Body Marinade: Day 5 (am)..."The Car Show"

Aug 4...I woke up on Wednesday morning at the Peppermill, excited about the day that lay ahead. I always love to take location pictures when I travel, and I knew I had some good spots picked out for the daylight. Tonight would also be my first home party after travelling almost 3000 miles. I still had plenty of time until checkout, since my body was still on NY time. It was 8 AM when I woke up, but I was as rested as if I slept until 11. I made the complimentary coffee available in the room, as I didn't look forward to the walk to the coffee bar as well as the $3 price tag on their java. After my first cup of coffee I decided to take one last swim and dunk in the hot tub. Since I would be on the road and spending the night in the Hotel Honda again, and I wanted to say goodbye to the luxuries before I left. After a swim, shower, and another cup of coffee, I packed up and headed down to check out. I completed the endless trek to the car and dropped off my bags, so I could get started on my quest for promo pictures.

Since the car was parked on the roof of the parking garage, I started there. There was a parapet that would provide a great ledge for the bottles, and the plentiful Nevada mountains surrounding Reno provided the background scenery. A few shots from my elevated position...

I left the roof and headed down to the ground level. There were two beautiful fountains in the back of the property near my room that I wanted to stop by before I hit the car show. It was hard to get a good angle, and there were quite a few people passing by. Their quizzical looks showed they were probably wondering why I was laying on the ground taking pictures of bottles on the edge of a fountain. I did manage to get one that I was happy before I moved on.

After the fountains, I grabbed a few pictures of the product in various other spots around the hotel property, and then headed out to the parking lot for the car show.

As I started walking through the sea of classic automobiles, I started to get a little nervous about my approach. I was roughly 3000 miles from home, I didn't know anyone at all, I have a funny accent, and my request could be viewed as mildly insane. I was figuring that there would be very few show car owners who would allow me to put my products on their car to take promo pictures. Luckily, I couldn't have been more wrong. There was a definite underestimation of the power of a smile and an inspiring true story. I wound up meeting some great people, and got some unbelievable shots in between.

It took some time to locate a car with an owner nearby. It seemed that most of them had parked their vehicles from the night before and weren't coming back before the sun went down later that day. Although there were a ton of spectators walking by and taking pictures, I would never do a product promo picture without permission. Finally, I saw a man sitting behind an amazing white late 50's Corvette who looked approachable. I rehearsed my intro one last time in my head and then walked up and said hello. He looked skeptical at first, but it didn't take long for me to show him I was serious. I learned that his name was Gary Zumwalt, and he was from Grants Pass, OR. He was a very friendly fellow and we had a nice conversation about his car and my trip. He told me I was allowed to take a few pictures with our bottles on the top of the engine only. I was ecstatic at his "yes", and I quickly had the bottles out and under the hood. Being extra careful when I took them off, I thanked Gary when I was done and walked on feeling much better about my mission at the car show.

I continued down the meticulous line of shiny American steel, looking for my next photo opportunity. At the very end of the row, I found it. This is where I ran into Ron Bennett of Vacaville, CA who was showing his 1957 Olds. It was a beautiful piece of machinery and he was eager to talk to me about his car and the reason I was there. Not only did he allow me to take pictures of the bottles in his engine compartment, he offered me a seat in his ride and his services as photographer. The motor pics worked out great, seeing as I was carrying three bottles and he had three shiny chrome air cleaners.

While I was speaking to Ron, I also met a really great guy named Fred Loveland who was parked in the next spot over. Fred owns and shows a 1934 Ford, which he uses to raise money and awareness for the the Wounded Warrior Project. It is an amazing organization who supports our troops who are wounded in conflict, by sending them backpacks filled with things they will need during their recovery. Fred explained in detail how every backpack costs $140 to purchase, fill, and ship. He also spoke of the soldiers who receive them, most usually badly burned from IEDs, who are always thankful for clean undergarments and entertainment items for their time of recovery. Fred is a dedicated supporter who should be commended for all he does to help these soldiers in need. Please visit their site to learn more about what they do and find out how you can help.

After they shared an ice cold water and a few stories, I said goodbye to Ron and Fred and continued on. This was going way better than expected and I was starting to run short on time. I figured I only had long enough left to speak to one more person and I found a nice gentleman on my walk towards the car. His name was Wayne Gillaspey, and he was showing a 1931 Model A Faden. It was a beautiful old car and he proceeded to tell me all about its history and his time spent with it. I shared my story and he was more than happy for me to take pictures of our products with his piece of American automotive history. I was given carte blanche and took some from a few different angles.

I extended my gratitude to Wayne and headed for the Honda. I grabbed a few pics in front of the casino, and then started on my way to Orangevale, CA to see Paige and her girls for the first home party on the tour. My time in Reno was fun, but I couldn't wait to go live at 7PM PST.