A fine display of military intelligence...

January 18,2007

Before you follow this post, note that this is part 2 of the post below, "Another great nite", so you may want to browse that first and then come back here.

Back so soon? Okay, here we go.

So as I said below, we were scheduled to leave the hotel at 6am and board a military flight to Djibouti. We left the hotel with packed suitcase and all our band gear (a lot of stuff!) and just as we were walking to the gate to the military airport our liason, Manjou, gets a phone call.

"Your flight has been rescheduled for 0600 tomorrow."

What?!!?

"Be on standby, however, because we may fly out at 1200 hrs or 0300 hrs as well."

There was no explanation as to the change of plans. (BTW, when we didn't get our departure schedule until 10:30 last nite which created a hurried packing of gear and personal items right after the show.)

But what's a band to do? All we could do was head back to the hotel, check back in (at $120/night - remember this is being paid for by our military budget) and keep our bags packed - and just roll with the punches and smile.

Remember the old advertisement for the Army that said, "We get more done by 6am than you do in a day" ?

I don't think so.

Anyway, no tents for us tonite. Darn. I was looking forward to comparing that with my Boundary Waters trips. I kind of doubt we'll be at a 5 star site.

All that being said, I promised to post some more pictures, so here goes.



Bob seems to have picked up the language here quickly

I couldn't pass up taking this one. Starbucks is EVERYWHERE!



No one was interested in going in here:



Or here, for that matter, but this mosque is a part of a large Islamic center:




I know I've introduced you to the band before, but I wanted to show them to you when they are at their best. Thom is the leader/lead singer/entertainer/acoustic guitar player. Cort is an aweosme fiddle player. Here is Thom and Cort (I got a better pic of Thom, but the red-eye touch-up feature messed up and I don't want to embarrass him):



Bob does his share of singing his hit songs and filling in on the entertainment side as well. Not only is he a hit songwriter, he's a great, great guitar player:



Philip is a great bass player and knows how to have fun with the audience:



And finally, John knows how to make his drums happen. He was particulary rockin' last night:



And the real reason we are here. I can't tell you how many times all of us have been thanked by the soldiers and sailors for us coming over here. They are the most appreciative audience I have ever seen. This particular gang just got in only hours before. They had been couped up on a submarine for a couple of weeks and were ready to let off some steam. They definitely did that:



When I sang my Tim McGraw hit they were all singing along at the top of their lungs. Alcohol induced, admittedly, but I sure got a kick out of it. Even signed a bunch of autographs!


I'm having a blast posting these and checking in on all your comments. Please keep it up.


That's it for now. Except for the waiting.

To be continued.......