BRAVO344.com

After Action Report of the February 2007 Tour of Duty mini-convention in Burbank, California

"The Burbank Report," a fans' group account of their trip, and a collection of memories and thoughts on what it was like meeting each other and members from the cast of Tour of Duty.

by Erika, Ernie, Lindy, Mel, Pen, and Sheila

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

---

PART 2: Meeting Each Other

Sheila: When I arrived, I couldn't get the key to work and had to knock on the door. Lindy was on the phone to Erika (three hours wasn't it? - now that should have warned me of what was to come) but as I hadn't slept for 24 hours at that point, all I could manage to say to Erika was a quick hello, then collapsed on the bed for about half an hour. I know I thought that Erika must think I'm so rude, just grunting hello then passing the phone back to Lindy.

Lindy: That was so funny. Erika and I were cracking up and half expecting Sheila to kick the damn door in, out of sheer frustration, LOL.

And when she got inside... Erika and I were all chatty and bubbly and Sheila was like....Zonked out on the bed, covers over her face, not wanting to talk at all. LOL. And she got lumbered with me?

Erika: I thought Sheila was hilarious. Here Lindy and I had been yakking it up, and Sheila knocks on the door. I was all excited. Getting to talk with Lindy *and* Sheila! *And* getting to hear Aussie and British accents in the same phone call!

My first conversation with Sheila was:

Me: Welcome to California.
Sheila: Thank you. I'm knackered.

The End.

I thought to myself, hey, that Sheila is a class act. I like a woman who is to the point!

I like a woman who has the gift of gab, too. That's Lindy Roo. I wondered what it would be like with all six of us in a room talking, some of us bubbly, some of us dry... hey, it's like champagne and wine! And I knew right then we'd have a marvelous time.

Sheila: I knew Lindy was 4'11 and I knew she was blonde. Her posts are always bouncy and I had a mental vision of her jumping all over the place, like a baby kangaroo, plus for some strange reason, her hair in bunches. Thankfully, I was wrong.

Then of course, Lindy and I got talking and I've no idea what time we finally got to sleep.

Lindy: It was late LOL. But we knew we wouldnt get much sleep that first night. We had too much to talk about.

Sheila: I know I woke after a couple of hours - my body clock was still on UK time. In fact I didn't get much sleep all weekend and my brain ended up so fuddled, I think I lost the power of coherent speech. I don't think it was my accent Terry had such a hard time with, more that I couldn't string two words together to make sense.

Lindy and I went for a walk in the morning to see what was in the local vicinity. In short - nothin'. Burbank Airport is miles from anywhere.

Lindy: You got that right. There was zip. Diddly squat. No shops. Not even a cafe?

And remember that corner we stood on? We waited for the walk sign to flash. We didnt wanna get booked for J walking. We looked on the traffic light pole for a button to push? But there was none. WTF??? Eventually we just braved it, and crossed the road. Then Erika explained later about the white crossing lines and the yellow lines and what they meant? LOL

Sheila: We sat around the hotel lobby for a while, watching people coming and going (never know who we might have saw).

Lindy: Yeah, that was fun. And quite entertaining. It was a hive of activity. So many ppl comin in and goin out. Im sure many of the ppl we saw were celebrities of some kind, there to attend the convention. They were all dolled up, lookin ready to partay. I sat there half expecting TK to just waltz in the door any minute. Figuring he'd be staying at the Hotel.

I'd have loved to have sneaked a peek at the hotel guest list, LOL.

Id have found out which room he was staying in and pretended to be a hotel maid, LOL.

Sheila: I was desperate to get a couple of hours sleep at this time, so Lindy went down to the lobby to meet Pen.

Lindy: Id promised to meet Pen in the lobby.

Only trouble was, I had no idea what Penny looked like. Every woman who walked in, I looked long and hard at LOL.

Luckily she had her white flower or else she'd still be sitting in the lobby waiting for us, LMAO.

Sheila: Sleep was elusive and after a couple of hours, I started wondering where on earth Lindy had got to.

Lindy: Heheeeeeeee I went on a snoop and poop LOL.

j/k roflmao

I was helping Henny Penny get settled into her room. And just as we were about to come get you, Pepper rang and wanted to chat. *LOL* And you guys reckon I can talk???

Sheila: She'd gone off with both keys to the room and I didn't want to leave the room in case I couldn't find her and then couldn't get back in. She finally came back and we both went to get Pen, then something to eat. I learnt fast that nothing was done quickly while we were all together. If Lindy said "I'll be 5 minutes" - yeah right, we knew we wouldn't see her for at least half an hour - we knew she'd find somebody to talk to and get waylaid. As Ernie would say, "Now what are we waiting for?"

My brain function was already going by this time and I can't remember much of that evening apart from Pen's pie. My God, was that pie enormous, I'd never seen anything like it in my life. It could have fed a family.

Lindy: Yeah? The famous chicken pot pie??? Would have fed an entire platoon of grunts for a week, LOL.

Americans sure eat big, LOL

I think it was maybe that pot pie that made Penny sick? Remember she said how the pastry wasnt cooked properly?

Sheila: We were playing musical rooms a bit. Lindy moved to Pen's room that night. I know I thought I'd get some sleep that night. No. I woke up about 6 am and couldn't get back to sleep.

Lindy: Penny was great company. She was so very easy to talk to. And I felt we hit it off pretty well. It was just a shame we were all the way over in the east tower. Why the Hotel didnt put all us TOD fans on the same floor???? And in adjoining rooms??? Boggles the mind.

Sheila: Lindy and I waited in the lobby for Erika to show up. Of course, we didn't have the agreed white flower. We did consider pinching some from the hotel garden, but thought the hotel might not like that too much.

Lindy: There was an abundance of white flowers in the Hotel garden. We could have taken our pick LOL.

And remember Erikas white flower?? roflmao... It was all wilted from the California heat and a little worse for wear

Sheila: We both had a similar idea of what she was like, except I imagined her with long hair and Lindy thought short. Lindy was right. Erika came in. We both looked at her. She looked at us. Then I think she waved the white flower.

Lindy: Yeah? that white flower was a good idea.

The minute she walked in, we went "thats gotta be her?"

She was just gorguz. So happy and full of life. And there were hugs and kisses all round LOL

Erika: LOL, well, maybe I was "full of life" because my travel to Burbank didn't involve hurdling international date lines and 3 hour delays--my travel was easy peasy! All I had to do was get on a one-hour flight (whose check-in of 1.5 hours almost made me wonder if I should have driven, LOL), rent a car, and then meet Lindy, Sheila, and Pen in the hotel lobby at 1030 hours.

Well, I knew as soon as I landed at Bob Hope Airport that it was going to be a fabulous trip. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and 80 degrees F, and I could feel the excitement in the air! (But maybe that last part was just me. LOL)

Walking into the hotel, I scanned the lobby and immediately noticed two women. They looked up from their conversation to look right at me, at the very same time I stopped mid-stride and looked at them. They both just had this presence--the kind of presence that Stephen Caffrey has on stage. They were starting to smile at me, I was starting to smile at them--chemistry! LOL So I waved my little white flower, and they broke into big smiles and got up and we hugged, and that is how I met Sheila and Lindy, two vibrant, lovely ladies who had me in stitches the whole trip.

Pen had to babysit her room at the time, but when she came down a few moments later, I was felt so good just at the sight of her. Pen has a beautiful smile and the gentlest demeanor! She has a giant heart of gold--you can tell!

Sheila: Then it was all back to my room (now mine and Erika's) for Erika to get organised before we went to have breakfast then meet Ernie. Of course once we all started talking, we ended up with about 15 minutes to get something to eat. Then waited ages for the shuttle to the airport.

Erika: Yeah, that was supposed to be a "quick bite" at the hotel restaurant. And it became pretty obvious to me, too, that it was gonna take us a long time to get anything done as a group! LOL

Lindy: And remember how we all wondered if Ernie may have already got himself on a shuttle and was maybe on his way to the Hotel, just as we were leaving for the airport LOL?

And he was!!! roflmao

Erika: Yeah, and we were running late. Ernie's flight was due to arrive at 12:05 PM. And we were standing there at the hotel waiting for the airport shuttle at, like, 12:05 PM. LOL The shuttle runs every 10-15 minutes, and somebody told us we had just missed the previous one. So we waited. And started rationalizing.

We were like, gosh, what if there's more than one shuttle? If we get on one, and Ernie gets on another one, will we end all up going round and round looking for each other? Back and forth between the airport and the hotel? Like that pic of Zeke driving left and right?

So when the shuttle finally pulled up to the hotel, and the happy travelers piled out, we peered long and hard at each of them--esp. the old guys. We looked for caps. Gray hair. Anything Ernie-like. We held out Pen's white flower prominently (not my flower, though--it really was a little worse for wear. All smooshed and brown at the edges. LOL).

Anyway, none of the arrivees was interested in us, so we proceeded to hop on the shuttle. And we asked the driver if he was the one and only shuttle in service to and from the airport. He gave us a strange look, like why would we ask that? But eventually said yes. So we plopped down in our seats, confident we were on our way to meet our dear Kaj.

Sheila: It's difficult meeting somebody you'd never seen at a busy airport. Scouring the crowds for a hat!

Erika: Yeah, like a game of "Where's Waldo?"

Sheila: The fact that Ernie didn't wear his hat made things a bit harder.

Erika: How would you find Waldo if he's not wearing his hat? And you don't know what he looks like? LOL Lindy was onto something when we searched the airport and she said, "If he's not wearing his hat, we're looking for the invisible man!"

Sheila: Pen and I waited by the shuttle, while Lindy and Erika went in search of Ernie.

Lindy: I saw several men in hats. None of them were red, white and blue though LOL. I also saw a man in a US army jacket. I followed him, convinced it was Ernie. But he was checking in for a flight. So I knew it wasnt him.

In hindsight, we should have sent photos of ourselves to everyone, before we left? It would have made things much easier. The reason we missed Ernie was because we were at the wrong Terminal LOL. Ernie flew American Airlines. And we were waiting for him outside the United terminal DUH!!!

Sheila: We finally called the hotel and found he had already checked in.

Erika: How we managed to miss Ernie--with only one shuttle in service, and Sheila and Pen staked out at the shuttle stand the whole time we were at the airport--is beyond me. LOL

Sheila: We decided to take a taxi back to the hotel for quickness. We all piled in a taxi and the driver wouldn't take us, as there was a free shuttle and he wanted a more lucrative fare. So we all got in the cab one side and after a minute or two, got out the other.

Lindy: LOL? All of us clambering inside that taxi, and then getting that look from the driver? He thought we were a few sandwiches short of a picnic LOL. Who pays for a taxi, when they can catch a free ride on the shuttle. That was hysterical. It was like something out of a comedy movie.

Erika: I swear when we piled out of the cab to walk back across the street to the shuttle stand, we looked like a version of The Beatles from the cover of "Abbey Road."

Mel: And I was waiting impatiently at the convention! LOL Being the only one there. After half an hour I just couldn't stand it and had to go meet the guys. To warm them up, so to speak, for the main event of all the rest of you showing up. It was a little awkward at first, but when I left to look for you guys I told them a horde of fans would soon descend on them. :)

Erika: Thanks for telling them, Mel! We thought about this, too. We thought, hey? It's like, 1:15 PM and we still haven't gone to see the guys yet. Sgt. Pepper said Terry Knox knew we were coming and was looking forward to meeting us. What must they think of us no-shows? LOL We wondered if they would end up getting on the shuttle loop, too. Ernie the vet, the four of us crazies, Mel, and the ToD cast? Who knows, if it weren't for there being only one shuttle, we could have had a ToD merry-go-round going.

Sheila: Finally made it back to the hotel and called Ernie. He came down and meanwhile Mel had found us.

Erika: Sheila rang Ernie as we all stood around the front desk when I heard a voice behind me, "Lindy? Erika?"

I turned around and it was Mel! She looked just like the picture she gave me of her! How long had she been standing there while we just stood around yapping like a bunch of chickens? I had her photo and she was the one who found us-- well, no wonder we didn't spot Ernie; some of us are blind as bats!

But thankfully she saw Lindy with the white flower and me with the short black hair, and knew it was us.

Lindy: I had no idea that was Mel.

It was kind of a funny running into her the way we did, LOL. But Im glad we did.

As it meant our TODITE group was complete and we were ready to hit the Convention, LOL.

Erika: Mel is an incredibly friendly, funny, and super on-top-of-things woman. My best driving was when I just followed her car around on Friday night. It was so much fun hanging out with her and we laughed a lot.

We were talking with Mel when another voice surprised me. It was a man's voice. (It felt like a long time since I had heard a man's voice.) He said, "Hi, I'm Ernie."

He is just as I imagined he would be. A complete Southern gentleman. Ernie is soft-spoken and gentle and patient. You can tell he is quite mischievous, too! Ernie's eyes don't miss a thing, and he doesn't talk as much as us gabby gals--he prefers to listen to what people have to say. Though we could stand to learn a lot from Kaj! I never did catch that joke about the bountiful family behind us at Bob's Big Boy. Chalk it up to life experience, I guess. We love Ernie.

Lindy: Ernie was a little different in looks to what I imagined. I figured him to be a little broader, have darker hair, and a stricter soldier-like sounding voice, LOL. Kind of how we expected Sgt. Pepper to sound when she called on the phone.

But in personality, Ernie was just as I expected. He's down to earth, has a very dry sense of humour and a very warm heart.

Sheila: I think it's great that considering we'd never met before and not seen photos, we all managed to recognise each other so easily.

Erika: Hey, how hard could it be?


next - Part 3: ToD Guys, Meet the ToD Gang