I embarked on my Amazing Clay Adventure last weekend. Chicago Midway airport was the first stop. It was on Friday, Dec 1 and my family and I were flying in at the tail end of the blizzard in Chicago. We were nervous that our flight might be cancelled but our plane made it. Our plane was finally given clearance to land after flying around for 10 mins over the airport. When we landed, we discovered that all the snow was plowed off the runway and everything was cleared. We got our rental car and drove on pretty good highways. We were surprised at how quickly the snow was cleared after the massive snowstorm we watched on TV. The sun was shining and we could see the snow melting a bit. When we arrived in Waukegan, we could see more evidence of the snow. Heavy wet snow, now starting to ice up 'cos of the freezing temperature of about 0oC with windchill.

We arrived at the venue with no problems. I had upgraded my parents' tickets and got them row L, seats on the centre aisle. My sister, clayheaven, and I decided to present our parents' old tickets (row R) to someone up in the balcony. It so happened that when we arrived at row L to seat my parents, there was an old couple sitting there. They were in the wrong seats and they were supposed to be up in row L in the balcony! Clayheaven and I looked at each other and proceeded to give the 2 tickets in Row R to the old couple. They were very surprised and did not want to take them thinkging they had to buy them but we told them we were giving the tickets to them. The usher listened to us and she proceeded to seat them in row R. We wished them "Merry Christmas! They happily took them and thanked us.

The orchestra began but we were anxiously waiting for Clay to come on the stage. When Clay finally came on, it was as if the theatre exploded! There was such a thuderous applause and he sang "Christmas Waltz". I was apprehensive in taking my pictures 'cos I was not sure about security. I got braver and took many pictures of our handsome Clay. (THUD!) You can check it at the Clayboard - Cellcerts, Reviews & M&Gs, My JNaT 2006pics.

Song after song, he belted out and gave his all. He was so chatty. I miss his banter so much and it was so good to hear him talk and sing again.

That night we didn't go to the buses 'cos the roads were like skating rinks. We decided to go back to the hotel and work on some of my pictures.

The next day we drove to Merrillville, IN. The roads were clear and the sun was shining brightly. We arrived at our hotel and met up with some Claymates we hadn't seen in a while - Ethel, solitaire234, nky4clay, and carrotop4clay. It was good to see all of them again.

The time came to go to the theatre. We were extremely excited 'cos we had row DD (4th row) on the right side. claysweetea and audrules were in front of us and later I found out, ncsupack88 was behind my sister. Clay came on and we were so happy to see him perform again the following night. That night in Merrillville, Clay was on fire. His voice was warmed up and it soared!

The best part of the evening was when Clay pointed to our section. My sister, mum and I all had cameras in our hands. He pointed to us and said, "Are you holding the clack steady?" My sis and I both nodded YES. It was neat to be picked out by Clay.

Clay nailed the notes in "All is Well." Amazing, amazing voice. That voice aiming higher and higher notes! Wow! I am floored at how he can reach those notes!

That night at the buses, Clay came out to shake hands with everyone in the crowd. It was a pretty big crowd, too. Jerome came out to secure the place and my sister and I were at the end near the front of the bus. Jerome said to those of us standing at the edge of the grass to come forward. I ran and got in front of the line. Sis was behind me. Clay finally came out and shook hands with a lot of people and he came down our end and I got to shake his hand!! He said, "Thank you for coming!"

What a great weekend in Illinois and Indiana!!

The Clay adventure continues.....