SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2006:
First road report for 2006! Today I fly (alone) to the UK and then on to Germany and finally to Switzerland. Sound typical?? Dierks Bentley is performing for the troops in the UK and Germany and then I meet up with the Bellamy Brothers in Switzerland for 3 shows at an annual event. Have several days “off” between Germany and Switzerland. Too expensive to fly back to Nashville for 3 days, so I will stay in Switzerland. Friend of mine will meet me there and I’ll be the “tour guide” again for all the “hot spots”….in my case that usually refers to T-Mobile Hot Spots. Boring!!!!
A really nice airman that I met in Iraq last Thanksgiving with Aaron Tippin sent me an incredible custom-made desert flight jacket – with all the patches and “Jude” on the name tag. It is the coolest thing. Okay, actually I wore his jacket in a photo we took together and tried to “scam” it but he wouldn’t give it up. I was depressed for a short time since I usually don’t have any trouble swapping out something for their clothing. Receiving the jacket in the mail last week was a wonderful surprise. Thanks, Blaze!!!
But, I digress. At the last minute, I stuffed my “nice” coat into the duffle bag and opted for the cool flight jacket. I arrived at the airport to check in with my THREE huge bags. I always take gifts to the troops and of course, the HEAVY autograph sheets….amazing how much 2,000 pieces of paper can weigh. The lady checking me in asked me how many passengers and when I told her “just me”…she said WITH ALL THAT LUGGAGE? I told her it was okay and that I expected to pay a lot of money for excess. She took one look at my flight jacket and said, “I’ll only charge you $25. No I’ll just waive the whole thing”. Then I felt obligated to tell her that I am not military and explain what I do just so I wouldn’t feel like I was scamming the military. Guess it’s a bit ironic for someone who is so scared to fly to wear a flight jacket.
Feels strange not departing Nashville until 4:30 pm. Most of my flights are early morning and I have to BE at the airport at 4:30 AM. Going through Memphis to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Leeds. Never been to Leeds. Will drive over with the military escorts on Monday to pick Dierks and his group up in Newcastle. Then one show at Menwith Hill and a flight to Germany for one show at Baumholder. First time I’ve contracted directly with the bases rather than going through AFE, MWR, or USAREUR, so I am a little apprehensive that I have taken care of all the details.
Landed in Memphis and flight to Amsterdam was on time. I’m thinking how smoothly everything is going when the plane suddenly stops as we are on the runway for take-off. Seems there is an electrical problem that they KNOW they can fix quickly and we don’t even have to return to the gate. About a half hour later, we are informed it can’t be fixed without returning to the gate. I assumed I would be stuck in Memphis overnight but about 2 hours later than our normal departure time, the problem was supposedly fixed and we departed for Amsterdam. Last week I was stuck in DC and was told that I could not fly home until the next day. I refused to accept that option and after sitting in the DC airport for 4 hours, I flew to St. Louis where I sat for 3 hours. Then my “plane” was a 21 seat propeller plane and the weather in Nashville was terrible. The landing in Nashville was worse than any flights or any combat landings I’ve had in Iraq or Afghanistan. Even the pilots (who also doubled as the flight attendants!) admitted that it was the hardest landing they had ever made. The term 45 degree angle was used somewhere in their explanation. So, never again will I “force” a flight. I’ll roll with the punches. I had not taken time to eat all day long and we were not offered anything but orange juice, water or champagne while we were stuck in Memphis. It was 11 pm by the time we finally had dinner which definitely wasn’t very good anyway.
Sat next to a really nice man who works and travels frequently for FEDEX. He had some “air travel tales” to share as well. He missed his connection in Amsterdam but I made my with about a half hour so spare. I’ve learned to book really long layovers on all my trips. I can always go in the airport lounges and WORK. I have to admit that the security check in Amsterdam was unlike anything I’ve ever been through on any of my trips. I have never been “publicly patted down” so thoroughly in places that would never dare be touched by U.S. security. One of Minnie Pearl’s jokes kept running through my head. She said she was mugged and the guy “frisked her up and down and up and down”. Then he said, “Lady don’t you have any money?” And her response was…”No, but if you’ll do that again, I’ll write you a check”. Had it been a male security officer, I might have considered that option, too! J
We had to take a bus from the terminal to the airplane and all the while, I’m praying, “please don’t let it be a little propeller plane”. It wasn’t. Only a one hour flight to Leeds. BUT Leeds was still fogged in at 2:30 pm in the afternoon. We circled for an hour and then landed in Manchester. Then they put us on buses for a 1 ½ hour drive to Leeds. Again, no food. This is turning into a really good weight loss plan for me. Want to bet by the time I get to the hotel in Harrogate, NOTHING will be open for dinner?
Arrived at the Leeds airport and found a taxi to Harrogate. It was quite a long drive! Of course, I didn’t have enough British pounds left from my last trip to pay him so I had to change money in the hotel first. We didn’t think all my huge bags were going to fit in his trunk but we managed to force them in. When I checked into the hotel, the restaurant was right beside the lobby and the desk clerk asked if I wanted her to make me a reservation for dinner. Now, the restaurant was TOTALLY empty! I came back down to eat about an hour later and it was still empty. I had forgotten how horrible the food is in the U.K. Only good food over here is INDIAN! I had something that was supposed to be grilled turkey but had not taste at all. Hotel is nice and it looks like a beautiful area. Guess I’ll find out tomorrow morning EARLY when we leave to drive to Newcastle to pick up Dierks and the gang. The taxi driver said that the Leeds airport does not have the equipment for airplanes to make an instrument landing. All the landings must be “visual”. He said it is the only airport in the U.K. that doesn’t have the technology and that flight are constantly being diverted to other cities because it if foggy in Leeds most of the time!
Going to bed now. Tomorrow is a travel day but we also do an autograph sessions for the military personnel at Menwith Hill. Then dinner tomorrow night with the Base Commander and performance on Tuesday evening.
Jude
SUNDAY, JANUARY 22ND AND MONDAY, JANUARY 23RD:
Actually, yesterday’s report was for “Sunday, the 22ND” as well!
Got up today and worked out with the “bands” in my room which are much better than what the hotel has in their “exercise room”. I woke up to all kinds of problems via email with an upcoming tour. Not what I wanted to see first thing.
Our MWR rep from base picked me up and we went to the base to get my permit. Then drove to Newcastle to pick up Dierks and his group. The first part of the trip was on tiny winding roads barely big enough for cars to pass each other. Had it not been so foggy, the scenery would have been spectacular. She gave me the directions during the last few miles of the trip and everyone knows I have NO sense of direction. Of course, we got lost. Had to stop and ask directions. Everyone was ready when we arrived even though we were a little early.
The band drove directly to the hotel and checked in and I went with Dierks and Michelle from his record label to the base for an autograph session at the base cafeteria. Had about 100 people come through the line which was great since we hit the cafeteria just as the lunch period was over. I also gave out the EZScore cards to everyone compliments of my new partner. There are a lot of both military and civilian contractors stationed at Menwith Hill and all operations are secret. So, no base tour for us!
Everyone came back to the hotel and several people walked down into the beautiful little town. Harrogate is comprised of really, really wealthy people. Property prices are sky high. No bargain shopping in this little area! We all went out to a fabulous pub for dinner. Finally, some “good” food! The Base Commander and several other VIPs joined us for dinner and gave everyone a wonderful little goody bag filled with “base” memorabilia.
Dierks is really good with everyone…so kind and generous and spends time with each person in the autograph line. I think I mentioned that this is his first tour for the military overseas. It’s going to be a wonderful experience for him and then he’ll be ready to do more, I’m sure.
Tomorrow is the first show. Really looking forward to it. It’s 1:30 am now so I guess this road report is really for January 24th, too!
Night!
Jude
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24TH:
Well, I totally had all the dates wrong. Now I know that today is Tuesday, January 24th. Okay, it’s 2 am, so it’s really Wednesday, January 25th. Good grief!
Busy day today. Got up and the weather wasn’t quite “as horrible”. Still bone-chilling cold, but no rain and ONCE for about 30 seconds, I saw the sun. I’m sure all the Brits rushed out and purchased an ice cream cone!
Was able to jog 5 miles in a beautiful “field” right across from the hotel and then ran downtown to do a little “window shopping jog”. Felt awesome to be able to run again.
Came back and worked on email all morning while most of the others went sightseeing. Not fair!
Dierks’ first show was tonight. It was in a very small room at the Community Center on Menwith Hill RAF. Sound company was great and we didn’t have any problems. The audience was “different” from most of the shows I promote. There were a LOT of young children and civilians. The place was packed. Was supposed to hold 150 and there were over 200 attending. Dierks show was terrific and the crowd loved him. Everyone was talking about how they couldn’t believe he actually came to Menwith Hill. They don’t get a lot of celebrity entertainment here. The Services Staff that I worked with – Vickie and Sherry – have been awesome. Very “on the ball” and I like that. Dierks signed autographs for about 2 hours after the show and took time to chat with everyone in line. You can tell that he truly cares about our military. It was a great evening in a remote site – which is what I love doing. Handed out about 200 more of the EZ Scores cards and everyone loves them.
Tomorrow we fly to Frankfurt via Amsterdam and then bus for 2 hours to Baumholder. Going to be a long day. But no show tomorrow night. Just dinner with the Commander.
Bedtime!
Jude
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25TH;
Forgot to mention that I got the coolest coin last night. The Commander who is in the Air Force gave it to me. It is an Air Force “Wing Man” coin. She said that the “Wing Man” in the Air Force “takes care of other people” and that’s why she gave it t me.
Got 3 hours sleep and then headed to the airport. I KNEW we were going to have problems because NW and KLM would not issue me paper tickets for our flights and they would not let us use E-tickets. I was not disappointed. The KLM agent said we should HAVE the paper tickets and that since I didn’t have them, I would have to purchase all new tickets – over $3,000! I refused and called the Platinum Line at NW. Before I could put them on the line with the ticket agent, she supposedly “found” the reservations and said she could issue the tickets. NW and KLM are supposed to be partners but it is very obvious that they do not like each other and do not work well together.
KLM then wanted to limit our bag weight to 20 kgs per person! I had to prove to them that today’s flight was a part of the international ticket. We finally settled on a figure and I paid several thousand dollars in excess fees. Flight from Leeds to Amsterdam was fine but we had a very short connection time. We had to go through security again and this time, I didn’t get patted down. Very strange. Same airport as earlier this week. I took off the two dogtags that I have been wearing every day since I received them and put them in my purse so they wouldn’t set off the alarm. When I got to the gate and was ready to put them back on, they were gone. I guess they fell out of my purse going through security. I am so upset about losing these. They have been my “good luck charms”. I do keep in touch with the Marine and the soldier who gave me these and I’ve asked them if they could send me another one.
We arrive in Frankfurt and it was 1 below zero and snowing. And I thought it was cold in the U.K. Charming little hotel but no elevator! We were invited to dinner at the Commander’s House and his wife and some friends had cooked Mexican food…incredible, delicious Mexican food. Dierks and his guys really pigged out. They were so happy to see salsa and chips instead of the fish and chips they have been eating for 2 weeks! The Commander and his friends were great and we stayed for quite a while. The MWR coordinator that I have been working with here is great, too. Very organized and no problems. They expect a huge crowd tomorrow. This base houses the 2nd AD and has about 13,000 troops. Most of the troops are over in Kuwait and Iraq right now. They are so excited about the EZ Scores Calling Cards and I’m going t send them 4,500 more to send to their troops down range.
Okay, it’s 3 am AGAIN and I have to get some sleep. The boys get to play in the tank simulators tomorrow morning and they are really looking forward to that. They are also going to try to let them “shoot something”! J
Jude
Thursday, August 26th
Woke up from my normal 4 hours of sleep to find about 3 inches of snow on the ground. No jogging today and no exercise room at this little hotel, so it’s the bands again.
We all went over to the base and got to play on the tank simulators. I had used one of these years ago with the Bellamy Brothers and I think we were in Bosnia. I had really high scores back then. But the controls have certainly changed! Now there is a laser that you can lock onto the target before firing. I didn’t take out that many targets but I really incinerated the ones I was able to hit. It was such a nice “treat” for everyone to be able to experience this.
We ate on base and then had a tour of the tunnels underneath the building that were used by Hitler during the war. THAT was fascinating.
The show was in the Wagon Wheel Theatre on base and it really was a great theatre. Lundstuhl had agreed to bring over about 30 of their patients but because of the snow and also because a plane arrived from Iraq, only about 10 patients were able to attend.
The 750 seat theatre was packed and the crowd was very enthusiastic. They all stood and sang along during the entire show. Dierks had to have felt like Elvis because of the way the women were screaming. It was so good that he could perform at a base that rarely gets entertainment. I will make a real effort to get more entertainers to come here. There were a lot of women and children in the audience and most of them have husbands in Kuwait, Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s really hard on those left behind. Dierks talked to one man who said he was deployed for a year and now his wife is deployed for a year. He said it was “much easier” being the one deployed than being the one left behind. This base is great at providing lots of activities for the wives and families. The divorce rate is very high for those deployed and Baumholder truly helps in taking care of the families left behind.
We all received coins and plaques after the show. Then Dierks met all the wounded and took photos with them. I talked with each one of them and gave them my SFS coin and a stack of the EZ Scores cards to use while they are in the hospital. I had visited most of the Camps where the men and women were stationed. There were injuries from mortars, IED’s, rolled vehicles but there were also “non-war” related injuries – malaria, breast cancer exam, stroke, etc. All of these things happened while they were deployed though.
The autograph line was very long and Dierks signed for a little over 3 hours. It was such a wonderful night and a great “end” to his 2 week tour. Tomorrow the band flies home, Dierks drives to Cologne for his record release and I fly to Switzerland!
Jude