The weather in Vancouver was nothing short of summery goodness, and I got a bit too much of that yesterday -- I came away with a bit of a sunburn. I didn't really notice it until late last night, feeling itchy-scratchy on my arms and neck. Come to think of it, I should be so lucky I didn't roast to a crisp as I was at the New Westminster Show and Shine car show for probably 4.5 hours or so, and most of that time was spent under full-strength summer rays. Needless to say, I was engrossed in photo-taking, evidence to go online later.
It was a long day: volunteering at the hostel from 9-12 with Elena (a feisty Czech lady masquerading as a senior citizen, what a sweetheart), a quick lunch with Eliza before crashing hard for a much-needed nap before the annual HI BBQ at Jericho, then hoofing it east to Trout Lake to try and catch a dance performance by one of the Vandigicam people.
I was at the BBQ longer than I'd expected to be, and amazingly I didn't even take any photos. By the time I got there I was ready to eat a picnic table, and made several rounds to the buffet. The guys standing at the BBQs should've given me a frequent flyer card, or just handed me the tongs. I *love* HI for being so good to their volunteers -- every year we eat like kings. I was in a deep food coma from the sheer gluttony at the BBQ, which probably accounted for the seemingly slow trip to the Broadway Skytrain station.
Slept like a rock (do rocks sleep?) on Saturday night; yesterday morning came all too quickly. The plan was to meet Cliff and other Vandigicam people at the New Westminster Show and Shine at 11ish, but I arrived closer to 12:30 and found myself surrounded by a bevy of classic cars just begging to have their photos taken. I'm no car buff, but I appreciate good design in all things, and automobiles are no exception. I also had an ulterior motive for visiting the car show: to see if I could find a classic car for the reception on October 8. The next question was, could I rent it?
I FOUND IT! A 1942 Cadillac Imperial limousine, in original condition.
I just spoke to the owner, Alan Cruickshank, who privately owns 27 classic cars. This automobile belonged to the governor of California at the time, and Mrs. Cruickshank told me yesterday that they have no plans to restore it -- a paint job would be $10,000! She said they don't want it to be a business; I got the impression they are just car collectors who rent them out to pay for maintenance costs. It sounds like the bulk of the rentals are for films -- Robert de Niro is in their car's photo album! (I think that was a big selling point with me!)
There were a few other cars I liked at the show (photos to be uploaded to Flickr later today), but this one was my favourite. They also have a similar 1940 Cadillac limo, but I don't think we'll need it. Which is good, because it's booked that day -- for a film, I think he said. One reason why I like this car is because it doesn't look like a limousine, it just looks like a vintage car. I've never seen one like it, and he said there are only four of them around -- two down south and one in Pennsylvania! Maybe if I can track it down, we can use it! (Ah, if only that were likely...)
