12-11-99

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December 11, 1999

Sydney, Australia

We had the morning off so Shelby, Narvel and I slept late. My AOL
Australia Chat on the Internet started at noon, which was very
interesting. There was a lady here in Sydney who would ask me
questions
that came up on her computer screen, I would answer them and then
another lady would type out my answers. We did this for about 30
minutes with questions coming in from all over Australia and the U.S.

Shelby and I went downstairs for lunch while Narvel got on the computer
to do some work. Our parents went on a tour today going all around
Sydney and looking at all the beautiful beaches. I think Shelby was a
little toured out so he stayed with Dad and me. We shopped a little and
went to an opal shop. They told us how they mine for opals then bring
them back to their shop, clean and polish them, and then mount them in
beautiful mountings and sell them as earring, necklaces, rings and
letter openers. We saw pictures of the mine fields where they mine for
the opals. He said that they usually find the mines where the opals
are
with geologists and very scientific means. But one day their dog
wondered off and became lost. They found him nosing around in a place
that produced over a two million dollars worth of opals. We've been
looking for a dog ever since.

Shelby was tired of shopping so we found a nice park and Narvel and
Shelby played rugby until we headed back to the hotel.

Shelby, Gloria, (Narvel's Mother), Mama, and I met in the sitting area
before dinner to play cards. Shelby won the first game and Mama won
the
second. One of the great things about this trip is that Shelby has
gotten to spend a lot of time with his grandparents. He doesn't get to
see them as much as we would like because we live so far apart. Then
everyone else came down and we ate before leaving for the show.

A local artist named Darren Coogan opened the show for us and just like
the night before the crowd, my band and I had a great time. This was
our second night at the Sydney State Theatre and the sound was
unbelievable in the theatre. Such a beautiful place built in 1929 and
still in it's original décor, I couldn't help but think about all the
great artist over the years that had stood on that stage.

After the show, I visited with Peter Bond who is the CEO of Universal
Australia. He had never seen me perform before and I was thrilled that
he came to our show. I also got to meet a lady who is a DJ from
Singapore. She said country music is very popular in Singapore and also
in Japan and China. That's great news because Narvel and I have always
wanted to go see that part of the world. I just hope the band and crew
do too! Wouldn't that be fun?!

We then headed back to the hotel. My folks, friends from Texas, Narvel
and I all met up at the bar in the top of the hotel, which has a
gorgeous view of the Sydney harbor and Opera House. We visited and
reminisced about our tour of Australia thus far and said goodbye to our
friends from Texas, Anne and Jerdy Gary who are heading back home.

We're having a great time!

Talk to you tomorrow,

Reba