MONDAY, JULY 24^TH:
I have been in Europe since July 20^th this time – I now travel to another city in Holland where Chely Wright will perform at Schinnen for the NATO troops.
Our bus driver and bus arrived last night.  Same company I have used for years and LOVE.  We left the hotel at 9 am and it took us about 3 ½ hours to drive from Emmen to Schinnen.  Never knew Holland was so BIG.  There were bunks and two lounges on the bus….definitely the way to travel.  I spent most of the trip talking to Michael – the bus driver – and catching up on the “gossip”!
Arrive Schinnen and were greeted by our hosts.  They took us to secure our ID cards (even though we had id photos made in the U.S. and sent to AFE for this very purpose.  Ball got dropped somewhere) made and then we departed to the Hotel in Maastricht.  Beautiful little town and is supposedly the best shopping in all of the Netherlands.  Good thing I don’t have any free time again.  Encountered our first set of challenges.  The street was too narrow for our bus.  Does that sound familiar from my Italy trip with Lee Ann Womack last month?  So, we had to unload our luggage and walk down the street to the hotel.  I confirmed that the hotel had wireless internet before we accepted the booking.  Upon checking in, we were told that it only worked on the first floor rooms on the street side.  So, I asked for those rooms.  Of course, it did not work when we got into our rooms.  So I am on a dial up connection paying a high price to answer my emails. 
No air conditioning and it is MUCH hotter here.  We do have fans in our rooms and have moved them on top of tables in front of the windows but it still doesn’t seem to be helping. 
Everyone went walking around and I went to the lobby with Chely to do an interview for a local radio station.  Then I treated everyone to dinner at an outdoor café near the hotel.  It is much cooler outside than in our hotel rooms.  Came back to the hotel and am still working at 1:00 am.   Hotel doesn’t have a gym but there is one nearby but it doesn’t open until 9:30 am.  Will decide tomorrow if I am going to the gym or going to run but I will definitely do one or the other!
Performance will take place tomorrow night at Schinnen.
Jude

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26^TH:
Today we bussed from Holland to Germany.   I moved everyone off the Ramstein Air Base Lodging into hotel accommodations in Landstuhl because the rooms at Ramstein were not air conditioned.  Everyone is REALLY looking forward to the air conditioned rooms.  It is the hottest summer in Europe they have had in a long time. 
We arrived Landstuhl right on time and checked in.  All the rooms had air conditioning as promised and it is a beautiful hotel!  Very nice for the group.   Our bus driver, Michael, had to leave for Munich and Andy from his bus company took over our tour. 
Chely and I immediately departed for Landstuhl Medical Center to visit the wounded.  Our escorts met us at the door and whisked us upstairs.  We were scheduled to visit a lot of patients but Chely loves to have lengthy conversations with each one (which they sincerely appreciate) and we were only able to visit with 6 patients.  But, those 6 impacted our lives forever. The first 3 we met were in the same room and all three were named “Brian”.  The second two were in the same room and both named “Jeff”.  I asked the escorts if they were deliberately putting them into the rooms by “name”.  J
All were very young -- the oldest was 29.  Injuries ranged from 2^nd degree burns to shrapnel and gunshot wounds.  All were amazing young men.  They were so proud of what they have done for their country and all talked about the “boys” they had to leave behind in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kyrgyzstan.   I had visited all the countries where the young men were injured.
It’s different when visiting these patients than when we visit Walter Reed or Bethesda.  Their injuries are so “fresh”…just having been injured as recently as the day before.   Our medics in the AOR’s are doing an incredible job prior to flying them to Landstuhl and all the young men had nothing but praise for the care they received and are still receiving.   They will all soon go from Landstuhl to Walter Reed, Bethesda, and the Burn Center in San Antonio.
The young man who had a gunshot wound to his head (just the day before!) choked up when he started talking about his injury.  Tears started rolling down his checks when he talked about the guys who took care of him when he was shot.  At one point, he looked over at the officers who were escorting us and said, “I’m sorry.  But, don’t think I’m a baby just because I’m crying.”   One of the officer’s responded, “For Pete’s Sake.  You’ve just been shot in the head!  You are entitled to cry!”
Each soldier and marine told us how they were injured.  Most of them never saw it coming and would not have been able to avoid the attack.  One young man was in a convoy that was attacked and talked about the mistakes they made that should not have happened that allowed them to be vulnerable.  They were all thankful that no one else was killed in the attacks.  
After leaving the Medical Center, we went to Fisher House.  Both houses were full, but all but a few people were at the hospital for treatment.   We met one darling little boy who was in for tests to find out why he was consistently banging his head on the floor!  Then there was a little girl who Chely fell in love with because she said she looked exactly like her sister when she was young.  She was there because she had tubes put in her ears that morning.  Obviously, she was fully recovered because she was a little “ball of fire”.  We also met one soldier being treated for cancer and an older retired soldier who had knee replacement surgery. 
You leave these visits with so much emotion inside and really just want some “quiet” time to process what you have seen and heard.  I could easily devote this entire report to the things I learned about these amazing young men but somehow it seems like an invasion of their privacy to do so.  I always make notes on them so that I can go back and look at them and remember what they sacrificed for my freedom and keep them in my prayers.  Someone said that Cher had just been there and that she was going into Iraq but I haven't heard anything about it.  Evidently she is lobbying Congress regarding the protective gear for the troops. 
I went to dinner with our band and a couple of our escorts.  We had a really nice meal at a local restaurant and then I went back to answer emails most of the night…wireless internet instead of dial up, thank goodness!  Went to bed at 2:00 am with a 4:00 am wake-up call.