There’s really nothing to complain about when you start off a 3-day weekend of car activities with a Southern-style BBQ hosted by a local Volkswagen dealership. We drove the 50-miles south to Auburn VW Friday night to check out the “pre-weekend” activities and thank them for their hospitality! It was truly a pleasure to see old friends and catch up with those we typically don’t get a chance to. A decent turn-out meant plenty of new targets for our lenses, too.
Saturday morning was the only opportunity available to get the CC cleaned up for the shows. Washing regularly (our neighbors must think I’m crazy for how “regular” these washes are) may help in the grand scheme of things but when you decide to show a car, you really need to CLEAN it. Believe it or not, that’s the ONE thing people don’t do enough of, then wonder why they didn’t place or win their category despite spending thousands and thousands of dollars on modifications and upgrades. None of that means anything if you can’t display a clean car.
Every little nook and cranny gets attention to ensure that anyone walking by with white gloves (no, that does not really happen – at least, not at our shows) doesn’t get them dirty upon inspecting the car. Door jams, the engine bay, trunk, all storage compartments, behind the gas door… Nothing goes untouched. In a year of having the car, I can easily say this is the cleanest we’ve had the CC, yet I know for a FACT we would not have passed the white glove test. Hours were spent washing, clay-baring, then re-washing before applying a polish and wax compound via random orbital to get the paint to shine. More time was spent vacuuming and cleaning all the interior panels and upholstery so not a single speck of dust could be found. And just when you think you’re all done cleaning, you need to go back through and clean again because it’s likely you missed something. Of course, having the proper tools to clean is helpful, and we have to thank local automotive detailing experts Griot’s Garage for giving us just about everything we need to get the job done. In fact I’m anxious to test out one of their new products, a heavy-duty wheel cleaner that is safe to use on all wheel finishes. Too bad my wheels are rarely dirty enough to test it yet…
Once we were all cleaned-up it was back down to Tacoma, WA to attend the first car show, Tailored Seattle. Combining just about all makes and models, the decision of whether or not your car was acceptable to be on display for the show was determined by show organizers upon entry into Cheney Stadium, the venue of the event. Fortunately for us, the CC made the cut but it dawned on us how disappointing it might be for those who intended to show their rides but didn’t make it in. Not quite how I’d go about organizing a show but whatever… We weren’t there to run it. We were there to PARTICIPATE! A great selection of different makes and models made it into the show “arena” and despite the confusion getting everyone parked, by the time we were all settled it was a good time as always – catching up with our fellow car enthusiast friends, meeting new people and snapping pictures! There were definitely a good number of quality cars on display…
The evening wrapped up with a VIP party hosted by organizers of both the Tailored Seattle event and WaterWërks. We then drove the 50-miles back home to North Seattle after closing down the party just after midnight so we could be back by 9am the following morning. Admittedly by Sunday’s WaterWërks event, we were completely knocked out. It was going to be yet another warm, sunny day on asphalt staring at cars. The motivation to keep a good amount of time behind the lens had become a chore. Thankfully we had all our friends there to keep us entertained in the interim. All-in-all, we had a WONDERFUL weekend…
The rest of the set can be found here.
