WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY -MAY 15TH -16TH – VERTICAL HORIZON SOUTHWEST ASIA TOUR:
Strange not to have to arrive at the airport at 6 am! Today I left for Kuwait with rock band Vertical Horizon. There are 7 of us total and departing from 5 different cities. As usual, I have been glued to my weather app for days checking the weather in all the cities. At 3 am, everything was fine. Then this morning, there were issues for Tampa and Nashville passengers! Our flight was delayed and so were two of the guys out of Tampa.
We all eventually arrived in Newark and still had plenty of time —-because I only book flights with really long layovers!!! Matt and I went into the United Lounge and I worked nonstop for 3 hours.
We boarded our next flight to Dubai and I told the guys to check their United App and make sure their bags were loaded. Unfortunately, two of the bags were not on the plane and we were close to departure time. I checked with the purser who introduced me to the Captain. The Captain was super nice. I gave him a coin and also took coins to the flight crew. The co-pilot is former military and has a small guitar hanging in the cockpit. I told him we were borrowing it if ours didn’t make it on the plane! I had Matt go up and thank everyone, too. Before we took off, the Captain announced that Vertical Horizon was in the plane and going over to entertain the military bases. A really sweet thing to do.
So, they will perform 3 shows in Kuwait, 2 in Dubai, 1 in the UAE, and 1 in Qatar. Be home on May 29th. Matt loves performing for the military and has several times cancelled great paying shows to go on tour to military bases instead.
The Captain assured us that the plane would not depart until all our bags were on. Just as they closed the doors, all our bags showed as loaded.
I ate the meal provided. The menu they sent us to select our choices sounded terrible but the food was actually really good! I was able to sleep for almost 5 hours and then worked for another 4 hours. It’s a 13 ½ hour flight….
I had eggs for breakfast and they were good, too. We landed a few minutes late but still had plenty of time to make our connection – just not a lot of time to “shop”! We had to go down this long escalator to the waiting area. I was about halfway down when I heard a loud crash followed by really loud noises. I turned around and a man had dropped his rolling suitcase and it was barreling down the escalator towards me. I knew there was no way I was going to avoid getting hit because the escalator was too narrow and I couldn’t beat it to the end to get off and out of the way. I put my rolling bag between me and the projectile and it absorbed a lot of the impact. But then I almost fell getting off the escalator because the handle was up on his bag and it came off first and slammed into me. The man did apologize.
We flew Emirates from Dubai to Kuwait. It was only a 2 hour flight but the service was amazing. Beautiful aircraft inside. They served dinner but I was too full from the United flight. Matt ate and said it was one of the best meals he’s ever had. It was lamb and vegetables.
We landed on time in Kuwait and quickly cleared Immigration and Customs. A lady with a luggage cart slammed into my legs from behind. She apologized and then did it again a few minutes later. Once we got out of the line and into open space, I moved aside so she could go ahead of me. Just not my day when it comes to avoiding minor accidents. Lots of nice bruises to show for it.
Darius was waiting for us and the drive to the hotel only took about 20 minutes. Our rooms were ready and as usual, they are so nice at the front desk. Our lobby call is 12 noon and it’s 2 am now. Going to bed!
Jude
FRIDAY, MAY 17TH – FIRST PERFORMANCE IN KUWAIT AT ALI AL SALEM AIR BASE:
Definitely not a good sign when I can’t remember what day of the week it is and I’ve only been gone 2 days! Was up at 7:00 am and it’s a beautiful day outside. My room this time has a partial view of the beach. Some of the guys were already messaging about the fabulous breakfast buffet by the time I got up. Dressed and went downstairs to eat breakfast – something I never do at home. At home, I don’t eat before 2 pm. I wasn’t hungry but based on the fact that we won’t have time for lunch today, thought I’d better eat something.
We departed the hotel at noon for our drive to “The Rock”. There was no traffic because Friday is a “weekend day” here so we arrived a little bit early. We had a big “welcoming” committee. The former staff left right after the Runaway June concert and these are all new staff members. Just have to say right now…they are all AWESOME. Our entrance to Ali was much quicker than when we were here last month with Runaway June. Our Air Force driver just flashed his ID and everyone in the van was cleared to enter with him. We made a quick stop at the famous “Rock” for a photo opp.
Donald and the Production Company had everything set up and ready for the guys to sound check. I met everyone on the FSS staff and began working details for the Meet and Greet, dinner, etc. The FSS Commander actually came to the venue and spent several hours with us – what an unexpected treat!
I hiked over to the base exchange and purchased a convertor because I left mine at the hotel. Military bases in this region do not have U.S. outlets!
The guys ran a little long on sound check but we were only a few minutes late walking to the DFAC for dinner. We sat in a private room with leadership and met the Wing Commander and his Staff plus all the FSS Staff were there. The Wing Commander gave us a history of “why” we have military in Kuwait. I asked him what plane he flew and he said the C-17. The C-17 is a huge military transport that we have flown many times between Kuwait and Afghanistan. He then told us about their involvement in transporting the people fleeing Afghanistan in August of 2021. The things we saw on the news were unbelievably horrific but to hear him talk about this from a personal perspective was very sobering. Makes me even prouder of the men and women serving our country if that is possible. He and his staff were flying the C-17’s that were packed with the refugees.
A Colonel had asked to introduce the band. Turns out he has been a fan since high school and at one point made a mix tape and gave it to his girlfriend – now his wife! During the show, Matt brought up a young airman who plays guitar and let him play with them. The airman absolutely shredded it…with no rehearsal and never having played with the group before! The people attending loved it. The band does a lot of audience involvement with having the audience sing along and everyone truly enjoyed the show. At the end of each performance, Vertical Horizon always gives the audience a standing ovation.
There was a long line for the Meet and Greet and the guys took photos with everyone and passed out pre-signed autograph cards. It was such a great first show. When it was time to leave, we all felt like we were leaving friends that we had known for years. Very happy to know that this staff will be in place at Ali for the next 6 months.
We were back at the hotel at around midnight and I stayed up until 3:30 am working. Lobby call isn’t until noon tomorrow and I’m skipping breakfast to get some more work done. If this first show is an indication of how the tour will go, it’s going to be another awesome one. Of course, I say that about every tour!
Jude
SATURDAY, MAY 18TH – PERFORMANCE AT CAMP ARIFJAN:
What another great day with “Vertical Horizon”! I was able to get a little work completed before lobby call at noon. Since today is not a work day, it was a quick drive to Camp Arifjan…about 30 minutes.
First stop was the Virtual Firing Range. The guys get to use several different kinds of guns and really had fun. I’ve done it so many times that I didn’t participate. Instead, my friend Don Harbin came by to say hello and I talked to him the entire time. He won’t be able to attend the show tonight. His lovely wife, Debbie, is in the USA so I’ll miss seeing her this trip. We spent about an hour there and all my guys got to shoot. We arrived at the stage right on time and Mark began dialing in his consoles. The base exchange is right next door so we all walked over there. I remember that it didn’t have a lot because the Main Exchange is in Zone 1 and we are in Zone 6. I did find 6 black sharpies and purchased those because this heat is drying out the ones I brought quickly. At least we have a very strong breeze to day which made it seem cooler than it really was. High is supposed to be 99 degrees tomorrow.
I also bought a “Hunt’s Pizza” because those are sold in all the base exchanges around the world. They are a huge supporter of The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project and I wanted to see how they tasted. They are also sold in most “Quick Marts” throughout the USA. I got a cheese pizza and had them cut it into 16 slices instead of 8 slices. It was really good and the guys liked it too. Since they were still not ready for sound check, I headed over to Starbucks and got a Green Tea Macha Latte with Oat milk. When I got back, Matt asked me if I could try to find someone in the military who plays guitar and would be willing to come on stage for a “guest spot” tonight like he did last night. The first young man that I asked said he definitely played but refused to agree to come on stage. I looked everywhere including the Music Room at the USO. No luck. One of the staff members at the USO called a female friend who plays but she turned us down, too. Stage fright!
I told the guys if they finished sound check early, we would drive over to Zone 1 to the Main Exchange and then eat at the nicer DFAC there – “ The Oasis”. I have had more than 100 meals there from all my visits to this base. There are lots of little stalls outside in the hallway in front of the main exchange. One sold jewelry so I stopped there to look for a cross that Zac wants. I started talking to the guy and turned out he is the brother of the man who owns the same type of shop at Camp Buehring where Runaway June and I purchased a lot of pearl jewelry last month. I told him that I know his brother is in the USA right now. He was surprised that I knew that and said he would call his friend who is working there while his brother is away and make sure he gives us a good deal. We took a selfie for him to send to his brother.
Matt had walked into the Barber Shop and was teasing the staff about cutting his “hair”. I took lots of photos of him with the staff and then “Sandy”, my friend now from the jewelry shop, asked for a photo with him. That soon turned into photos with everyone.
When we arrived back at the venue, a guy walked in and said “Judy”? It was “Ski” one of our security detail from Triple Canopy years ago. Only it was a much thinner “Ski” – like by about 100 pounds. He said COVID almost killed him and then he got married and his wife makes him eat healthy. LOL. He looked great and we took photos for me to send to a lot of the entertainers he protected on our tours.
The Command Sgt. Major came by and met everyone, gave them coins and certificates and took photos with them. I told his aide that we had been unable to find someone who played guitar. He told the CSM who immediately walked into the crowd and returned about 3 minutes later with a young man who said he would play guitar on stage. I took him backstage to introduce him to Matt and as we were walking, he said, “Actually I went to high school with your bass player Mark”! Talk about “Karma”. He is now a Sargeant in the Army!
The guys took the stage at exactly 7 pm and the crowd was awesome. Bleachers were full and the band got a lot of them to come stand in front of the stage and “sing” along. “Bryan” – our guest guitar player did such a great job. Very talented musician! The band played “Purple Rain” tonight which is always a crowd favorite. I was walking behind the bleachers and one soldier had his hand over his heart and was singing along at the top of his lungs. I should have taken a photo/video of that!
The band took photos with everyone for almost an hour including our Production Company, MWR Staff and Security. I wanted to get all that done tonight because we will have an 8:30 am lobby call to go to the airport on Monday morning and we’ll want to depart Camp Buehring tomorrow night as quickly as possible since it’s a 2 hour drive back to the hotel.
There were a few slices of pizza and some fruit and chips left over from catering so the guys took most of that with them. We arrived back at the hotel at around 11 pm. I am NOT staying up all night working tonight!
Jude
SUNDAY, MAY 19TH – FINAL PERFORMANCE IN KUWAIT – CAMP BUEHRING:
No time to work out this morning because of our 10:30 am lobby call. It was supposed to be about a 2 hour drive to Camp Buehring because of traffic (Sunday is a work day in Kuwait!). This is the first time we didn’t see the camels on the side of the road. So disappointed the guys didn’t get to witness that.
When we were about a half hour away, we got a call from security saying the entire base was on “lock down” and no one was coming in or going out. They thought it might be another couple of hours before they got the all clear. We drove slower but still had to pull over on the side of the road to wait. Fortunately we got the all clear at around 1 pm – the time we were scheduled for our first Meet and Greet.
No problem with gate access because we had a security escort. Our security escorts at Arifjan and here are from Georgia and most of them “talk like I do” – heavy Southern accent. We dropped our bags backstage and rushed to our first M&G. We met with leadership and the Medical team for a discussion of what they do at this base. Our security team was able to tell us that they thought there was a car bomb this morning and that’s why the base was shut down. Thankfully it turned out to be a false alarm.
Afterwards we made a stop at Starbucks and the Base Exchange. Donald and our Production Company were stuck outside the gate this morning for 2 ½ hours so the stage was not set up and ready for us. But, it will take us less time to do sound check today since we have all the same backline and crew. They were finally ready for us at 4 pm – instead of 2 pm like planned. But this production crew is so awesome, we still finished sound check by 5 pm.
We drove over to the DFAC and had dinner. Matt doesn’t eat before the show so he walked around and talked to everyone and invited them to the show. We also started the search for a “guest guitar player” for tonight’s performance. We had a couple of good prospects but they turned out to have stage fright. When we got back to the venue, there was a young female waiting for us she wasn’t shy and was ready to play the guitar. Matt ran through everything with her and while they were rehearsing, another young man showed up so Matt decided to have both of them perform together.
It was a really great crowd and another wonderful show. Nothing more gratifying than looking out into the audience and seeing big smiles on everyone’s faces and they are singing along. This base is the most isolated so also the most appreciative. The young soldiers stole the show when they played guitar with the band.
Our last show in Kuwait was over much too soon. There was a long M&G line filled with lots of happy soldiers. Our drive back to the hotel was supposed to take around 2 hours but we made it a little faster because there was no traffic. We agreed on an 8:30 pm departure from the hotel to the airport. I had the front desk close out all the charges tonight so I wouldn’t have to deal with that tomorrow morning. I love the staff at this hotel so much and love staying here. Hope to come back on another tour one day.
Jude
MONDAY, MAY 20TH – TRAVEL FROM KUWAIT TO BAHRAIN:
Earliest lobby call we have had this trip. We departed at 8:30 am for the drive to the Kuwait airport. We’re flying on Gulf Air. Check in was easy once we found the correct door to enter at the Kuwait Airport. No one wanted to “shop” so we went through to the gate area – which was not “easy”. Matt got pulled aside for a little tool that he uses on his guitar and Wes had the same issue only he had more than one tool. They let Matt take his through once he explained what it was but confiscated all Wes’s tools. They told him he could go back to the ticket counter and check it but he decided against that.
As Matt and I were putting our items on the belt for scanning, a man jumped in front of both of us and put his things on. But, the officer questioned something and he then held up the line for about 5 minutes while waiting to be cleared!
We all sat around for about half an hour and then went to the gate area. In Kuwait, you have to go through ANOTHER security scan to get to the seating lounge for the flight. We were the first ones in line but once again, several guys came up and stood right beside us, ready to lurch in front of us. There’s not a lot of consideration for “personal space” in these countries so it’s sometimes frustrating to deal with. When the door opened to allow us in, Ron jumped through the door only to be told by the agent that he couldn’t come in yet.
The flight was only one hour and I tried to sleep – – since I only got 3 ½ hours sleep last night — but I wasn’t very successful. It’s one of the older aircraft and not very comfortable. We landed on time and cleared Immigration easily because we had obtained our Visas online. As we were walking to baggage claim, Khalid from the base arrived. Evidently he had been waiting for us as we got off the plane but missed us. We were lucky this time and all our bags arrived. Khalid kept saying it was going to take a long time to clear customs. When we started walking out of baggage claim, he told us to go though the Red Lane that states “Items to Declare”. I told everyone to go through the Green Lane that states “Nothing to Declare”. We breezed right through. The only reason to go through the Red Line is if Customs stops you and sends you through that lane.
MeChele was waiting for us but only had the Mercedes Sprinter van. This is a great van as far as space for passengers but the luggage space isn’t big enough for large guitar road cases and large personal bags. The guys struggled to get everything stacked inside and I was afraid a bag was going to fall out on them before they managed to shove most of it inside. Several pieces had to go in the back seats. Definitely going to request a cargo van for the return to the airport.
We checked into the K Hotel (where we stayed with Runaway June last month) and everyone had been upgraded to a Junior Suite. While it’s a nice perk, it’s also challenging. Everything is “hard wired” except for a couple of plugs at the desk and one on the wall in each room. The closest outlet to the bed is on the far wall and none of my plugs to charge my phone would reach. I called the front desk and asked for an “extension cord”. They sent a man up with a tool kit who informed me that the hotel doesn’t have any extension cords. I called down again and asked to speak to the hotel manager. I don’t know if the staff gets in trouble if they can’t handle the guests’ requests but I can never get them to put me through to the manager or a supervisor. Regardless, I finally convinced them that if they wanted us to stay at their hotel, they needed to “find” an extension cord. Someone brought it to my room 5 minutes later.
Since most people were hungry and ate lunch at 4 pm, we decided not to go out to eat before going to The Scorpions Concert tonight. We moved our departure time to 7:30 pm. Geoff – my contact and friend at the base where the band performs tomorrow, had introduced me to the manager of the new Amphitheater in Bahrain. We have never met but have corresponded a lot over the past few months. When I was here with Runaway June, he was in the USA though! He invited us to come to The Scorpions concert tonight and all the Vertical Horizon guys are so excited. They are huge fans of their music!
We drove to the venue and had VIP parking and VIP passes. The Amphitheatre is so beautiful! We walked into the private “box” and there was literally a “feast” of every kind of food and drink imaginable. And the view was outstanding. Jeff’s boys, Matt and a couple of the musicians went with me to the merchandise sales table to purchase “Swag”. They had a t-shirt with all the tour stops on it. This is the second stop on their tour and it is listed as Bahrain, Bahrain. That is like saying USA, USA. LOL. But, it’s still a great shirt.
Their performance was wonderful. They sang for over 90 minutes and did all their hits. Considering their careers began in the late 60’s, early 70’s it was surprising to see so many “young” people in the audience – singing along with every song! Lance came up and spent most of the evening with us. What a super, nice guy he is. So glad Geoff made the introduction and I got to get to know him during this visit. Hopefully we can do some business together in the future. He is definitely a “visionary” and seems to love his job.
The Scorpions closed the show with “Like a Hurricane” and brought everyone to their feet to sing along. They got multiple standing ovations. It was such a great, fun night!
When we arrived back at our hotel, there was a “fight” taking place on the front steps into the hotel. It was between a man wearing a robe and one of the hotel staff members and another man in robes. The two kept shoving him down the steps. We parked farther away and walked quickly into the hotel through another door. I stopped and asked the hotel desk clerk what was happening and he said, “Nothing is happening. Go to your room now!” Still don’t now what happened but things got quiet shortly thereafter.
The air conditioning in my room is making me crazy. No matter what I set the thermostat to, it defaults to 20 degrees Celsius. And the fan will not turn off when I set it to auto. I had to get up in the middle of the night and turn it off completely because I was freezing! Going to have it checked out tomorrow.
Jude
TUESDAY, MAY 21ST – DAY OFF FOR SIGHTSEEING IN BAHRAIN:
I “slept in” today and actually got 6 hours of sleep. Dressed to go to the gym but first I had to log onto the Anne Frank House website and grab tickets for our visit there in June. They only open the site for tickets 6 weeks prior and they are gone fast. Fortunately, I was able to secure 4 for us this July.
Went to the hotel gym and it was adequate. Got in a good 1 hour work out then showered and worked for a little while before meeting the group in the lobby for our sightseeing tour. I stopped by the front desk and asked them to “fix” my air conditioner but I doubt they will be able to do anything.
Khursheed from MWR ISA is our “host” and “driver” today. He’s awesome! We made a quick stop to change money so we would have local currency at the Souk. Then the next stop on the tour was the world’s largest Mosque. Unfortunately when we arrived, “prayers” had just started so we had to wait for 45 minutes before we could go into the main part. The restrooms were in a building outside and when I first walked into the ladies, I was shocked to see a long line of “stools” in front of a trough and handheld shower wands by each stool. I was thinking, “no way” when I realized that was for “washing” before saying prayers. The have to wash their hands, faces, and feet. In the actual toilet stall, there wasn’t any toilet tissue in site. But again, there was a hand held shower wand. The “pressure” in the wand was mach force! I don’t understand why anyone would use that instead of toilet tissue because then your entire bottom and thighs would be wet! I obviously need “instructions”!
Also learned that instead of just giving me a “skirt” (as they do in Thailand), I was going to be required to wear a black robe and black scarf covering my head. That was a “first” and not especially “flattering”! Ron decided to wear one of the men’s grey robes. We had an excellent guide who was from Egypt. He was very knowledgeable and friendly and I asked him a lot of questions. We gave him the weblink for Vertical Horizon’s YouTube Channel and he plans to check out their music.
Next stop was the Souk for shopping with a visit to the “Gold Souk” as well. I was looking for a “cross” necklace for Zac but did not find one. The guys didn’t make any purchases at all.
Last stop was “dinner” at a local restaurant. The food was so good. We had about 4 different flavors of Hummus plus a couple of salads and for the main course – a mixed grill. All the meat was extremely tender and very well flavored. Mark and I had been eyeing a strange dessert that looked like a thick pancake with pistachios on the top. We were both too stuffed to order it at the end of the meal. But Matt surprised us and ordered it for us. Turned out to be some type of “cheese” layered with we’re not sure what else. Regardless, it was to die for.
We were back at the hotel around 8 pm and no fight outside tonight. Also, no solution to my air conditioning issues. I checked with the guys and they are all having the same problem. I hope base lodging air conditioning is fixed by the time I make my next visit to this region so we can stay on base instead of this hotel.
Jude
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22ND – FIRST SHOW IN BAHRAIN:
CORRECTION: My road report last night said we went to the “world’s” largest mosque which is very obviously a typo. Meant to write “Bahrain’s largest mosque”. Have to stop writing these at 2 am!
Well, CNN has figured out why the Singapore Airlines flight hit severe turbulence. It is obviously climate change! Don’t know why I didn’t think of that….
Got up earlier today to have time for an omelet before departing for a very full day of activities. Problem is, even after asking twice, they never brought the omelet. Really hoping we don’t have to stay at this hotel again.
First stop today was supposed to be The Tree of Life. But a few minutes after departing the hotel, there was a really loud noise and the entire Sprinter Van shook. I thought we had a flat tire but Geoff thought it was the brakes. But, it was neither of those. It was the air conditioning! We still had a 30 minute drive without stopping at the Tree of Life. At least the front air worked, just not the air in the rest of the vehicle!
We arrived at the base and went straight to the airfield for a tour of the P8 aircraft. Really nice guys who gave us the tour and one of our escorts to the aircraft is the guy who is going to play guitar as a “guest” tonight – with a call sign of “CoCo”! The guys really enjoyed learning about the aircraft.
Next stop was to drop bags in the Green Rom and go to lunch at the Galley. Honestly, I said it last time but Bahrain has the best DFAC food of any of the countries I’ve visited. We were sitting around talking at lunch and forgot that we had a call with leadership! We rushed over and it was the same Commander that I met with Runaway June. He is in the Air Guard and on a 6 month deployment which has been extended. He flies for American Airlines out of Miami when he isn’t deployed. Good contact to have.
Guys went to the stage and began the process of setting up and doing a sound check. I walked over to the base and was able to find Matt a cap with the name of the base on it. Then Geoff took me to the ATM so I could withdraw money to reimburse the guys for their excess baggage expenses.
Geoff does a really great job at this base of taking care of his sailors. You may have noticed I have not mentioned the name of the base. We have to wait until we have left this country to post anything on social media with the name of the base. Not sure “why” because everyone in the audience is posting during the show. Geoff offered free food to the attendees – steak and burgers grilled on site. Plus this base has a cash “bar” at the shows. There was also a 5 K run prior to the show tonight. The thermometer at the airfield said 118 degrees today but it was only about 106 at the stage. It did cool down considerably when the sun went down.
We all walked over to the DFAC for dinner just prior to the show starting. We had a great crowd and the show was once again awesome! It took us two years to get the band here but it was worth the wait! The audience loved it when CoCo did his “guest spot” playing guitar. The band took photos with everyone after the show. We had planned to stop by the Tree of Life tonight but everyone was just too tired! I may ask them if they want to stop on the way to the airport on Friday. Matt and I have seen it but the others haven’t.
Going to bed so I can get 4 hours of sleep. Early lobby call tomorrow because of an AFN interview.
Jude
THURSDAY, MAY 23RD – SECOND PERFORMANCE IN BAHRAIN:
Early lobby call today at 8:20 am. First stop was a one hour interview at AFN. The guys did a great job and the person handling the interview was good as well. He had some “interesting” questions.
From AFN we went directly to a meeting with TRIAD (XO, CO, and MCO). I had met most of them when I was here with Runaway June. The guys enjoyed listening to them talk about their lives here.
Next stop was a Unit Visit with EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal). This was a really great group of guys. The had all their “devices” set up for demonstration and each person told us about what they do. The guys got to play with the “robot” and at the end of the presentation, one of the guys showed how to rappel up a rope! When he asked if anyone would like to try it, Matt immediately volunteered. He struggled at first because it’s hard to get the hand/foot coordination working properly. But once he caught on, he went all the way to the top. There was a brief moment of panic on my part when I didn’t think he was going to be able to figure out how to rappel down, but he got it. Have some great video posted on FB. While the guys were inspecting the various “stations”, I was talking to some of the other sailors. One of them had just graduated from Vanderbilt!
I also asked if anyone played guitar as we needed a volunteer for the show tonight. Only took a few minutes for them to locate a guitar player and bring him over to meet Matt. Happy to have that resolved so quickly. I didn’t get the “title” of the person who was in charge today but his last name is Schippert and he is amazing. He truly cares about his men and women. He also plays guitar but wanted one of his sailors to have the opportunity.
We went to lunch at the Galley and when I was here before, the food was excellent for a DFAC. Was a little disappointed this time because they didn’t have anything I liked on the menu. Ox Tail Stew is not in my food chain. LOL. But, I was able to get a veggie patty and a great salad and really fresh watermelon and cherries.
Everyone went to the Green Room to rest while Mike and Mark went to the stage to set up. I went to the stage with them but there was no one there from the Production team. Since we were 10 minutes early, I assumed they were still on lunch break. It was about 110 degrees and felt even hotter. I went back to the Green Room to get some work done and at 1:30 pm, Mike called to say that no one had shown up. Got that corrected quickly. This base owns all their production equipment and has a large warehouse of “spare” items so when they didn’t provide the number of snare stands that were listed in our rider, it was no problem for them to run to the warehouse and secure another one.
Our soundcheck ran a few minutes late because of the delayed start. Geoff and his family band are opening the show for us tonight and they did a quick soundcheck before they performed from 5:00-5:30 pm. They are great! Both of his boys (guitar and lead singer) have been sick with allergies but I would never have known it.
Vertical Horizon took the stage at 6:00 pm and the outdoor area was packed with families – lots with little children dancing in front of the stage. They brought Mike (the guest guitarist) up for one song and the people attending loved that. It was another successful, fun show.
This base does the Meet and Greet line inside the building where our Green Room is located. Just too hot to hold it outside. There was a really long line but most of the people want “group” photos so it went quickly.
No one had eaten dinner before the show and only Taco Bell and a Pizza restaurant were still open by the time we finished up. Everyone got food to go and we were back at the hotel before 10 pm. I stayed up until midnight and then decided to crash and get up early to finish up!
Tomorrow we fly to Abu Dhabi UAE for a show at Al Dhafra.
Jude
FRIDAY, MAY 24TH – TRAVEL DAY FROM BAHRAIN TO ABU DHABI, UAE:
We had to check out of the hotel by noon, so we planned to go to the base and eat lunch in the Food Court before going to the airport. I don’t know if there was miscommunication or if the bases just didn’t have the vehicles but since the Sprinter van was now out of commission, we had two regular passenger vans. Obviously, that would not work for the amount of luggage and equipment we had. The only alternative was to again lift all the 50 pound cases and suitcases into the seats of one of the passenger vans. Definitely not something I want my guys doing since one pulled back will put them out of commission for the rest of the tour.
We arrived at the airport at around 2:45 pm and check in was quick and easy. I walked around for a few minutes looking at the shops and then went upstairs to see if this was the amazing lounge that I remembered from our NYE tour a couple of years ago. It is. They have a “chef” cooking fresh pasta and a “relaxation lounge” with chaise lounge chairs and noise cancelling headsets. This is the Gulf Air Lounge and only available when flying Gulf Air.
The flight to Abu Dhabi was less than an hour. Gulf Air will close the curtains between First Class and Coach Class to allow the First Class Passengers to get off the flight first. A man in coach jumped up as soon as the plane landed and headed for the First Class section. The flight attendant closed the curtains before he made it. He waited until she returned to the front of the plane and then opened the curtains and sat down in one of the empty first class seats. This is typical behavior in this part of the world. There is a strong sense of entitlement by all the “locals”. And all women are considered the “lower” class – even if they are locals, actually especially if they are the locals. You can imagine how well I adapt to that situation. LOL.
I had emailed Ashley – our POC at the base – and warned her that we needed one passenger van and one cargo van. Instead they brought a passenger van with just enough seats for our group and a pick up truck. Only the guitar cases and one suitcase would fit in the truck. There was o space in the van between the seats and the back doors. They had to “Stuff” all the heavy bags in the back seat of the truck. I didn’t believe it would fit, but it did. Hopefully they will have different vehicles when we depart to Qatar on Sunday.
The hotel is the Radisson Blu Yas Island and is beautiful. Radissons are my hotel of choice when traveling overseas. They definitely aren’t “great” in the USA but overseas they are almost always 5 star. This one is right on the Arabian Gulf. The check in desk is upstairs which mean loading everything onto carts and transporting upstairs via the elevator.
The check in staff had a very hard time checking us in. I had pre-paid for all the rooms but they were trying to tell me that there was only “one room”. Finally a man who seemed to be more experienced took over the check in. However, he pulled the “I’m the man and you’re just a woman” act with me. He wanted to know if he could put everyone in a twin room (two twin size beds) instead of the King rooms we had booked and paid for. I refused so a few minutes later he wanted to know if he could put us in the twin rooms if he upgraded them to “deluxe” twin. All that meant was the rooms would have a “view” of the Gulf. I explained that we were only going to be in our rooms for a few hours each night and did not care about the view.
I know that all the hotels overseas want to see a copy of our passports. I had printed out enough copies to give each hotel we stay in a set. He refused to accept the “copies”. Said it is a law that he must have each person’s passport. I told him we had just stayed in a Radisson in Kuwait and had never had the hotel refuse a “copy” of the passports. He said it is the “government” rule. Then he wanted the email address and cell phone number of each guest. I put mine done for everything since all they want to do is start sending marketing emails to everyone.
We finally got checked in and Wes, Mark and I walked next door to eat at a Mexican Restaurant. The others ordered room service. Surprisingly enough, the food was excellent! Wes and I splurged and had a rice pudding crème brulee topped with berries. It was to die for!
Came back to the hotel and only partially unpacked since we are only here for two nights. Lobby call tomorrow is 10 to go to Al Dhafra Air Base.
Jude
SATURDAY, MAY 25TH –PERFORMANCE AT AL DHAFRA AIR BASE, UAE:
The hotel is beautiful and we all have rooms with balconies but the sliding glass door is almost impossible to open. Once it is open though, the view is breathtakingly beautiful. Lobby call was at 10:00 am and when we walked outside, the heat and humidity hit us like a “wave”. I had forgotten just how brutal it can be here. It seems as though you can reach out and grab handfuls of the “air”.
The first stop was at the DFAC for lunch. While we were eating, the FSS Commander came by to say hello. She is so nice and I am impressed by how many female Commanders this base has. Love it!
We visited the Fire Department next. There are two fire stations on the base and the other one is out near the airfield. There are currently only 4 guys at this Station, down from 6 a few weeks ago. They are from Idaho and Grand Forks. We told the guys from Grand Forks that Matt and I will be at their bases in mid-October. There’s a chance they might be home by then. Most of the folks we met are National Guard so on a 6 month rotation. Also for many of them this is their first deployment. We had a great tour of the station and the trucks. They guys were all so nice and gave us a great presentation of their life here.
Next stop was Wes’s favorite – the K-9 Unit. Wes actually owns a German Malamute. That was the dog that we saw so many times in Afghanistan and Iraq working as service dogs. Most of the dogs at this station are German Shepherds. They are so beautiful and look at us like they are begging us to pet them. We aren’t allowed to touch them because they are working dogs. They also had a female handler for one of the dogs. Matt and Wes both suited up and let the dogs “attack” them. Again, really great folks working here.
We arrived at the venue and Mark and I walked over to the stage to meet the production crew. I was not happy to learn that they had brought a different console than what had been promised. I won’t be paying for that in the final payment! Sound check went quickly once everything was dialed in. Ashley (our sweet POC) brought in food from the other side of the base where the Emirates are living. Had some great hummus and Shawrama.
Leadership came by to meet everyone right before the show and they were all really nice. It’s great when leadership gets involved and makes sure the word gets out to the base population.
The show started at exactly 8:00 pm to a huge, enthusiastic crowd. We had found a guitar player to join the band on stage for one song and he did a great job. The Meet and Greet line after the show was the longest we have had the entire tour. We finished taking all the photos and then there were dozens of people in line for autographs, too. It was after midnight by the time we arrived back at the hotel. We have a 9:30 am departure time to the airport.
Jude
SUNDAY, MAY 26TH – TRAVEL FROM UAE TO QATAR:
I had changed our lobby call time from 10 am until 9:30 am and am really glad I did. Because of our excess charges, it took a very long time to check in at Qatar Airlines. The cost was exorbitant and could have been a lot higher if some of the guys didn’t have status on American Airlines (Qatar Partner Airline). As it was, I paid $1,100.
We only had a few minutes after checking in and going through Immigration and Security before boarding. I had forgotten how “rude” people can be in this Region. They think nothing of stepping in front of you when in line so that they can go through first.
It was a short flight – 45 minutes – and our POC’s from Al Udeid were waiting on us. Unfortunately, picking up the luggage and equipment took well over an hour. The bags for 2 other flights came in on the belt before ours. Then, the oversize guitar cases did not come in. When they finally arrived on the Oversize Belt, two staff members loaded the large guitar cases onto a cart and said they had to take those to Customs. They said they would bring them back to us. They never did. I walked to the Customs area and could look inside and didn’t see the guitars anywhere. I asked several different people in “uniforms” and no one could assist. You should have see the “nightmare” going on in the Customs area. There were dozens of people and their bags were being checked. The Customs staff were ripping open linings of bags with knives and searching “people”, too. It was like that TV show where they confiscate all kinds of stuff from people trying to sneak things into the country. I was mesmerized! While I was checking Customs, they guys who had taken the guitars went back to where the band was waiting. Two of our guys had to go with them to get the guitars out of “lock up”!
Once again, the base didn’t have a cargo van so luggage and equipment had to go in the seats on the bus. This time it was about a 45 minute drive. We are staying in “new lodging” on the base. I remember the old lodging and it was pretty terrible! It is supposed to be “Quads” which means there are 4 bedrooms. Between two bedrooms, there is a shared bathroom. Then there is a common area (with a refrigerator, microwave, etc.) between each set of two bedrooms. I had to switch some folks around so that Matt could have an entire bathroom to himself. I was shocked to learn that there were NO amenities in the rooms. They gave us sheets, a pillow, blanket and a towel. But there was no hand or bath soap, shampoo and worst of all for me, no hairdryer! We quickly got all that taken care of. Then the next surprise was the fact that all our rooms are on the 3rd floor and no elevators. We had to ask our military team to carry our 50 pound bags up for us. The rooms were FREEZING inside and the air conditioner was set to 19.5 – about 66 degrees! I went down to the front desk to find out why I wasn’t able to change it to make it warmer. I already have a nasty cold and don’t want to get any worse! They told me to hold down the Off switch and the up button at the same time. It didn’t work. But I kept pushing buttons until I got it up to 21.5 degrees. Much better!
There is a brand new DFAC right across the street from us and everyone went over to grab something to eat. Most of us got “to go” boxes so we could have some time in our rooms before going sightseeing. It is a beautiful facility. Very happy for the men and women deployed to Al Udeid!
Vanessa – one of the staff helping with our visit – drove us to the front gate to meet our tour guide. She also went along with us on the tour. Our tour guide is named “Henry” and he was fabulous. Very informative and very funny, too. It took us about 45 minutes to drive to the first stop which was a beautiful museum. Along the way, he told us all about Qatar. It is similar to Kuwait in that all the “natural born citizens” get a huge payment from the Government each year. They are allowed multiple wives but must treat them all the same. If he gives one wife a Ferrari and doesn’t give all the other wives the same thing, the other wives can take him to court and divorce him and he has to pay alimony and child support. Very strict rules here, too. Drunk driving means being deported from Qatar. There is “NO” crime. Education, health care, etc., etc., are all free to people living in Qatar. But, you can’t just “move” to Qatar. You must be born in Qatar or marry someone who was. They bring in their workers from the Philippines, India, etc. Their oil is what makes it such a great place to live. And there is NO TAX at all! Gas is $2 per gallon….about the same price as water! Besides, the museum, we visited the waterfront with all the dows, saw the Parliament Building, and ended up at the “Souk” for some last minute shopping. It’s the same huge Souk that I went to with The Bellamy Brothers back in 2014! Some of the guys found what they were looking for but I did not. We saw live Falcons, Arabian Horses, birds of every kind and bunnies while we were there.
Everyone wanted an “early night”, so we skipped eating dinner and drove back to lodging arriving by 9 pm. I was hungry so I waited for midnight chow to begin at 11 pm and walked over and got an omelet. Was in bed by 2:30 am. I seem to have picked up a nasty cold, so didn’t sleep very well at all!
Jude
MONDAY, MAY 27TH – REMEMBERING OUR HEROES ON MEMORIAL DAY:
Everyone was going to sleep in today because we don’t have any commitments until sound check at 3 pm. I got up at 8:30 am and had messages from the sound company wanting us to do sound check from 2 pm until 5 pm instead of the scheduled 3 pm until 6 pm. I explained “why” we were not changing out schedule.
Matt was having problems trying to set his air conditioner to a higher temperature. Also, he has a telephone in his room but there’s no cord for it! I checked again with the front desk to see if they were controlling the temperature remotely but they were not. I asked for a cord for his phone and they said they had submitted a “work order”. Work orders in the U.S. Government can take weeks or sometimes months. I asked if they could just take the cord off a phone in a vacant room and let him use it. Nope. Strange! I plan to buy one when I go to the base exchange.
The gym is too far to walk to and it’s way too hot to run. When we landed on Sunday, it was 114 degrees! There is a very, very strong breeze that feels like holding a hair dryer in front of your face on the highest setting. Memories of Iraq and Afghanistan tours! So, it was “Bands” again for my workout.
I walked downstairs to go to the DFAC and grab some food to eat later on but a couple of the guys were in the Lobby and were going to the BX. I rode over with them and in my never ending search for the perfect cross necklace for my grandson, I finally lucked up. I found a silver cross with black onyx on it. The challenge then became the “chain”. All the vendor’s chains were too feminine. I finally purchased a man’s necklace with something else on it. The vendor removed the object (I think it was a shark’s tooth) and took a couple of links out of the chain. The chain is silver with partial black rope. Perfect match!
Walked over to the DFAC for the “to go” food and then Mark, Mike and I rode over to the venue at 3 pm for set up. Alec (our Production Manager) had the stage set when we arrived although there were a lot of things on stage that we did not request or need. These guys like a “clean” stage! He had the drum kit set up but needed VH’s drummer to finish up the process. We contacted Ron and told him he needed to come on over.
The saxophone and guitar players arrived at around 5 pm – about the time our guys arrived for sound check. Our musicians were able to talk them through what was expected of them. It’s going to be so awesome.
We were notified that the Brigadier General and some of his staff were coming to the Meet and Greet but that we needed to move it to 8:00 pm. Of course, we agreed. We met them right outside the dressing room door. I shook his hand and had my coin in my palm when he shook it. He dropped it since he was not expecting that. I said “Oh No. You have to buy everyone a round of drinks!” His whole entourage cracked up while he made excuses. He was such a nice man!!!
Our final show was KILLER. There were over 500 people in attendance. One lady asked if she could go up in front of the stage and dance and I told her yes and assumed others would follow. Nope. She was left to dance all alone but it didn’t seem to bother her. And she was a good dancer!
Bringing the two servicemen on stage to join the band in playing “Best I Ever Had” absolutely stole the show. We had a guitar player and a saxophone player. First time Matt has ever had anyone join in on saxophone and the guy was amazing.
Matt always gives me a huge “shout out” at the end of the shows which embarrasses me profusely. He did it again tonight and immediately after they left the stage, a guy walked up to me and asked if I remembered him. He was one of the musicians in the Air Force Band of the Pacific that we used on Country Gold for many years. He was at the last Country Gold that we had there in 2019! We talked for quite a while after the Meet and Greet. He’s going back to Yokota in October and I’ll be there in November with Chapel Hart. So, I “forgive” Matt for embarrassing me every show since Chip would not have known I was there had Matt not mentioned me from stage.
These past two weeks have been the perfect way to lead into Memorial Day and remembering the sacrifices of our heroes and their families and honoring the men and women serving so far from home. Loved spending Memorial Day with the folks at Al Udeid!
Wonderful ending to our long tour. Many thanks to Eddie, Evan, Seth, Vanessa and all the staff who worked so hard to make this happen!
Lobby call is at 10 am tomorrow. Another “short” night…
Jude
FINAL DAY OF TOUR AND TRAVEL HOME:
Hard to believe the tour is over. The time passed so quickly. I got up, dressed, and had time to work on email before our first Unit visit. Only there was no WiFi. I quickly figured out that since we will be checking out of base lodging at 5 pm today, the office had cut off our access. I had to go downstairs and try to explain to the Internet Office what had happened. Finally had to call in “reinforcements” from our base hosts to get it turned back on for us. By that time, there was very little time left to do any work.
Our first visit was with EOD, same type of visit we had in Bahrain that was so awesome. This demonstration was much different from the other one with different types of weapons on display. The guys were all so nice who were hosting us. The big thrill for the band was being able to ride in the MRAPs. I rode in enough of those in Iraq and Afghanistan to last a lifetime, so I stayed behind on that part of the visit. We signed autographs and took photos with everyone and then had about an hour break for lunch.
After lunch, we again visited a K-9 Unit. Wes is in heaven any time he gets to see the dogs. We aren’t allowed to touch them, only “look”. Those guys were awesome, too, and we took photos and signed autographs for them. Great way to end our last day in country.
Lobby call was at 5 pm for the drive to the airport. It is a one hour drive and I thought we would be arriving in plenty of time – 3 hours prior to departure at 9 pm. Turns out I was very wrong. Check in for Fly Dubai was a nightmare. We had to go to a totally different area to pay for the excess. I’m just glad it was only a few hundred dollars instead of more than a thousand! Then the nightmare really began. I was sent to a different line than the guys to have my passport scanned. After standing there for several minutes, they took me out of that line and sent me to another one – before anyone had even looked at my passport. Then, they took me out of the second line and told me to use the “E-gate” which is where all my guys were going through. They all passed through easily but after trying 4 different machines, I had to go ask for help. They sent me back to a totally different line and after standing there about 10 minutes, they moved me back to the first place they told me to get in line. I FINALLY cleared Immigration!
That process left very little time to do anything before going to the gate. We boarded on time and the short 1 hour flight departed on time. When we landed, we had to take a bus from the aircraft to the terminal. I swear we circled for about 30 minutes! When we finally arrived in the terminal, we had to take yet another bus to the correct terminal. Again, that left very little time before we had to board. I had time to buy a bottle of water and a couple of gifts and then walk to the gate…and walk, and walk, and walk! Never been that far to a gate. The guys were already at the gate by the time I arrived. There was yet another security check and me and one of the guys got pulled aside for additional checking. And, they took my new bottle of water I had just purchased. When they finished, the lady told me I had to sit in that area. But, all my guys were on the other side of the sitting area. So I asked another agent and was told it was fine for me to go where they were.
We boarded on time and the business class section was completely full. I watched about 30 minutes of a bad movie while I was eating dinner. Then, I slept for HOURS. Probably got more sleep on that 14 hour flight than I did the entire time we were out on tour! Still had time to work for about 5 hours before breakfast was served and we landed. We didn’t have a lot of turbulence on the flight but the one time we did, I was in the toilet! Since the person was killed last week on the Singapore Airlines flight, the pilots are very “insistent” that everyone be seated. They need to put a seatbelt in the toilet! I came out and one of the flight attendants grabbed my arm and cautioned me to be careful.
We landed a few minutes late and it took a long time for our bags to arrive. Mark was going to try to make the earlier flight to San Diego but he didn’t have much time and we all had to secure new boarding passes. We grabbed our bags and went right outside of Customs to recheck them and get our boarding passes. Then we had to take a Tram and a bus to the gate! I swear our ground transportation has been as long as our flights. We ended up in the check in area where all passengers flying that day had to clear security. The guys went through TSA and I went through Clear – which was a big mistake. Took over 10 minutes for me to get to the kiosk. Then the machine wouldn’t read my eyes and I had to use fingerprints. At that point, the attendant delivered the great news that my boarding pass did not have TSA Pre-check on it and I would have to go through the regular line. Instead, I went back to the United Counter. The agent refused to assist me and I had to go to the kiosk. Of course, when I reprinted the boarding pass, it would not print my pre-check info. I finally located an agent who was wiling to help. He said my Global Entry number had an additional digit in it which was impossible because I had used it when I departed Nashville. We all had to split up since our flights home were going out of different terminals. A few of us went into the Lounge and the agent there wanted to send me to another Lounge for “Priority Members” but it would have meant taking the bus and the tram back to that Lounge and then the same thing again to return to the terminal where my flight was departing. I politely declined!
Our flight departed on time and Lindsey and Zoe picked me up. Zac is at Camp this week so I won’t see him until Friday. It definitely wasn’t “fun” flying with my cold but at least the flights “dried” up everything and I feel better!
I can’t begin to tell you in writing what a great trip this was! Vertical Horizon is just amazing in showing their love and respect to the men and women serving as well as delivering a consistently outstanding performance. All the bases loved them and one of the bases wants to book them back in December at their own expense. What another wonderful visit with our military bases overseas. I am truly blessed!
Jude