April 29, 2000

We're homeward bound!  We've had a wonderful trip traveling the UK,
Ireland and The Netherlands.  We even got a short weekend trip flying
back to Los Angeles right in the middle of our tour.  I have written 
you
a few e-mails, sorry it wasn't more but we had a difficult time getting
on line while in Dublin, Ireland.

We were fortunate enough to stay in the Luttrellstown Castle for our
three-day stay in Dublin.  And for a house that was built several
hundred years ago, modern technology didn't fit in too well.  

On Monday we left London and arrived in Dublin. Tuesday was our day off
and Wednesday was work again with an autograph signing at a music store
and our show that night at the Point.

Three days in a castle for the crew, band, dancers, Narvel and myself
was a treat beyond our wildest dreams.  We were treated to skeet
shooting, golf, horseback riding, and fishing and for the less
adventuresome (me) there were card games by the fireplace.  Even though
I love to do all of the above, it was my first down time to just chill
out.  I chose the latter.  We had a group dinner on our first night
there and afterwards, we played "Spades" and "Skip-Bo" card games and
snooker.  Snooker was new to most of us but we learned quickly.  It's a
form of pool.  

I read in one of the many books there in the castle of the lavish
parties held there back in the 1700's.  Our's might not have been too
lavish, but we sure did have a grand time!     

Chris Hicks, who plays the guitar and saxophone for me, stayed in a 
room
where many years ago the young lady who had once occupied the room
killed herself.  She had been sentenced to a life handcuffed to a wheel
barrel cleaning the streets of Dublin.  She couldn't take the
humiliation any more.  Chris said one night he kept hearing the door
handle rattle and each time he got up to see who was there, no one was
on the other side of the door.  

Lynette Bibbee, the stylist for the dancers and band, had a room where 
a
king stayed.  There was a secret, spiral staircase to the left of the
fireplace built for a quick escape.

Our show in Dublin was met with curiosity, excitement and surprise.  In
January of 1999, we played the Point for the first time, but on this
trip we brought the dancers and added some new songs off the "So Good
Together" CD.  It was a lot of fun.  

Our week before Dublin consisted of press and TV shows in London.  We
did have a few hours of sightseeing and shopping hours available to us. 
We even rode the Millenium Ferris Wheel in London.  It went 445 feet in
the air and sped at a whopping * mile an hour.  You could see forever 
up
at the top!  And even though I'm terrified of heights, I enjoyed it
tremendously!  

We sadly left London and traveled northward to Glasgow, Scotland.  
Narvel, Sandi Spika, my stylist, Cindy Owen, my art director, and I
spent Easter Sunday touring Sterling Castle just outside of Glasgow,
Scotland.  Part of the movie "Brave Heart" was filmed there.  By the
time we had gotten out of Glasgow driving up to the castle, the sun
shined, it started raining and then started hailing!  I'd always said 
in
Oklahoma, "If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute."  But 
this
weather changes more than Oklahoma!  We toured the castle and then had
scones and a cappuccino at a near by pub there by the castle.  We 
called
home several times wishing all our family a Happy Easter.  Shelby spent
the day with our friends, hunting Easter eggs and playing games.   

Our show in Glasgow went very well also.  We played at the Clyde
Auditorium that looks a lot like an armadillo from the outside!  After
the show we went back to our hotel and sat in the sitting room and
played cards, ate sandwiches and French fries.  

Just having one day and night in Glasgow, we flew over to Dublin and
spent three days there.  

After Dublin's show we flew to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.  We didn't
know it until we landed but it was a holiday called "The Queen's Day" 
in
honor of the Queen's Mother's (who was the previous Queen) birthday. 
For
the celebration, everyone dressed in bright orange due to the Queen
living in Orange County.  We flew over for the Ouwe Jongens TV show.  I
performed, "What Do You Say?" at the opening of the show and then they
had to break for a special speech from the Queen.  I guess you could 
say
I opened the show for the Queen! 

They asked us if we wanted to stick around and watch the rest of the
show.  I looked at the young lady for a second and said, "We can't
understand a word they're saying.  So I think we'll head back to the
hotel."  She said, "Well, that makes sense!  I didn't even think about
that!"  Most of the people there speak some English, but none of us 
knew
a word of Dutch!  I did learn how to say "Thank You, Please and GO BUY
MY CD", simple things like that......

We walked around the square in Amsterdam and mostly people watched.  
They said that Saturday, Queen's Day, was the busiest day in Holland! 
We could tell that the city was filling up.  People were walking down
the sidewalks carrying and pulling their luggage to their hotels 
because
taxis were so hard to get because of all the pedestrian traffic.  

We were warned that the next day, being Saturday and the day we were
flying out, would be impossible to get in or out of the city after 8AM. 
Our flight to London was at 7:15AM so we left the hotel at 5:45 that
morning.  It was 10 PM Friday night in Nashville!  

We flew to London and caught the Concord to New York.  Our plane was
there to meet us and took us back to Tennessee.  Shelby and Kimmie were
there to pick us up.  

It was a wonderful trip, one I'll never forget but it sure is great to
be home.  

Of course our little entertainment director had a full day planned for
us on Sunday.  Shelby had us playing 9 holes of golf, going to the
Sounds Baseball game and then over to the George Strait concert!  We 
had
a great time!  

Thanks for sharing my trip with me.  Hopefully I'll have another one
real soon to tell you about.  

Until then,

Reba