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TUESDAY, JULY 19TH:
Got up at 7 am to get ready for the day of sightseeing. Ben knocked on my door
at 7:30 am – ready to go! He thought it was 8:30 am. I sent him away for a
walk while I finished dressing.
We took the train up to Jungfrau (second time in TWO weeks for me). The
scenery is breathtaking but he was more impressed with the “cog railway”. He
spent the entire trip trying to figure out what pulled that train up the steep
mountainside. I told him next time we should just go to a train museum and save
a lot of money! J
I showed him the trail that I took the sled down the Eiger with the Bellamys in
2000. He was properly impressed, as he should have been. Every time I look at
it, it gives me cold chills just thinking about how crazy that was. The weather
was bad on the top and part of the viewing platform was closed so he didn’t get
to see the spectacular view from the peak. But he still got to go through the
ice caves and out onto the glacier.
We made it back to Interlaken in time to take an early train into Zurich. The
airline found his luggage and it was waiting for him at our hotel in Zurich.
When I walked in my hotel room, there was a little Teddy Bear sitting in the
middle of my bed. I got all sentimental because the last time that happened
was at a really remote little camp (Camp Summerall) in Iraq. The Commander of
the base had put Teddy Bears on mine, Danni Leigh’s and Chalee’s beds to make us
feel more “at home”. It touched us so much that he would try to do something
for us when we were there to try and boost their morale.
Tomorrow we meet Rick Trevino and his group for the trip to Klewenalp. SURE
hope Rick doesn’t have the travel challenges that the last group did….
Jude
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20TH:
Took the hotel
shuttle back to the airport at 8:30 am to meet Rick Trevino and his group.
Checked the internet before I left and it said that his plane was on time. Got
to the airport to find that it was delayed by an hour!
We drove the 1 ½ hours to Beckenreid and I got everyone checked into the hotel.
The front desk clerk (who doubles as a waitress in the restaurant!) wasn’t very
efficient. Most of us were on the same floor and I was talking to Ben as I
unlocked my door. I stood in the hallway and talked to him for a few minutes
with the door to the room open. Then when I started to step inside, I saw a
pair of men’s boots and a pair of feet hanging off the end of the bed. The
curtains were pulled and the room was dark. There was a MAN already in that
room. Front desk apologized and I called my promoter friend and thanked her for
putting a man in my room for me! J
Ben and I walked down to the little village and rented a couple of bikes. I
suppose they were mountain bikes – the kind with tiny little pedals and
handlebars that you have to lean way over on I had a really hard time staying
on mine because the seat wouldn’t go down far enough and my “shoe cast” kept
slipping off the little pedal. But, we managed to ride for hours around Lake
Luzern. It was so beautiful. BUT, the seats were those little bike seats,
too. Before we even started the ride back to the bike rental shop, both of our
bottoms were so sore, we could barely sit on the bike. Ben kept trying to ride
“side-saddle” to relieve some of the pain. I can’t tell you how sore I am right
now!
We all had dinner together out on the terrace and watched the sun set over the
Alps on the lake. It was beautiful. At one time, there was this “red glow” on
the mountains and reflecting off the lake. We all started telling Texas Tornado
stories from our past and it was a very fun evening.
Going to take the boat into Luzern tomorrow to sightsee and do a little
shopping. Festival is on Friday.
Jude
THURSDAY, JULY 21ST:
Worked out with the bands again this morning. Sure will
be glad when the toe heals and I can run again. Woke up to pouring rain but
it stopped before we went to the boat dock. Took the boat cruise from
Beckenreid over to Lucerne – about an hour and a half trip with lots of stops
and beautiful scenery.
We walked around Lucern and I showed Ben all the
“tourist” sites. I can’t believe I have not done ANY shopping this entire
trip. Bought some chocolates, but that’s it. No clothes or shoes.
Unbelievable for me.
We had to take the train and then a bus back to Beckenreid and I was very
nervous about making these connections. But everything worked out just
fine.
Had a nice dinner with the group and Iris (my promoter from Interlaken) and
her boyfriend are here and joined us. Some of the musicians/crew were going
up to Klewenalp (where the performance takes place tomorrow night) to listen
to the yodelers tonight. Not me. I saw it a few years ago and it was
beautiful but bored me relatively quickly!
Tomorrow is show day!
Jude
FRIDAY, JULY 22ND:
Today is “Show Day”. We departed the hotel at 9:30 for a 10:00 load in at
the venue. Van to the station and then the Gondola (that I HATE) up the
Alp. It takes 12 minutes to go up and we go over 4 towers. I hate the
towers because the gondola SWINGS after it comes down the other side. I keep
looking at the cables wondering what their “safety” measure is. I mean, if
one cable breaks, there are no emergency brakes to stop the car from falling.
There is comfort in the fact that there has never been an accident.
The stage is outdoors at the base of a large slope. The “cart” to take the
gear down was no where to be found (typical at this festival) so we had to
carry everything down including the stand-up bass. Sound company is great to
work with as usual and Rick Trevino and his boys are real professionals. Of
course, the buyer forgot to put water backstage again. Last year I had to go
up the hill, buy it, and carry it down myself. Same thing this year only I
didn’t have to pay for it. Guys finished sound check right on time and we
took the gondola back down the mountain. Only takes 6 minutes to go down but
the swings at the tower are much stronger.
We had some free time before dinner and the show so I got packed and caught up
on some email. A really severe thunderstorm came through and I knew we were
going to be walking around in a lot of mud at the venue tonight.
The show started right on time. There is a large festival tent at the top of
the slope and the sides roll up so the audience has the option of sitting in
the tent and watching the show instead of standing on the slope. It was
really cold after the rainstorm so I didn’t expect many people to stand in
front of the stage. Was really surprised to see the largest audience I’ve
ever seen come out of the tent and watch the entire show. Show ran right on
time and Rick signed autographs for about a half hour after the show.
We took the gondola back down and by that time it was after 1:30 am. Rick
and his guys had to depart the hotel at 4:00 am for their flight to Spain so
they just stayed up all night. I went to bed but couldn’t sleep because I
was worried about their ride showing up. Everything went fine, though.
SATURDAY, JULY 23RD:
I left for the airport at
9:30 am with Ben in tow. On the ride over, we noticed that he only has 40
minutes to clear customs in Dallas. American definitely booked him on an
illegal connection. He tried to get it changed at the airport, but American
wouldn’t do anything about it. I’m sure he will be spending the night tonight
in Dallas….hopefully at the expense of AA.
Got on the Swiss Air flight only to learn that my seat was once again
Bulkhead! I had my office call and confirm that it was NOT bulkhead. Not
going to fly Swiss Air again. Arrived Chicago and the Business Lounge told me
that Swiss Air has decided NOT to partner with American, so they won’t be
sharing “services” in the future.
The flight from Chicago to Nashville was one of those tiny jets. I was so
tired and the flight was full. It was pretty miserable. A few of us had
boarded and then they stopped the boarding and announced that everyone would
have to get off the plane so they could do a “security sweep”. Never had
that happen before. Arrived Nashville about 30 minutes late.
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