Monday 7/16/07

We had only five hours of sleep last night and had to wake up early for a radio interview with Chandre, affectionately known as "Suckerfree," on Power 99.1 "The Morning Grind." Suckerfree was so great to us. She made sure to have breakfast waiting for us when we got there and she was playing the album. The entire band was interviewed and everyone did a great job. You could tell, Suckerfree herself was a fan and definitely enjoyed the shows. They had put together a whole radio promo for us to promote our shows there and it was really impressive. The interview was a success. We then had a couple of hours before we had to meet Kelly, the chief of the Phillips Ship at the Seamen's Club. I know, I thought it was a funny name too. However, they are all seamen out here and that is what they are called.

When we got there, there were these big anchors that had been laid to rest ashore for more than 30 years. They were left over from World War II. Crystal and I jokingly took pictures on the anchors. We pretended we were models striking a pose. The pictures were so funny. Kelly then took us on a bus that would get us to a motorboat down the ocean and finally onto the Phillips ship. He called it his home but what I didn't realize about these seamen is that they actually live out at sea. He lives on that ship and has to take a half an hour boat ride to shore anytime he wants to get back on the Island. We had even more appreciation for him when we realized he took that boat three nights in a row to come to all of our shows.

Kelly was an amazing guide. He showed us all around his ship. We got to see canons and tons of tanks that were stored on the ship. Kelly really went above and beyond the call of duty to show us around. He could not stop telling us how much he appreciated our show and all of us coming out here. He even got a little choked up when he told us how hard it is to be away from his family for such long periods at a time. He hadn't been home for Christmas for three years and he has three young kids. He said "You don't know how hard it is when you're kids tell Santa that all they wish for is for Daddy to come home safely." It was really touching. He then talked about how important it is for us to be here and how it really does make a difference. He says it gets all the guys excited and motivated since they don't get a lot of bands out here so we really are the talk of the town when we come.

When we got back to the Island we were so exhausted and it was only three hours until show time. I was dying to take a nap because I didn't know how I would have the stamina to make it. When I finally made my way back to my room, I found out my key no longer worked. Perfect, of all the times, all I want to do is take an hour nap before the show and I can't get in my room. Luckily my father was in his room and I was able to call someone to open the door.

We decided since this would be our last show in indoor conditions, we would give it our all. It was actually supposed to be our last show of the entire tour but since we are going to do our encore show in Singapore, it is now our second to last show.

The show was really wonderful. We had at least 20 people come for all three shows and of course a big group of new people. They really loved it. They all stood up at the end and gave us a huge applause and we couldn't stop thanking them because they really had been our best audience by far. Suckerfree came in during the break and gave us this plaque that everyone signed to say thank you for coming. It's so sad that we are leaving. We have really made some friends here like Nate and Michael and it's sad to think that we may never come back. A man told us yesterday that there are even senators and high ranking officers that would like to come to Diego Garcia for vacations or honeymoons with their families and they are not allowed to come so we should feel privileged for getting the opportunity to be here. We really are privileged. If anyone ever gets a chance to come to Diego Garcia they shouldn't hesitate. It was really an amazing experience! We got to bed pretty early since we had such a long day but tomorrow is our long awaited day off here so we are all excited.