WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8TH – DAY OFF IN HAUGESUND:

 

Woke up feeling 100% better!  I went to the little fitness room and did my normal stretches.  The floor in my room is wood…as it is in most hotels…but I noticed last night that there are mats in the fitness room. I had planned to do a short workout with weights as well but after the stretching, I realized how “weak” I still am.  Don’t want to overdo it!

 

My left leg has bruises all the way up it!  The bed in the Liechtenstein Hotel had wood frames with very sharp corners.  Since the bed takes up most of the space in the room, I was hitting it every time I walked by it.  I finally managed to pull the 100+ pound mattress down to hang over about two inches over the foot of the bed so that I didn’t hit it anymore.  Just wish I had thought of it earlier!

 

David and I walked around the town and found most of the items we were looking for.  The only thing I didn’t find is an iPhone case like the one I have now.  Maybe I can find that in the Copenhagen airport! It’s a great “shopping area” with lots of different types of stores.  Good thing I can’t add anything to my suitcase.  It’s also on the big cruise ship stops so lots of tourists.

 

We decided to try the Indian Restaurant by our hotel for a very late lunch and early dinner and OMG, it was awesome!  I swear I might have to eat there again tomorrow night it was so good.  The “free” meal at the restaurant tonight looked good but there was no way I could eat anything else.  They had baked chicken with rice and a nice salad bar.  Looks like everyone else took advantage of it.

 

I worked the remainder of the afternoon and got everyone checked in for the flights to the Faroe Islands on Friday.  Heather Myles arrived there today and the promoter is taking care of her.  Looks like we might have terrible weather to land in on Friday – Rain with 40 mph plus wind gusts.   It’s one of the most frightening airports in the world to land at in good weather.  I’m going to need heavy drugs if the weather doesn’t change!

 

Going to try to get in bed at a normal hour tonight instead of at 3 am!  Sound check and performance at the Kopervik Country Festival tomorrow.  Weather forecast is good but “chilly”.  We’ll be back in Haugesund next February on the month long tour of Norway but it will be cold and dark that time of the year.  It’s rather chilly here today (in the 50’s) but at least it’s still only “dusk” outside at almost midnight.

 

Jude

 

THURSDAY, JUNE 9TH – PERFORMANCE AT KOPERVIK COUNTRY FESTIVAL:

So, I left out one of the most important parts of my evening last night.

At around 9:00 PM, when it was still definitely daylight, I decided to walk back up to the Coop (grocery store) and purchase a bag of popcorn. On my way up I passed a group of young teenagers who seemed to be harassing a homeless man with a backpack. I felt sorry for him but kept walking and did not get involved. After I purchased my popcorn and started walking back to the hotel, I walked through a small park. The homeless man was there and approached me and kneeled down in front of me and held his hand and said something. I assumed he was asking for money and I just shook my head no.  Then he got up and tried to grab my arm. I did the first and only thing that came to my mind. I yelled “Covid. Covid”  and started coughing. Hey, it worked. He backed off and I high tailed it back to the hotel. I would’ve been really ticked off if he had stolen my popcorn!

Out of an abundance of caution, I skipped my work out again today. Just did a lot of stretches. Worked in my room until it was time to go to Soundcheck at 2 PM. The venue is really nice. To my surprise it is not outdoors but in a nice tent. The production crew is excellent as is the promoter. Soundcheck went faster than usual and we were finished by around 4:15 pm.

I talked David into having sushi with me instead of eating the beef stroganoff that was provided free at the hotel. We thought we were only going to be walking a block but it turned out to be more like eight or 10 blocks to a sushi restaurant that Randy Hall suggested. It turned out to be worth the walk. The sushi was great. There was some initial confusion when we walked in when the lady who we assumed would see us asked us what we wanted to drink. We told her and then she gave us the price and was waiting for us to pay. I told her, “No, we want to sit down and eat.” She said, “OK”  and quoted the price for the drinks again. I said, “Can we eat first?“ She said,  “Oh you want to pay for your drinks after you eat?”  Very strange.

We had about an hour after dinner to get ready to go back out to the show. The tent is packed with fans. We took photos with a couple who knew me from some of the other festivals over here. They said they have been members of the Bellamy Brothers fan club since it first started. It was a really great show with a very enthusiastic audience who sang along with every song. It is always nice to see younger females who sing along and love the Bellamys music.  Like “India” said….there music is “Evergreen” which translates as “timeless” in America!

Weather is beautiful here! We will depart to the Faroe Islands early tomorrow morning. The weather forecast is still for rain with really high wind gusts. Not looking forward to that.

Jude