Nolan and I arrived in Peoria in the mid afternoon on Wednesday. Unfortunately, Cindy and Keith had some issues at the airport with weather delays and were moved from Northwest Airlines to United, routed from Detroit to Chicago – where they endured a four hour layover at one of the busiest airports in the world! Instead of arriving around 4pm, they made it here around 7pm. We all settled into the hotel and then ran off to the local Culver’s Butterburgers and Custard for dinner.
Today, we had the unexpected surprise of finding that Andre Kole and his team were only a couple hours away for us. We were up early and made the drive to Danville, IL where we had the opportunity to spend the day with all of them. I always enjoy the time I have to catch up and visit with Andre. We met at the hotel and then piled into two vehicles – all 11 of us – and drove over to Montana Mike’s Steak House for lunch. I shared a booth with Andre and his son, Tim, who has joined Andre on the road this year sharing the stage. Tim had his fiance, Tina, and illusion manager, Mike, were with him. It was very relaxing and casual – and a great way to spend the day.
We made the drive back to Peoria and arrived before 6pm, which allowed us to make it to a meeting we had tonight at the Performing Arts Center where we will be performing on Friday. This venue has a few things that the Tech Director thought we should “see” before we load in. As we approached the Center, we saw several copies of this sign posted on the front doors:
Seeing the stage and lighting ahead of time definitely helped us rethink some things before we load in tomorrow. Cindy and Nolan have their things all figured out; Keith and I think we’re ready too. It should be a fun show!