SATURDAY, JULY 16TH, 2022 – CARLENE CARTER PERFORMANCE AT NORSK COUNTRY-TREFF:
Amazing what 5 hours of sleep can do! I went downstairs to say hello to all my Norwegian friends and others who are here from the Netherlands and other countries. I knew everyone would be down there before the breakfast hours were over.
I left at 10 am for sound check with the musicians. This is a huge camping and “trucker” event. They had so much rain in the days before the festival that all the trucks had to be moved to the festival site because the ground was so muddy. The festival has added two separate “containers” for the headlining artist and their musicians this year for dressing rooms and these are great. As usual, the stage was set up and ready for the guys when they arrived. Carlene arrived 30 minutes later and sound check was over in one hour total.
Next stop was the little church where the acoustic performance is held. It is such a beautiful old church with a cemetery in front and located on a gorgeous lake beneath huge mountains. Carlene only needed about 5 minutes to sound check since she is performing with just her guitar…no backing musicians.
We had about 2 hours “down” time at the hotel so I walked over to the little village with Patrick and showed him where the groceries stores and a cool little restaurant were located. I found a “Soft Ice” and that’s what I had for lunch! Came back and started getting somewhat caught up on emails.
We left for the church at 3 pm but they were running behind when we arrived. Carlene performed her 2 songs and then everyone joined in the Finale of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”. This is such a special service!
The “Hellbillies” who are the most famous entertainers in Norway were checking in when we returned. I stopped to introduce myself since Kjell (the promoter I work with in Norway) is their manager. I talked to one of them for about 5 minutes before I realized they did not speak English. LOL.
Arrived back at the hotel a little after 4 pm to learn that David’s suitcase did not arrive. The flight this morning was cancelled and the one this afternoon is the last one. I’m trying to find someone who can guarantee me that the bag will be held at the Olso airport and we can pick it up when we arrive tomorrow afternoon. We leave for the USA early Monday morning, so definitely need it before then!
Was able to get a few more emails answered before having dinner. I was really disappointed that there was no fresh salmon for dinner. They had a beef stew instead. It definitely was not as good as Norwegian Salmon.
Managed to work a little more after dinner then met everyone downstairs at 8:15 pm to drive over to the festival. Until tonight, Tanya Tucker had the largest crowd I’ve ever seen at the event. The place was packed. Thankfully the weather cooperated too. She did a quick “Meet and Greet” with a few fans prior to the concert.
It had drizzled off and on all day but did not rain during her set. Carlene and the guys killed it on stage and the audience loved her. Promoters were very happy, too. I got some great photos of the crowd – who are surprisingly a LOT of young people. It’s great to know that true “country” music is alive and well in Norway.
Carlene performed for 90 minutes and then signed some more autographs and took photos with some of the other bands and fans. Nils and Kristin presented her with a beautiful handcrafted necklace made by one of the girls who helps them at the festival!
We were back at the hotel a little before midnight. My friend Cor Sanne and his girlfriend Joke were waiting for us in the lobby. Cor booked Carlene way back in 1994! The group all went into the restaurant to share sandwiches that we brought back from the festival and I went to work in my room!
Jude
SUNDAY, JULY 17TH – SANDANE TO OSLO:
Went down to breakfast at 9:30 am and saw so many wonderful friends from the festival. Everyone was still talking about what a great event it was. This festival is extremely well-organized and I love working with the people. They all have very good hearts!
Sat with some of my guys for breakfast and organized a “hike/sightseeing trip” for them for noon today since we don’t depart to the airport until 3:45 pm for our short flight to Oslo. Met with my dear friends from the Netherlands for quite a while. It was so nice to have time to “catch up”. We stay in touch with email but just not the same as personal interaction.
I worked until 2:30 pm and then went out to walk around and take some photos. It has drizzled rain all day so no chance to jog and there’s no exercise room. There is a great exercise room at the hotel, so I’ll hit that tonight.
As I walking down a side street, I heard someone yelling. This tiny, elderly lady was bent over at the waist over a concrete post and seemed to be unable to get up. I ran over and saw that her necklace was caught on a piece of the fence. She kept up a steady stream of Norwegian while I got the necklace unfastened and helped her up. She had on gloves, so I assume she had been gardening as there were a lot of bushes surrounding the post. Pretty interesting turn to my little walk.
We bumped departure time to 4:15 pm since the airport doesn’t open until 4 pm. It’s a tiny airport but we still need time to check all our guitars and go through security. The flight should board at around 5:10 pm.
We arrived and got checked in but the plane had not arrived. We had to go through security, so our sweet “hosts” – Karrianne and John – waited until the plane landed and made sure that Dave’s suitcase was on it and re-tagged and placed back on the plane for our flight to Oslo. The gate attendant even brought me the claim check.
Once we boarded, the flight attendant asked if anyone on the flight was not going to Oslo via Songdal. No one raised their hands. Then she came down the aisle and stopped at a couple and child across from me. They were on the wrong flight! Not sure how they got that far in the departure process without being questioned.
The little prop plane was completely full and had lots of luggage and musical equipment on board. Always makes me nervous when flying a prop plane, especially when I’m worried about the weight!!! Chris was sitting next to me and definitely wasn’t worried at all.
We landed Songdal about 20 minutes after we took off. Several passengers got off and the plane was quickly filled again with new passengers. Once again, the flight attendant asked if anyone on the plane was not going to Oslo and no one spoke up. She came down the aisle and once again, another couple and their child was on the wrong flight.
We finally landed in Oslo and thankfully all our luggage and gear arrived with us this time. We walked across the street to the hotel and I “braced” for the check in experience at the Radisson Blu that we always face. This time I had the confirmation numbers on everyone and was hoping that might help. It didn’t. The hotel had our reservation but said the rooms had not been pre-paid and there was nothing in the record about the festival covering the rooms, dinner and breakfast costs. I called Kristin at the festival and the hotel manager called the travel agency that booked our rooms. The travel agency told him that we had to pay for our own rooms and meals! Kristin called the travel agency and they told her the same thing. Then she forwarded the agency the emails she had sent them telling they were paying for everything. Finally – after about 45 minutes, we were allowed to check in. The rooms are nice and spacious.
Jamie and I walked back over to the airport with everyone’s passport and after trying about 4 different check-in Kiosks, we were able to check in everyone, print boarding passes, and bag tags. This took about another 45 minutes. The rest of the group were in the restaurant and had already ordered dinner. The food at the restaurant was good but rather “slow” so by the time I got to my room, it was almost midnight.
Lindsey called from Bahrain where she had just landed with the Tenille Arts tour for the military. She had her own nightmares to deal with. They didn’t have the correct form for Customs but fortunately they allowed our host to come into the Customs area and he did have the correct paperwork. Our hosts also had taken all the paperwork to the gate and cleared our access in advance. Only, they didn’t check with the gate again before they picked us up and the gate staff said they didn’t have any paperwork. She said that took another hour. Then they arrived at lodging and AFE had not put up a credit card or asked for our credit card to reserve the rooms. Since it was after midnight when they arrived, the rooms had been cancelled. Lindsey was able to secure more rooms and get everyone checked in.
I was able to get in bed by 1:30 am for a 5:00 a wakeup call. Praying things go smoothly on our 3 flights home!
Jude
MONDAY, JULY 18TH, 2022 – TRAVEL TO NASHVILLE: Got up at 5 am and went to the airport to search for Chocolate Marzipan Bars for Lindsey and the kids. Line wasn’t long at the Delta counter and since I went through Fast Track, the security line was short as well. So strange that everywhere I’ve been, there’s been no issue sending my bag through security until today. There was a tiny travel can of hair spray in my roller bag and has been for all my trips. They made me pull it out in Oslo and send the bag back through the scanner again. After an extensive search, I found some really great marzipan chocolate bars for Lindsey and the kids and other friends. Went to the Lounge and worked for a few minutes then met everyone at the gate. Flight to Amsterdam was on KLM and it was only a little over an hour long. We have short layovers in Amsterdam and Atlanta so will be rushing to get to the gate each time. We didn’t have to pick up and re-check bags in Amsterdam, and the passport control was now “automated” and much quicker. Flight from Amsterdam to Atlanta was a little over 9 hours and departed about 30 minutes late which concerned me since we have to clear Immigration, pick up bags, clear Customs, and go through security before going to the gate. I watched another terrible movie, ate, slept and worked. When we landed, the Global Entry Kiosks were nearby and I went through those. But when I got halfway to the officer, I noticed that my receipt did not have my photo and name on it! I went back to the kiosks and told the agent but she said to go ahead and go through the line and just tell the officer what happened. As I was waiting in line, I noticed that the girl two people in front of me was explaining something to the officer and she looked like the receipt I was holding. I gave it to her and the officer let me go through as well because he said someone in the line would eventually come through with my receipt. Unbelievable. As I was putting my bags on the belt to go through security, I realized that I had put the shopping bag full of candy down somewhere and left it. I was sooooo bummed. I went to so much extra effort to get the candy and now it was gone forever. I told the man at the information desk what happened and he made a phone call but didn’t get any results. I’m pretty sure I left it at the Global Entry Kiosk. Lesson learned. Hook it to my roller bag or put it in my roller bag in the future. Flight was a little late departing Atlanta but we made it home on time. All our bags and equipment made it, too. Even with all the challenges of delayed flights and lost luggage, it was still a wonderful trip. Carlene and her entourage are awesome to work with. And the people at the G!Festival and Norsk Country Treff are extremely well organized and hospitable. Happy to be home – I think – until September. Was supposed to go to Japan with a group for the military bases in August but that was cancelled due to the fact that tourists are still not allowed to enter Japan due to COVID! Jude |
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