SELJORD COUNTRYFESTIVALEN – SELJORD, NORWAY – JULY 22-27, 2026:
Flying to Norway again today. This time with Caylee Hammack a performance at the Seljord Countryfestivalen Norway.
I was supposed to be flying Nashville/Boston/Amsterdam/Oslo but two days before departure, my phone started blowing up with messages from Delta. They were predicting severe weather in Boston and said I needed to change my routing. But the weather app did not have any rain forecast for that area. The tropical storm was headed towards Texas! My travel agent also did not see any reason to change the flight. But it was a great excuse to change to better times at no cost and I was able to route through Atlanta instead of Boston
Caylee’s group is flying Iceland Air through Reykjavík directly to Oslo arriving several hours after me.
Flight out of Nashville was on time and I didn’t have any issues walking to the gate. I have wheelchair assist in Atlanta, but when they met me at the door of the plane as I was getting off, the man meeting me said he had a Porsche to take me to the gate. Second time in my entire life, I made Delta 360 again this year. Of course I haven’t been able to take advantage of the perks because I have not been able to fly. Riding with him, but I had to go down the steep steps outside the jet bridge. I was determined not to miss my opportunity for the Porsche ride. So I hobbled down the stairs and rode with him. I actually had him take me to the Lounge where I was able to work for over an hour.
Instead of a wheelchair, the lounge was able to call a cart for me. So much better! Boarded on time and I was depressed to see that it was the same type of aircraft as that I flew over a week ago to Bergen. Absolutely zero storage space amazing that someone would design a cabin like that. Coach passengers have more storage space than business class. At least they have a seat back pocket!
Flight was uneventful other than having to get up and go to the toilet every couple of hours to do squats for circulation — plus drinking tons of water.
Landed Amsterdam on time. Once again when we landed, the staff with wheelchair assistance asked me to “wait”. After every passenger had gotten off the plane, they came to me and another lady and had a cart to take us to Passport Control and the gate. Was disappointed to learn that it is a bus gate which means lots of stairs. I can walk them —slowly — as long as someone carries my purse and rolling bag.
It is the smallest plane I gave flown between Amsterdam and Oslo. Of course it is a full flight. But only a 1:45 minute flight.
Getting messages that Caylee’s group’s plane is delayed out of Keflavik – but only by 15 minutes. I landed on time and they told me to stay on the plane until everyone had gotten off for wheelchair assist. I did and they had a couple of other people with wheelchairs as well. A guy was supposed to roll me and I had the same items I’ve traveled with all day – a purse that I put on my lap and a rolling computer case. I had been rolling the computer case along beside the wheelchair with me. He absolutely refused to let me do that. I asked him where he suggested I put it and he tried to place it in my lap on top of my purse. I asked him not to do that and the next thing he tried was putting it behind my head! He hit me between the shoulder blades with the wheels and I made him remove it. Then he tried to put it between my feet which were on the foot pads for the wheelchair. First thing he did was sit it directly on top of my broken foot. At that point, I started to get out of the wheelchair and told him I would just walk. He freaked out then and decided he could just roll it along with me. Odd!!! Our bags came out quicker than they ever have and I had him drop me off in the Arrival Area. He was apologizing profusely but at that point, I just wanted him to go away.
I had to wait for about 2 hours for Caylee’s group to arrive. We have a 16 passenger sprinter van and all the luggage/equipment fit in the back compartment behind the seats. I really like Caylee and her musicians and tour manager. It was a nice 3 ½ drive with them asking lots of questions. I tried to remember to tell them all the Norwegian food I like – like brown cheese, Soft Ice, Cheese Doodles, Paprika chips, Lefsa, etc. We stopped at a Circle K gas station and they were able to buy some of those items.
We had to arrive at the hotel no later than 8:30 pm or the restaurant would be closed for dinner. We had pre-ordered and we walked in at exactly 8:30 pm. Our rooms were ready so we dropped bags and headed to the restaurant. The food definitely wasn’t any better than last year but everyone was so tired, they didn’t care. They left dinner to immediately go to bed and I worked until 2 am. Tomorrow is our only “day off” and I think most of the group is going hiking. I’ll be working and also going out to the festival to see Kjell, David and John Edvard!
Jude
FRIDAY, JULY 24TH – DAY OFF IN SELJORD:
After working until 2:30 am, it was nice not to have to get up super early. I don’t like to eat breakfast but it is a huge buffet and I probably won’t have lunch. The only option for lunch is to walk down a rather steep hill to the Ski Museum. Not sure I can risk that with my foot. Breakfast hours are from 7-10 AM on Monday through Friday and most of the group came in when I did a little after 9 am. It is a huge buffet with lots of choices and great food. The only “negative” is, at 9 am if they ran out of an item, they didn’t replace it!
The croissants were probably the best thing available and they ran out of those before 9:30 am. I very politely asked the lady working if she could bring out some more. She not so politely replied that it mean she would have to bake more and that could take 10 minutes. My reply was “Perfect since breakfast isn’t over until 10 am. We got the croissants.
I had to do my PT on my foot which takes at least an hour including all the various “stretches” required. Also got in a little bit of a workout in at the gym at the hotel. It has the “basics” that I needed.
Patrick picked me up to go the festival site at around 1:30 pm. So good to see Kjell, David, John Edvard, Yvonne, Lise and so many of my friends again. I sat and talked with Kjell for several hours. Patrick also took me to the Market and Pharmacy to grab Lefsa for the group and some cortisone cream for me. I ate dinner at the venue because in years past, it was better food than at the hotel restaurant. I had the salmon but this year it was “baked” instead of grilled and not as good as previously. Still better than the hotel food though.
Caylee and her group arrived at 8:00 pm and I showed them where to walk around to see the “sights”. They are going to stay and watch a few minutes of “The Hellbillies” show and then we will all head back to the hotel. I’ve talked the kitchen in the Green Room into holding back some of the “pancake/waffle” batter and making some for the group before they go back to the hotel. Great stuff!
Caylee’s group arrived shortly after 8 pm and I pointed out all the places they should check out. It was much to risky for me to walk around with them because the crowd was huge. I do not want to risk falling again by having someone bump into me.
They walked around until The Hellbillies went on stage and then stayed and watched some of their show. Caylee did a lot of “investigating” as far as what songs she would perform tomorrow night just by talking to audience members.
We were back at the hotel by 11 pm. Lobby call is 1:30 pm tomorrow and I’m trying to get in bed by 1:00 am tonight.
Jude
SATURDAY, JULY 25TH – PERFORMANCE AT SELJORD COUNTRY FESTIVALEN:
Woke up to a steady rain that was supposed to last until Caylee’s show time tonight. Had breakfast with the group and then a nice meeting with Mr. Jay (he has the great band that we have worked with for years).
Worked until we left for sound check at 1:30 pm. They were ready for us and I went to the medic tent while they were doing their sound check. Needed to have my foot checked! Before I left home, I worked out in the recumbent bike for 30 minutes at level 4. I had a red streak on the top of my foot across all my toes. I assumed my shoe had rubbed it during the workout. But when I arrived Norway, it started itching like crazy and looked more like a rash. I have been using cortisone cream on it but figured I should have it checked before the long flight home. Turns out it is a rash. Recommendations were to continue using the cortisone cream, elevate the foot and try not to walk a lot. So I can do the first one!
Had about 2 hours at the hotel to work before we met for dinner at 6 pm at the hotel restaurant. Same menu and nothing anyone wanted to eat — but tried. The restaurant staff asked every night if we didn’t like the food and we always lied and said “it is fine. We are just not very hungry”!
Left for the festival at 8 pm and the group had saved their meal coupons to eat dinner after the show tonight. First thing someone told me is the kitchen is out of food! That has never happened before. Supposed to do a Meet and Greet a few minutes before show time but no one told the people who were going to attend. So we moved that to after her performance. Going to be a short night with a 7:30 am departure to the airport!
I brought a special gift for Kjell from the Bellamy’s Brothers. A good album plaque commemorating 500,000 digital downloads of “Let Your Live Flow”. He was definitely surprised when we brought him on stage and presented to him.
Caylee had a huge crowd for her show. She is an amazing entertainer. Her band was great, too. She tailored her set list perfectly to keep the audience engaged. She even did a costume change and put on a Norway Soccer Jersey which made the crowd go wild. The fact that she plays banjo was also a crowd favorite. All the staff came up to her after the show and told her what a fantastic performance she had!
The kitchen was able to make some grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone before we left. It was after 2 am before I got in bed and have to get up at 5 am.
SUNDAY, JULY 26TH—SELJORD TO OSLO:
Everyone was on time for the 7:30 am lobby call even though I don’t think anyone got more than a couple of hours of sleep. They were all in a really good mood too! The bus ride took 3 ½ hours as expected. I am so thankful our driver drove slowly because I was nauseous the entire trip because of the windy roads. He dropped the group off at the airport at 11 am. Caylee is flying to the UK for acoustic shows and the band and tour manager fly back to Nashville on Iceland Air. The driver took me next door to the Radisson where I’ll spend the night and fly home early tomorrow.
I had asked for early check in if available and the desk clerk was very rude. I told him I understood that it might be too early to check in but I wanted him to know that I was there and when a room became available, would he please let me know. Again, he was very rude. I was about to walk away from the counter when the manager came out of the back room and told me that since I am a “valued customer”, he had asked housekeeping to let him know when a room was clean and he would make sure I got it. I don’t know if he heard how rude the guy was to me or not, but it was odd that he would come out and say that. I only waited about 10 minutes and then was able to go into a nice room. I relaxed the rest of the afternoon and caught up on some work. Then I walked over to the airport and got food to go plus was able to check in on the kiosk and print my boarding passes and bag tags!
Going to try to get in bed before midnight as I have to get up at 5 am to walk over to the airport!
It was such a great trip with Caylee and her musicians/tour manager. I really hope I can work with them again. She is an amazing talent and her entire group is such a pleasure to travel with.
Jude
