48 fleetmaster

1948 chevrolet fleetmaster

beautiful chevy early in the morning. the whole reason for getting out there early.

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so i am writing from a random hotel in yreka, ca, on the second night of my road trip to seattle. driving a twelve foot rental truck full of junk, back up to my daughter, to get it out of her dad's garage and storage unit.

i have my mom along for the ride. somehow, she's traveled the world while my dad was in the navy, but has never been north of san fran. so will be visiting the space needle and pike market, and try to avoid all the meth heads that stand on the corners near the tourist spots.

last year, when i was there with my better half, they were actually sizing me up to steal something, not noticing my six-five, big man glaring at them. he's not with us this trip, so will probably park closer and not walk so far with her.

first night only got as far as los banos, due to a later start than expected. had just finished loading the truck, turned the ignition and noticed the check engine light on. waited an hour to connect with rental assistance, only to be told it would be ok to drive. better safe than sorry, but seriously? the light stayed on as far as corning. truck driving fine, so whatever.

saw a beautiful old chevy drive past on the main street of los banos as i was waiting to turn to gas up the truck. didn't have a camera ready quick enough.

i've passed a number of old cars on trailers driving on the freeway. saw an old rusty fleetline heading southbound, to a new home.

anyway, driving a truck is tedious, but i'm having fun. have made it up and over a couple of mountains so far. really loving getting to greener elevations, and away from the browner hills of central cali.

going to spend a few days there, then flip a coin to decide which route we take back. i've never driven down the northern coast, so maybe that way. drive out to the pointy tip of the state and head south.

would drive to vancouver if there was time, but probably not.

time to get some sleep. tired of sitting and my hands are sore from gripping the steering wheel.

redemption

i like lowdown in uptown. not really for what they sell—it's cute, but i'm just not in the demographic for the clothing anymore. time is doing it's thing on me, and i'm not fighting it. just part of the process. kinda don't give a shit anymore. slowly becoming my mom, while my mom slowly becomes her mom.

anyway, they have an art show, their target crowd shows up. mostly to party, i think. they enjoy the artwork, but i don't think many buy. show ends, they go home. owners mop up the mess the next day.

some bring their cars; that's what i show up for. it's an addiction. some days the pull is harder than others.

lots of cars showed up for this show. cops accused them of having an unauthorized car show. same thing they argue every time they have an art show. this was the first car i shot that evening. i just walked up and down the street, avoiding traffic, jamming into small spaces, shooting what i could and what i liked.

lately, i haven't been in the mood much to get out to shows. just feeling tired, and the heat doesn't help. looks like i only have one show i really want to go to on the calendar for the month, san fernando high school. missed it last year because i was sick...haven't had a cold since then, so hoping it stays that way. it's a good show, and organized. i show up way too early, to get in and get out before the heat overwhelms. the people at the gate usually let me in early, as long as i stay out of the way.

crossroads

there have been a few new shows listed on dave's site recently, at least i've never seen on it before. this is from the good times show off crossroads parkway, in the carl's jr parking lot. figured if there wasn't much there, we could just go to fry's down the street.

there was a pretty good turnout: lots of chevys, lots of low rider cadillacs, and lots of hydraulics being bounced around. the show started in the late afternoon, but the sun is still dropping fairly early, so started shooting as quick as possible. there was a space of time before the parking lot lights came on, where it was pretty dark, and hard to see the cars. i still took some shots in the various lighting conditions...never know what you'll get. always learning, so practice, practice, practice. see what works and what doesn't for a picture.

there were beautiful cars from one end of the lot to the other, but this was one of the first group of cars we looked at. the owners were friendly and brought along their nice, big pit bulls too.

big ass

garden grove main street show. i hadn't been in a few weeks. it didn't seem as busy as it usually is. why was the parking lot of one of the two colleges just off main street being patrolled now and no one allowed to park there? that's where a lot of overflow cars would park. hmmm.

well, i walked up and down main street and the one side street a couple of times. i got some really good shots of several impalas, fords, chevys, a mercury, but i thought i'd share this 1948 chevy fleetmaster with you first. i also walked by several that i keep wanting to shoot, but hoods are up, owners sitting in the way or the light just wasn't right...maybe another time.

i know the front is where all the action is, but this image just seemed more interesting, a story waiting to be told. maybe it was the ladies in their chairs keeping an eye on me – they belong with the truck hiding on the other side of this one, but i wasn't interested in their antique truck full of, i assume, fake fruits and vegies with an old timey feel, if its the one i'm thinking of.

and the flags add to the 4th of july feel, which is only appropriate this week too.