FRIDAY, MARCH 13
Up early compared to the other mornings. Bill from Germany is coming over to pick us up in a bus and take us all to Untermeitingen. Tracy is going to do 2 shows at Bill’s club, Four Corners.
Was a really nice scenic drive. Took about 4 hours, not too bad. Dropped the gear at the club, went over and checked in and headed back to the venue for load in / sound check. This took a little longer than we expected, but all was well. This cub is so cool. It’s about the size of 12th & Porter, but kinda laid out like 3rd & Lindsely. Small, but really cool. Had a quick dinner and back to the hotel to freshen up.
Tracy did an interview before the show at the hotel and off to the venue. Bill just built a dressing room this week out back. It’s not quite finished yet, but he did a great job considering he did it in 2 days. The show was packed!! There are supposed to be more tomorrow night, but I’m not sure where they are going to put them. Tracy put on the best show, almost 2 hours with the encore. The crowd loved him and you could really see that he was enjoying himself as well. Tracy signed autographs and then I headed back to the hotel about 2 AM.
SATURDAY, MARCH 14
Go to sleep in a little today, very late nights for the last 2 nights, and tonight will be no different. Bill picked us up at 11:30 AM and we caught a train into Landsberg. We spent the afternoon walking around the coolest town and doing a little sightseeing. We were headed back to Untermeitingen on the train and when it came to our stop, we all got up and I pushed the button to open the train door and it wouldn’t open. Bill pushed it like 3 times and nothing. Then the train started moving. Bill ran up to the conductor telling him we needed to get off and the door wouldn’t open. The conductor said he wasn’t sure why the door was locked, but he stopped for 10 seconds and he didn’t notice that anyone was wanting to get off. How in the world are you supposed to get off the train in 10 seconds?? We had to end up riding to the next stop, wait about 10 minutes and catch the train back to our stop. Daniel, who is the opening act and a good friend of Bill’s, was waiting with the van for us. He ended up meeting us and was holding a sign that read “Richard Nixon Group”. 🙂
Tonight is the last show. It will be a late night and a really early morning. Probably won’t go to bed that way we will all sleep on the flight. This has been my longest trip away from Andrew – 11 days. I have had a really good time. I am glad that we have stayed busy as that definitely make the time go faster. It’s been great getting to know Tracy and all of his guys. They are all super and I might actually miss them. 🙁 BUT, I will be so glad to see Andrew and Tim.
Had another great show tonight. I believe there were more people there than last night. The place was so packed that you could barely walk through the club. Tracy signed autographs for a while after the show and headed back to the hotel. The boys and I stayed for a little while. I didn’t think there was any sense in going to bed. It was already 1 AM and the bus was to depart at 5 AM.
SUNDAY, MARCH 15
I finally left the club, headed to my room to shower and finish packing. Bill came over about 3:30 AM to see us off and we chatted until it was almost time to leave. It was about 4:45 AM and there was no bus, I was getting a bit nervous. All of the guys had been down and brought their bags, except one. I mentioned to Marc that we may need to check on Mike since we were leaving soon. Marc went by his room, called and banged on the door, NOTHING!! Bill called the bus company, they would be here any minute. We continued to call and bang on Mike’s door, still NOTHING!! We could hear him snoring from the hallway. I think we woke up almost everyone in the hotel trying to get Mike up, still NOTHING. They do not have anyone that works the front desk after midnight. I climbed behind the desk trying to find a “master” key, but no luck. Finally at 5:30 AM, I told the other guys we had to leave. We could not chance missing our flights because we could not get Mike up. Off we went. I could not believe that I have been working with Judy for 11 years, and this was my first casualty. I have been close to leaving someone behind before, but had not yet.
Just as we are approaching the airport, I phoned Bill. The staff came in and was able to get in Mike’s room and woke him up. Mike didn’t freak out, which I know I would have. The thoughts of missing my flight and being left in Germany! Bill said he put Mike in a taxi and would be there in about an hour. Ohhh, that’s gonna be one expensive taxi ride.
As we checked in at the counter, I mentioned to the lady that we had one more guy in our group on his way in a taxi. I told her he should be at the airport by 7:30 AM; she said he would be fine. I was so relieved to hear that. I had this fear of them selling his seat if he did not check in 2 hours prior to the flight, as Delta had done to the Bellamys’ last summer. Looks like he might make it afterall. Mike comes strolling through security about 8 AM. I think he may have still been a little intoxicated, but he made it.
Boarded the flight and I think I passed out. I had been up all night and it was now almost 9 AM.
I did manage to wake up long enough to watch 2 movies the way home; Slumdog Millionaire and Nights in Rodanth with Richard Gere. They were both good movies.
Landed in Atlanta about 15 minutes late it took forever to get through passport control. We had less than an hour to get our bags, put them on the transfer belt, go through security and get to our gate. Kept waiting on the gear to come in, going back and forth from the carousel and the oversized bin. Finally about 30 minutes before our flight, I told the guys I was going on and would see if I could get them to hold the plane for a few minutes. Made it to the gate, and the lady there was not willing to help at all. She did not care where we had been, or that it was taking so long to get the gear, was not her problem. How nice!!! I called Marc to let him know they would not hold the plane and they were shutting the doors. The agent said they would put them on the next flight. We landed in Nashville, I called Marc to check in. There were no seats on the next flight to Nashville; Delta offered to put them on the first flight out the next morning. NOT!! Marc ended up renting a car and driving home from Atlanta. He, Tim and Phil ended up getting home about 10:30 PM, while Johnny, Mike and myself got in about 4:45 PM. I could not believe that after Mike being left at the hotel in Germany, he makes it home; and three of the other guys, don’t! Our bags didn’t make it on our flight. We had to come back to the airport later that evening and pick up the luggage, which was fine with me. I was just glad to be home!!!
Now I will work this week and be on vacation next week!!! Cannot wait!!! LA – here I come!!! 🙂
