Sunday, June 10, 2012

cruisin' for a cure


On Saturday morning, I shined up my turquoise 1967 Chevrolet pick-up truck and drove it on over to the local GM dealership up the road for their 1st annual Cruisin' for a Cure to benefit the upper Illinois Valley Relay for Life team. I keep my truck stored away until the weather warms up every year. So, sadly, I had to scrub off the "Just Married" that was still scrawled across the back window. I figured it was time, seeing as how it will be 1 year since our wedding day next month. Yikes.. I need to drive this truck more.. Its been my "baby" since I was 15 years old, when the floor was so rusted out that I could see the pavement moving by beneath my feet. 

I bought it from my uncle who had it stored away in his garage. Just a project he'd never gotten around to doing anything with. My dad owns his own automotive collision repair shop that he built from the ground up. One of the many perks of being his daughter was growing up around that shop. I fell in love with old cars and trucks at a young age, spending time at the shop and traveling around the state to car shows every summer and fall in his fully-restored black 1970 Monte Carlo. Some of my favorite memories took place in that car, on those trips. I can't hear a Creedence Clearwater Revival song with out thinking about that car and those trips. Over time, dad saw that I had a love for making things like new again and told me that we could restore a vehicle together and I had my mind set on a truck.

We spent 9 months working on that truck, giving it new life. Its something I would never sell, no matter the price. The memories that it holds of spending time with my dad are priceless to me. And it never gets old hearing how beautiful and unique of a truck it is from complete strangers, no matter where I go.

The car show this weekend was Chris's first ever and I'm happy that I was able to bring him along to it. My dad showed up and walked around with us. He even saw a few of the cars he restored for customers back when he opened up his first shop location. It was fun to hear him reminisce in detail what it was like working on each one. There was a pretty good turn out for it being the first event of its kind in our town and it sounded like they raised a lot of money for the cause. It was a beautiful day, even if I ended up coming home with a hellacious sunburn. You win some, you lose some, right?

Here are a few snapshots of sights from the day..


I hope everyone had a great weekend!

4 comments:

  1. I think my husband my have been in heaven! Your truck is so gorgeous!!!

    Love & Lollies... Jessa

    Caked Vintage Blog

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  2. What an amazing car! That's funny about having to scrub off the Just Married finally. That's something I would do. Haha.

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