My family and I travelled to see Clay perform in 3 concert venues in

• Frisco, Texas
• Houston, Texas
• Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Clay has taken us to so many different parts of the United States that I thought we would never go.

Frisco - On July 4, 2007 (Independence Day), Clay Aiken performed at the Pizza Hut Park in a soccer stadium. We weren't really interested in soccer and just waited for the time to come when Clay would sing.

After the soccer game was over, sis and I lined up to go down to the soccer field. The gates flew open and we ran like the wind. We got to slightly off centre on the left side facing the stage. The stage was very high!! I had a stiff neck and sore shoulders the next day 'cos I had to hold my head back to take pictures of Clay.

It was so good to see Clay again after so many months! My camera was clicking away. Clay looked at my camera quite a few times. I was thrilled.

The first show is always the one to go to 'cos you don't know what to expect. Will he come out from the left or right? Will he have stubble or not? So many questions. I was ready for him, no matter what, poised with my camera.

The night ended with fireworks marking the end of Independence Day. What a sight that was!

No handshake line that night as there a lot of people.

Houston - On July 6, 2007, my family and I arrived at our hotel across from Jones Hall, the concert venue where Clay will perform. We drove up and unloaded our car. I noticed a big white van pull up behind us but didn't think much of it. We all got into the waiting area. My parents were sitting at a big desk where The Houston Chronicle were all lined up. It was the one with Clay in the pullout section. My sis and I were at the front desk checking in. My mum tried to catch our attention as she had seen the pullout section in the paper. As we were busy, we didn't turn around. Meanwhile, someone came into the lobby. She asked if someone could help her. My sis and I turned to see who it was and it was Mary, Clay's Manager! I turned to my sister with eyes as big as a goldfish! Sure enough, the whole entourage started to file into the lobby!! One by one they came in, looking very tired and travel weary. The last one to come in was Clay!! We immediately turned around eventhough we hadn't finished checking in. Yes, we were gawking but we didn't act all fangirly. We remained cool, calm and collected (like Atticus Finch.) The lady at the front desk said she had upgraded our room and that we were on the 9th floor. I saw Clay walk calmly to the desk where The Houston Chronicle sat and saw him flip open the pages. Yes, he was checking out his pullout section!!

We went up to our room and found out that it was a smoking floor. I had requested for a non-smoking room. We went down to the lobby and yes, they were still down there. I asked for another room - a non-smoking room. So, we got moved to the 5th floor. Meanwhile, I happened to glance over at the little envelopes with all the room keys and the rooms were mostly on the 6th and 7th floor!! Yes, Clay was sleeping in a floor above our floor!!

How excited we were to know that Clay was in the same hotel was us! We didn't write about it or tell anyone as we wanted Clay to have his privacy.

We finally got our new room keys and we were going up to our room when we saw Jamie and passed her a gift from our family to Clay. She took the package from us.

After we got to our room, we jumped around like teenagers. We were so excited to know that we were breathing the same air as Clay. Then, sis and I decided to run errand and needed the car brought around. We went downstairs and sure enough, Clay and his entourage were all leaving to go out for dinner. I looked out and saw it was just pouring rain. We decided to go up to get our umbrella. We reached the elevator and bumped into Jerome. We got into the same elevator and he said "Hi ladies!" I guess he recognized us. We spoke for a bit and found out that they had flown in from Dallas but got stuck on the tarmac for a whole hour 'cos of the rain. That's why they all looked so tired. We also passed on a message to Jerome to pass on to Clay that we enjoyed Clay's concert in Frisco.

We got our umbrella, came down and got to our car and we found that our car was stuck between a car behind us and a taxi van in front of us. I could not move! I sat in the driver's seat and was thinking whose taxi that was. Out came Jesse, then Quiana, Jamie and Clay!!! We were stunned. So many encounters in 1 hour!!

The next day was interesting - about 3:30 p.m. I decided to log on and find out if all the tickets were sold out. I happen to pop in 2 tickets at the Jones Hall website. 2 Front Row Seats came up, almost dead centre!! I couldn't believe my eyes! So, sis and I sat in Front Row, our first time ever, in Houston. Clay was so amazing from the first row. I've never been so close to the stage. I'm not kidding - the stage was about 6" from my legs!

I shall never forget Houston Clay. During the handshake line that night, he took longer to shake people's hands. I actually got a full handshake and an extra-long squeeze from Clay. He thanked us for coming. I was so overjoyed that night. After he shook our hands, he, Jerome, Jamie and a cop crossed the road to the hotel. Now, everyone knew he stayed at my hotel.

Tulsa - July 7, 2007 - Great pre-concert party put on by the Oklahoma Clay Fans! I won a 250 GB external hard drive from the party. I was needing one, too. Need space to keep all that clack I've been taking, you know. ;o)

The concert that night was so tough for taking pictures as security sat right in front of the audience. Not only that, I think the ghosts that night was hard at work 'cos my one set of camera batteries died. I only had another pair and thank goodness, it worked that night.

Handshake line that night was in the dark. It was a thrill again to hear Clay thanking us for coming.

We went home after Tulsa.

Next stop - Newark.