sunkissed_photo_bus

Our Story

shane.tretheway@gmail.com (Shane Tretheway) — Sat, 22 Sep 2018 17:03:00 GMT

The Owners of Miss Daisy

We are Shane & Kaley Tretheway. Kaley and I met in college at Lee University in Cleveland, TN and were college sweethearts. We married in October of 2015 in Gruene, Texas. Two days after our wedding, we flew to our new home in Melbourne, Australia, where we would spend the next year. We pit-stopped in New Zealand & Fiji for our honeymoon before arriving to what would become an amazing adventure. Kaley got a job as a hostess for a 5-Star Accor Property Restaurant, and I was placed at an internship at VidCorp, where I would eventually be salaried as their Digital Media Integration Specialist.

During our time in Melbourne, we decided to go on a trip down the Great Ocean Road, one of the most iconic surf destinations in the world. It was only about an hour away from the city, so it was a no-brainer for us to go see. Kaley, for some reason, had the idea to rent an old VW Camper Bus to drive down there and camp in. So after one of Australia's MANY 4-day workweeks, Kaley and I, as well as our American friends, Courtney and Mark embarked on an unforgettable journey for the extended weekend. Our destination: The Twelve Apostle, if we made it that far. But we weren't in a hurry. Obviously.

We began our journey by taking a train from Melbourne to Geelong, Australia, where we were renting the VW Bus from. We met the owners of the bus, who had an army of busses on their lawn. Our bus's name was Applejack, a bright yellow 1978 4-speed Baywindow Camper. Neither Kaley nor myself knew how to drive a manual transmission, so we were really excited when Courtney said she did. After a very long training from the owner on how to drive Applejack, we were off! On the left side of the road, driving from the right side of the vehicle (Poor Courtney!!).

After stocking up on some groceries at a local store, we embarked the first leg of the Great Ocean Road. We didn't get very far the first day before the sun was already setting, so we found a random parking lot that faced the beach to park in for the night. The stars that night were the most beautiful we had ever seen in our life. There wasn't a single light within eye-sight. night with the Milky Way galaxy so vibrant. We were seeing constellations that could not be seen from the Northern Hemisphere. Absolutely breathtaking!

We woke up that morning to find our van surrounded by more than 30 cars (at 6:30 am!). Dozens of surfers (and their dogs) were down below on the beach taking on the waves of the most beautiful beach I had ever witnessed. We had no idea at the time that Bells Beach is one of the most iconic surf destinations in the world. But we learned that one pretty quickly.

The next two days were spent putting around the Great Ocean Road with some amazing friends. The VW Bus taught us to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life, such as friendship, the vast beauty of nature, and patience. We learned to love Applejack for his retro vibe, slow speeds, and Hooga Horn!

After 150 kilometers of fun-filled memories that will last a lifetime, we arrived at our destination of choice: The Twelve Apostles. These are a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park. Their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction. There were once 12 of these massive natural formations, but due to erosion from the ocean, only 8 remain today. What a view they were! We trekked to an overlook, where we took these pictures.

We didn't know it then, but we were creating memories that would last a lifetime. We were creating memories that we already long for now that we no longer live in Australia. Our time in Melbourne was such an amazing year. It taught us how to rely on one another, and how to truly look out for the interest of our other half. It was a time of adventure, amazing friends, and independence.

After that trip, VW Bus's have held a special place in our heart. They inspire us to be patient, to seek adventure, and to love each other even more than the day we married. We love the atmosphere and happiness that buses like Applejack create. You can't help but smile when you see one. This is the fuel that feeds the passion behind what we have created here at Sunkissed Photobus. We want to share this experience with you, our friends, and stand by you to create lasting memories that you will cherish for the rest of your life.

Stay Happy. Stay Hippie.

Our First Wedding

shane.tretheway@gmail.com (Shane Tretheway) — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 22:33:43 GMT

A Learning Experience

Yay! It's our first wedding with Miss Daisy! Just like the Pink Bride Show, we were nervous and excited. We had everything loaded in the bus and ready to go. I drove the bus and Kaley followed behind in our truck since were also photographing and filming the wedding. We were chugging along in the right lane on I-75 getting passed by nearly every car because we are slow.

Remember when we mentioned that we had little knowledge of VW buses? Well we didn't realize how easily they can overheat and it was about 95 degrees this sunny August day. I get a call from Kaley saying "Pull Over! You are smoking!". I quickly took the next exit and pulled into the nearest gas station. Now what? How are we going to get to this wedding? We also have to photograph and film it.

We called our most wonderful friend Julia and she came to the rescue. Julia immediately came to the gas station and we called a tow truck. They would be there in about 20 mins and Julia waited to give them the keys while Kaley and I took the truck and went to the wedding venue with our camera gear. We were stressed but had to keep going. We made it to the wedding in plenty of time to begin photographing/filming.

The Tow truck arrived and dropped off poor Miss Daisy hours before the ceremony and guests arrived. We were very thankful not to cause a disruption to the bride and groom's wedding day. I got Miss Daisy in place where she would be in operation during the reception.

Stress started to subside and we focused on documenting the couple's gorgeous wedding. Later our booth attendant arrived and made sure the kiosk and props were ready to go. Everything was working just fine and Miss Daisy fulfilled her duty as a super fun photo booth.

Guests hopped in and out of the bus all night for their photos and had the best time.

It wasn't the experience I had hoped for as our first wedding but we made it.

The wedding was over and the couple had their sparkler send-off. All that was left to do was pack up and head home. Once all the guests left, the tow truck arrived and Miss Daisy made it back home safely.

The following day we called our mechanic at Automotive Artifex and had him take a look. It turns out that rebuilt motor we thought Miss Daisy had, was not the case. So here's a brief overview of a VW bus engine. It is air-cooled which means it does not have a radiator like most cars these days. She was supposed to have two pieces of tin that evenly distribute air over the engine pistons to cool them as it drives. Sadly, these crucial pieces of tin were nowhere to be found. In addition to not having the airflow distribution tin in place, the pistons were not aimed in the proper directions, which also caused the motor to get hot more quickly. VW Buses like to cruise at about 45 mph with 55mph being her top speed (for 1971 models), so when I was driving down I-75 pedal to the metal, she overheated.

But our mechanic fixed her right up and now we know. This is why we avoid interstates because Miss Daisy just can't keep up with the other cars. We take the road less travelled with backroads. This was a big learning experience for us as first-time VW bus owners and that wouldn't be the only thing we would learn along the way.

Our Debut |The Pink Bride 2018

shane.tretheway@gmail.com (Shane Tretheway) — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 20:32:13 GMT

The Pink Bride Chattanooga: August 12, 2018

This was such a nerve wrecking day! This was the day we showed the world what we had worked so hard the last 6 months to create. Would it be a bust or success? We were so stressed but we had to keep going.

Luckily Miss Daisy ran well and made it inside the Chattanooga Convention Center for the show.

Luckily we had our wonderful friends helping us and calming us down throughout the day. We got everything set up. The props were on display, the kiosk was up and running, and the printer was ready to print all the photo strips. We were ready to meet all the hundreds of brides coming to the show.

We talked with so many brides and we had 4 bookings the day of the show! We were thrilled. People actually liked our bus and wanted to book Miss Daisy for weddings. Brides and their tribe took lots of pictures and took several photo strips home with them.

The show seemed like it lasted forever but it finally came to an end at 4 pm and we could relax. We all deserved a glass (or 3) of wine after the show. We did it! People got to experience SunKissed Photo Bus for the first time and see what we are all about. We were now ready to take on weddings in Chattanooga and celebrate with newlywed couples. All of our hard work had paid off!

Restoration | The Making of Miss Daisy

shane.tretheway@gmail.com (Shane Tretheway) — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 20:30:25 GMT

The Making of Miss Daisy

Miss Daisy is bright yellow and beautiful now but she wasn't always this way. We were young (still are), had a dream, and were willing to take a risk. We wanted to start a photo bus business and that means we needed a cute VW Bus. Ones that were fully restored were expensive and often didn't have the look we were going for.

We spent months looking at VW buses on all sorts of used car platforms across the U.S and we found Miss Daisy on Craigslist. Yes, on sketchy Craigslist. She was listed for sale for a couple months and we had our eye on her since the owner stated it had a rebuilt motor (Later we found out that wasn't the case...) We decided we liked the idea of restoring a bus ourselves so we could customize it and slowly pay for the projects.

We drove to Dandridge, TN where Miss Daisy was located and she was in bad shape. She barely had paint on her, just a poor gray primer. She had some visible body damage with dings here and there. She was not taken care of very well but to be fair she was 48 years old. Her headliner was moldy, and yes there was a distinct smell. Parts of the floor board was rusted through to the point where we could stick our fingers through. But none of those concerns mattered. We fell in love with her and her potential. We didn't see all the dirt and grime. We saw her cute smile and the happiness she would bring to newlywed couples.

We wrote the man a check and trailered her back home to Chattanooga.

So now Miss Daisy was at home but there was so much to do. But where do we begin? We were told her motor was good but we really had no idea. Oh and did we mentioned that neither of us know how to drive a stick? Yeah, we had to learn on the bus! We did not know of any mechanics in the area that worked on vintage motors (sorry Automotive Artifex, we would have came to you sooo much sooner if we had known!) We found a place called Vee-Dub that specializes in VW motors but here's the kicker. They are located in Asheville, NC. So that's where we went. We trailered Miss Daisy all the way to Asheville and left her for a couple weeks while the mechanic worked on her.

Two weeks go by and it's time to check on her again and pay the mechanic. Everything seems to be working fine, but again we can't drive a stick. We have the mechanic take Miss Daisy on and off the trailer for us.

Now it's time to make her pretty. The mechanic recommends a body and paint shop down the road so that's where we go next. Ryan, the owner of Mobile Body & Paint takes a look at sad Miss Daisy and gives us an estimate on all her imperfections and we leave her in his hands.

Miss Daisy spent about 3 months at Ryan's shop and It was so hard to leave her for so long but we knew it would be worth it.

Ryan first started working on her body. She had some spots that needed some body filler. Miss Daisy got new flooring welded so it was safe to actually step on.

After fixing her body damage and flooring it was time to start painting. Miss daisy's original color was a teal exterior with black interior. The black seemed so dark inside so we decided to make the interior bright white to make it feel more spacious. Ryan did such a good job and she looked so sparkly clean when it was finished.

Now it was time to choose a color. There was already a blue photo bus in Knoxville and a white one in Atlanta and we wanted to do something different. We thought about red, but would that clash with a lot of wedding colors? Green is nice but do we choose a light sage or a deep hunter green? We even considered orange but eventually chose yellow for Miss Daisy. It's happy, like the sun and brings a smile. We didn't realize that yellow (and purple) are the most expensive colors to paint a car but c'est la vie . We are very happy with the color of our beautiful Miss Daisy.

After months of waiting, we finally got the call that Miss Daisy was ready to be picked up. We were so excited and immediately packed our bags and made a trip to Asheville. We were finally going to see Miss Daisy in person! We were in awe when we pulled up to the body shop and saw bright yellow in the parking lot! Miss Daisy was finally transformed from our ugly gray duckling to our beautiful yellow VW bus. After paying the mechanic, we were headed back to TN to take Miss Daisy home.

But Miss Daisy wasn't perfect yet. She still needed some interior pieces replaced. Oh, and now we had a deadline. We wanted to debut Miss Daisy at the Chattanooga Pink Bride Show on August 12th. We had less than a month to get Miss Daisy ready for the show. We ordered her a new headliner because the one she had was disgusting. No matter how much we cleaned, it was not going to be enough. She was due for an upgrade. She received a new bamboo headliner and floor mat to finish her look. Just like something you would order from Ikea, assembly was not included. We had to figure out to install this beautiful headliner in this TN heat.

It was a nail biter, but we managed to get her ready for the Pink Bride for the debut of SunKissed Photo Bus!

Our 6 month restoration was complete.