My greatest adventure was when I went to Chicago in 2008. I went with my mom, and we stayed for four days, in early November. The reason we went was my mom got this "Gold Package", where it allowed me to meet and take pictures with, and get autographs of the actors and actresses of my favorite show, "Supernatural".
It was a convention where there were many events. You could listen as they talked, and there was a question and answer session, too. One of the best parts, to me, was taking the pictures. I chose to get my pictures with the two lead male actors, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles.
I also enjoyed spending time with my mother, and goofing around. In fact, one night we were watching the Wizard of Oz on TBS, and oddly, the televisions always come on really loud when you turn them on, no matter how quietly you turn it off, so it was really loud, and we turned it down. I guess we didn't turn it down quite enough because a couple minutes later a worker knocked on our door and told us to turn it down. My mom and I thought this was funny, so after the lady left, we started laughing. We sometimes got room service, and played with the game system they offered. Also, close to our hotel there was a shopping plaza that my mom and I went to a lot. In the plaza was Target, Cold Stone Creamery, a variety of restaurants, and an Office Max. We would just quickly scan through the stores, and then go out to dinner, and return to the hotel for the next event in the convention.
When I was taking pictures with Jared and Jensen, and getting their autographs, the security pushed you, and all of the people along quickly, so nobody could really have conversations, but they could still talk, and they were awfully nice, too. For the autographs, I got a big collage, and there were about ten different peoples' pictures on it, and each actor, or actress signed their picture.
The most memorable part of the convention was the panel with Jared and Jensen. They are really funny, and I never stopped laughing. The best part about the panel was that out of all the rows, my mom and I were in the second! It was awesome how close we were to the stage. The audience could get in line and ask a question if they had one for one of the actors. The two could make a joke about anything, and it was hilarious. I didn't go up and ask a question though, because the line was crazy long. Even though, I still enjoyed it a lot.
That Saturday night, there was an ice cream social. You could have a tasty snack while some of the people from the show came around and sat at your table, so you could talk to them. We met this really cool guy named Dakota, who is an agent to some of the stars on the show. He was nice, cute, and quite the comedian. It was nice, because they were not being rushed to keep going, and you could just talk to them about whatever you wanted. This party went on from eight, until one o'clock in the morning. I remember that one girl traveled all the way from England, and she hadn't slept for a couple of days, and she was dehydrated. She was walking across the room, and she fainted. My mother's friend, Jane, is a doctor, and she went to help. The paramedics had to come because she fainted a second time. It was a crazy night.
It was depressing to go back home since I had such a wonderful, yet crazy weekend in Chicago. For one weekend I got to meet my television crushes, doing what some people dream of, and now it was time to return home, and go back to school. I would miss Chicago, but maybe I will come back another day!
BY HALLIE STRAKA(MY LIFE AS AN EIGHTH GRADER)
Sammy definitely looks conflicted in this pic! 
