didn’t appear to be an bad weather around us. Landed on time and I went
to baggage services to talk about my bag some more. Supposedly, the bag is in
Zurich and will be on a flight to Oslo that arrives at 11 pm tonight. You can
bet I’ll be there waiting. I told them I had to buy some essentials and they
told me I would not be reimbursed unless the bag was missing for at least 24
hours. Not a problem on that one! It seems like a week instead of just one day
without it.
I stay at the Radisson that is connected to the airport when I’m in Oslo. Easy
to take a train downtown when time permits. Today I took a taxi to a shopping
center to buy some of the things I really needed. It was easy to get too but
the taxi driver had no idea where he was supposed to be taking me. I knew when
I got in and asked him if he knew the shopping center, he was lying. I finally
“directed” him to where I thought it was.
Nice shopping mall and I found everything I needed to get me through one more
night without my bag EXCEPT no Tylenol and no Zicam swabs. I had Penny in my
office call the road manager for Cowboy Crush and ask him to go buy me a supply
of these and bring with him tomorrow. I ended up purchasing something that
looks like it might be Ibuprofen and a nasal spray. If you never hear from me
again, you’ll know I died from an allergic reaction to whatever the heck this
stuff is. I’ve just felt so bad for two days, I had to try something.
Went over to the airport to see if my bag came in. After going to three
different “counters” and being told 3 different things, I was escorted into the
baggage pick-up area…only I was on the “domestic flight” side instead of
international. I went to 3 different counters in there and was finally directed
to pick up a phone and call the Wideroe Airlines counter. Someone said they
would come and get me in a “few minutes” – translates as over 30 minutes. She
took me around to every belt and finally on the very last one – there was my
bag. I’ve never been so happy to see something! Especially my “drugs”.
Cowboy Crush is flying out of Kansas City and their flight was delayed due to
high winds. Looks like they are going to miss their connection in Newark so
I’ll need to stay up until I know how they are going to be re-routed. Probably
be 3 am my time before I know anything. But, I have my bag!
J
Jude
4TH OF JULY – DAY 16:
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!! I
honestly forgot that today was the 4th of July until my office
“reminded” me that they are closed today. Obviously, there is nothing over
here that would offer any “suggestions” that it is a holiday. The hotel is
supposed to have CNN and I was so desperate, I turned it on. Of course,
that is the one channel that doesn’t work.
I feel so much better today. Amazing how quickly those Zicam swabs kick in.
Had planned to work out in the hotel gym since it is a nice one. But one look
outside had me heading for the streets. The great thing about Europe is that
all the cities seem to be connected by a bike path –translates as great
jogging path for me. The weather is absolutely perfect and I ran for an
hour. Felt like I sweated the rest of the cold out, which is good. My
hamstring pull didn’t hurt as bad as usual. Either it’s healing or I had
taken so many Tylenol for my cold that I didn’t feel the pain as much.
Called the promoter first thing to advise him that Cowboy
Crush will not be arriving today. Continental Airlines actually gave them
hotel and meal vouchers (amazing since the delay was due to weather) and they
stayed in Newark last night. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and they
will arrive at the same time tomorrow. Probably won’t get a sound check but
better than missing the entire event. I’ll be watching the weather at the
airport all day today. Other than that, I spent the day working – exactly
what I would have done in Nashville. I actually managed to book a new
festival in the U.K. since those buyers don’t take a holiday today either. I
thought about taking the train into Oslo but didn’t want to go in by myself.
No fun when you don’t have someone to share it with. What I would really have
enjoyed would have been to be able to spend the 4th of July in Iraq
or Afghanistan with the troops. But, I’m over in Europe every year at this
time. I can’t remember the last time I spent the 4th of July in
the USA. I think it was in 2000!
As you know, Norway has very little “darkness” in the Summer. It’s 10 pm at
night and the sun is still high on the horizon. It may go down at around
midnight for about 30 minutes. If the girls feel up to it, we may go into
downtown Oslo on Sunday when we come back to the airport hotel to spend the
night.
Jude
JULY 5TH – DAY 17:
I was so tired of “airport” food last night that I went
down to the hotel restaurant for dinner. There was an interesting menu on
the board outside so I decided to give it a try. The menu they handed me
inside was nothing like what they had advertised outside. But, it was
“decent”. The host who led me to my table was a friendly Norwegian. We got
into a lengthy conversation and he is a huge country music fan – not
surprising in Norway. His all time favorite is the Bellamy Brothers. Wish
I had one of their cds with me.
L He said
he really misses “CMT” which used to air here many, many years ago. Of
course we also got into a discussion about the conflicts in Afghanistan and
Iraq and I told him we always thank the Norwegian troops and invite them to
our shows. Told him we had a Norwegian flight crew and airplane on one of
our trips. I didn’t tell him that the “earplugs” they provided us looked
like tiny little tampax. Seriously, they were white cotton with a little
string attached! Anyway, he says that most Norwegians know that they have
troops deployed there but really don’t think much about it!
There was a big rack of bikes in front of the hotel
that the guests could use. You have no idea how much I wanted to go for a
long ride. That’s what I do in foreign countries. At least I did until the
fatal bike crash last year. I swore I’d never ride a bike again. BUT, if
you have a car wreck, you don’t quit riding in a car. Maybe the best thing
for me would be to get back on a bike again. I really, really miss it.
It’s such a great stress reliever and a fantastic way for me to get my
“bearings” in the city where we’re touring.
So, I got up and worked out in the gym today. Then went to the airport to
meet Cowboy Crush. Their flight was on time and all their luggage and gear
made it. Unbelievable! They had a pretty fun day yesterday while stranded
in NYC. We had a 3 ½ hour van ride and they slept most of the ride. We
went straight to the venue for sound check. The promoter that I work with
handles this festival and Seljord at the end of July. He lived in Austin
until last year when he moved to London but still spends a lot of his time
in Norway. He is an incredibly sweet, gentle-spirited man. He was sick
last year and kept seeing doctors in London. They diagnosed him with a
sinus problem and operated on him several months ago. He wasn’t getting any
better and continued to lose weight. He went to his doctor in Norway a few
weeks ago and they did surgery. Turns out he has small cell lung cancer,
the fastest spreading kind and it has already spread. If London had not
mis-diagnosed 9 months ago, he would have had a much better chance of
fighting it. He’s trying to get into the Cancer Center in Houston, Texas
and I’m praying this happens for him. In the meantime, he’s taking chemo
and working non-stop. I hate asking him questions and bugging him but he’s
like me – the “job” is his life and he’s going to keep working. Such a
wonderful man so please keep him in your prayers.
Sound check was painless as everything was ready for us. We drove 30
minutes to our hotel which is a really old building in the middle of
nowhere. They have wireless but it doesn’t work very well. Keeps kicking
us off because the signal is so low. And, it is SO hot in the rooms because
there is no air conditioning.
Had a “buffet” dinner of unrecognizable delicacies – except for the raw,
steamed, grilled, fried, and poached Salmon!!! Show time is 10:15 pm and it
will still be light outside even then.
Internet crisis as usual in my room. Signal is very low and keeps kicking
me off. We’ll see if I can get this road report out tonight.
The festival grounds were packed with people who had been drinking for 3
days. The girls did a great, high energy show. They have two new members
since they performed here two years ago and they are excellent additions to
the group. The promoter and the audience were very happy with the
performance.
You should have seen this crowd though. Check out the photos next week on my
website. It’s always like this. There was this man dressed up like the fat
lady in the circus; a guy in a one-piece white long underwear that hung down
really long in the crotch; a guy dressed up like Superman – he got up on a
ledge above the dance floor and jumped off….only he landed face down on the
concrete – fortunately he was so drunk, he wasn’t hurt; and here’s the
topper: this elderly man was dancing his heart out and started giving me
the “eye”. He was extremely skinny and he jumped up on the ledge where I
was watching and started doing this “bump and grind” towards me. I was
trying to back away but before I could make my escape, he pulled his shirt
up and starts rubbing his nipples! Gross. That’s me. Like a magnet.
J
The girls had lots of fun watching the crowd.
They spotted one guy wearing a bra and one guy wearing a pink crop top with
a huge beer belly. I encouraged them NOT to sign autographs afterwards and
they took my advice. We came back to the hotel where they had bowls of
homemade soup waiting for us. It was perfect because the temperature had
dropped outside and it was pretty chilly. Of course, the sun went down as
we left the venue and came back up by the time we arrived at the hotel.
The girls are going on a horseback trail ride early tomorrow morning before
we depart. After my disastrous “cattle drive” in 1991, I swore to never get
on a horse again….and I won’t!
Good night all.
Jude
JULY 6TH – DAY 18:
Got up and went for a run and realized how
many HILLS there are around the hotel. Saw the girls getting ready to go on
their horseback ride. There were horses along the side of the road that were
not in fences and sheep everywhere. The sheep always run away when you get
near them. Unless they have a “baby” with them. I was running towards a
group of them and they all split and ran to the side of the road. Except for
one big one with a little one beside her. She put her head down and pawed
the ground like a bull. I didn’t know if she planned to “charge” me or not
but decided that was a really good point in my run to turn around and go the
other way. Guess a sheep with a loud bell on it started running after the
girls on horseback, too, and cause Bree’s horse to run away with her.
It took over 4 hours to drive back to Oslo because it was raining so hard. We
had planned to take the train into Oslo this afternoon, do a 2 hour walking
tour and a 2 hour Fjord cruise. The weather killed that idea. Plus it is
COLD again. Evidently they had heavy rains and lightning that did a lot of
damage to homes in Oslo yesterday. We were about 30 minutes from our hotel
when the promoter called my cell phone to say that someone had left “items” in
the hotel. It was the bass guitar and pedal board that we stored in the
office last night. We had to arrange for the hotel to put them on a bus to us
in Oslo and the road manager will pick them up tonight.
The weather was so bad, we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant. I warned
everyone that the food was not so good. They thought the items on the menu
looked fine (and they do) but once the food came out, they understood what I
was trying to tell them! But, it was nice to have a final meal together.
And, the sweet maitre 'd (waiter) that loves country music was there to take
care of us. Trenna leaves at 7 am for Spain, I leave at 7:30 am for Athens,
and the rest of the group leaves at 11:30 am for Nashville. As usual, it has
been a pleasure working with these girls and their new tour manager. Sad to
see them go home so soon.
Jude
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