East Coast Nissan Truck Meet- Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN

I've put some significant mileage on the truck over the past two weekends. I was down in Tennessee for the East Coast Nissan Truck Meet. I heard about it last year on Club Frontier. It is organized by one of the guys form over on Club Titan and Titan Talk. Yes, it turned out to be a Titan Fest, but I was the proud representative of the Frontier culture and there was a 1st Gen Xterra that made it out for a portion as well.

 This was my first overnight road trip with Maddy. When I first got her, I took her the next day up to Philly to go get Jenn and help move her stuff back down to MD. That was just a short day trip compared to this. She was a little anxious for the first hour or so but then she settled down quite nicely. This is her taking late dinner in a Walmart parking lot outside of Pigeon Forge. We tried to sleep there, but then some dude brought out a leaf blower, at 2am, and started cleaning the lot. I think they do this to shoo away us vagrants. We tried two or three other lots before settling down in a gas station just outside of Smoky Mountain National Forest. I really feel that the word smoky should have an 'e' in there, but apparently this is the correct spelling. I was certain this was some backwoods bastardization of the word, but the spell check just confirmed it. Instead I'm just some egotistical aristocrat then.

 So I was all set to let Maddy romp through this stream until we saw this sign. We don't do feces. Remember, we're aristocrats.

 I will do a little mud though to get this picture. We treaded lightly.

 This one has Maddy peeking out the window.

 She is determined to not look at the camera when I use the self-timer.

 One of the Calhoun's staff assisted us with this picture. We were first there. So much for stereotypes. This brother arrives EARLY.

 I got her a new bone. Content.

 The first Titans arrive. And I got introduced to Loud Pipes. That's a thing in the Titan community.

 The first guy to arrive showed up in a Kia. I almost shoo-ed him away, but then he rolled up and knew the secret password. He also brought this scale model of his truck.

 More of the trucks started pulling up.

 I like to call this one the Stormtrooper edition. I liked the custom white bumper.

 The one thing I learned is that these guys and gals LOVE to tune their exhausts, and then REV the hell out of their trucks. I thought I was at a bike rally. I was fine with having a smaller truck. But having a small, quiet truck actually made me feel a little out of place. I tried to make it make other noises before just getting on my loud speaker and repeating "Loud Noises". It elicited some chuckles.

 The one on the right might be my favorite. I liked the hood scoops and the aggressive stance.

 Nice Pre-Runner style bumper.

 At first glance, I thought this might have been a Titan-swapped Frontier. Nope, full Titan.

 I couldn't figure out what type of lift this guy had. It looks like a Calmini-style drop bracket, but not with the signature blue styling. I don't know Titan mods nearly as well as I do Frontier mods; so, I was a bit out of my element.

 Maddy sought some relief from the heat as the day wore on. Initially it was a bit muggy and overcast. The creek ran right behind us and the mosquitoes were eating me alive.

 Lining up in Sugarlands Welcome Center prior to the cruise. There was one Xterra there earlier, but he had to leave for a work issue.

 Borderland

 So Maddy kind of made new friends, except for the bitch was a real bitch. Sasha was a more dominant female; so, she saw fit to take Maddy's bone and few times she made Maddy get up off her blanket that I had laid out for her so she could lay down instead. When she came back to Deebo my dog again, I stepped in as the Alpha male that I am. I just stood in front of Maddy and looked at Sasha. She understood my dog language and walked away. Then Maddy laid down. Rocky was just mischievous. He also stole her bone...so he could bury it. Like, I knew dogs did this, but I've never known one to do so in my presence. I was going crazy looking for it because I had to take it away from Sasha at one point when I again asserted dominance. I was thinking I misplaced it; then Mike alerted me to the antics.

 I intentionally captured these people in the photo. My scenery pictures are often pretty boring. I needed some people, even though I didn't know them.

 It started raining at the end of the cruise.

 Another waterfall of sorts.

Maddy was pretty tuckered out. She was a hit with the kids, both chronological and otherwise. All of the loving made for a sleepy pup. I tried to catch her knocked out in the backseat while driving.