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Hey Z family! It's that time of year again to make plans the week before Memorial day (May 15-19) to join the Z faithful at Zdayz. More info can be found here" https://zdayz.com/
This is really a great event to attend. You'll never see so many Z cars gathered in one centralized location in the beautiful Smoky Mountains on the TN/NC border. Here's my thread from last year's event: https://my350z.com/forum/event-photo...yz-2018-a.html
There is no judgment regardless of whether your Z is a garage queen, show car, track car, drift car, bone stock, or even a work in progress. There are lots of coordinated events that cater to all different preferences. The twisting mountain roads are phenomenal and there is no better place to leave your stressed out lives in your rear view mirror.
While I do not stand to make any sort of financial gain or profit, I wanted to spread the word about this very well put together event and encourage others to attend and share their passion for the Z.
It's unfortunate that ZdayZ are right smack dab at the start of race season. I did manage to attend once to represent Nissan Sport Magazine back in the day. It was a memorable event and I encourage all Z enthusiasts to go!
Well, another ZdayZ has come and gone. This year marked the 16th anniversary of the event that started in 2003 with less than 100 people in attendance and it has grown to close to 1,000. The weather was beautiful and the twisting and sweeping mountain roads were phenomenal as usual. The scenery is amazing and I cannot think of a better place to hold such an event. We got to reconnect with a lot of friends from last year and made many new friends this year. Below are a lot of pictures from the trip. I tried to capture as much as I could without being glued to my camera the entire time. I hope everyone enjoys!
Day 1: The morning view from our room at the lodge. I think it rivals most sunrises.
At about 10:00AM, we met at the general store at the bottom of Fontana Village to set up for the Telico Plain Cruze to lead us through the Tail of the Dragon and back via the Cherohala Skyway.
Our planned route:
Lining up at Deals Gap to tackle the 318 turns in 11 miles:
After the dragon, we brought new life to the sleepy town of Telico Plains, which has a population of less than 900 people. The town hall seemed like a good place for us to take over.
Afterwards, the group the splintered off to refuel, find lunch, or go to the Visitor's center. We found one group at the Tellicafe and joined their table for lunch. While we ate, the topics of conversation included the likes of plenum spacers, wheel offsets, brake pad setups, and clutch/flywheel combos.
After being refreshed and with slightly cooler engine temperatures, we then set off down the Cherohala Skyway. It was hard to resist taking advantage of the scenic overlooks.
After the Cherohala Skyway, we took a trip down to Fontana Dam since it was a Dam release weekend. These are apparently a really big deal down there! We stopped to be refreshed by the misting mountain water as it filled the air.
Day 2. The weather was gorgeous despite the early morning thunderstorms.
My wife and I lined up to run the 5K "Beast Run" to benefit Wags 4 Tags. They perform great work in rescuing dogs from kill shelters and serving our veterans by providing them with canine companions. No pictures of this event as a heavy DSLR likely would have prevented me from taking 2nd overall
After some much needed showers, we staged at the general store around 11:30AM to depart on the Drop Top Cruise.
We decided to use Fontana Dam as a rally point to gather the masses. Even some not Zs decided to join the fun, and all are welcome.
We dropped a few places in our group as the test pipe fumes were starting to get to my wife and then we took off back down the Tail of the Dragon.
The group got separated by some bikers (both sport bikes and some maniac on a bicycle with a death wish), so we circled back to make sure everyone made the turn down the Foothills Parkway. This road was recently opened up after decades with some fresh, smooth asphalt. Mmmmmm....
We stopped to take advantage of one of the scenic overlooks.
One of my favorite shots!
We hung back to let the main group go ahead, and then we found the rest of our tribe.
After we got back to Fontana, we geared up for the Z1 deck party and dollar beers - definitely did not bring my camera to this one.
Day 3. Our small group of new friends decided the night before to rendezvous for breakfast at Tapoco Lodge for some breakfast. Afterwards, we decided to nerd out for some group photos.
Sometimes you just need to shut your mouth and enjoy the scenery.
Our unruly band of misfits:
Why can't gas be this cheap?
We separated from the group to check out the car show... I hope the servers can handle this next photo dump!
Awesome coverage and pics of an awesome event, Daniel!! Man, that's a lot of Z!! I find it amusing how I'm sitting here staring at all that good stuff and I just looked out my office window and thought, "Boy, my car is plain." Hahahahaha. (But wouldn't have it any other way.)
One small nitpick....
Where are all the people? Laff.... don't get me wrong, I love looking at all the machinery, beautiful scenery and sights.... but y'know, one day I'd like to put some faces to the cars and the names here on forum! Most everyone that's ever read one of my posts knows what my ugly mug looks like but I'd like to turn that around!!
But aside from that, thank you for putting that together! The West Coast Z people appreciate it (or are jealous as hell) for sure!
If you've made it this far, I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I tried to capture the captivating feeling of ZdayZ and give those a little taste of what it's like if you couldn't make it. It was a great time and I strongly encourage everyone to attend. I know Nissan has been a little bit of a letdown for Z enthusiasts lately with the big 50th anniversary unveiling nothing but another Z34 with some graphics, but passion for the Z is highest in the Smoky Mountains every year the weekend before Memorial Day where you can arrive knowing nobody and leave with new friends. If you grow tired of your Z or debate whether to move on to another platform, please come at least once and it may just change your mind.
As a great man once said, "Love cars, Love People, Love Life."
Wow, Great write-up my friend! The Dragon (129) to Tellico and Cherahola were absolutely the best ride I've had in that area. So glad we got to spend some time together. Your pics are so much better, too much fun, radios next time, for sure!
Ha! Sadly, I don't think too many forum members attend. I would also love to put some faces to some names on here, but then again, I think it would ruin the joy of the "When I think of..." thread.
However, I think you may know this fellow moderator...
And I'm sure you can guess who these two people are...
LMAO, Epic fun with old and new friends. Think that dude in the 1st pic was a random homeless guy... I digress, this is the Best Nissan show on the East coast, the topography cannot be matched. More fun-
Ha! Sadly, I don't think too many forum members attend. I would also love to put some faces to some names on here, but then again, I think it would ruin the joy of the "When I think of..." thread.
However, I think you may know this fellow moderator...
And I'm sure you can guess who these two people are...
Originally Posted by jhc
LMAO, Epic fun with old and new friends. Think that dude in the 1st pic was a random homeless guy... I digress, this is the Best Nissan show on the East coast, the topography cannot be matched. More fun-
Now see!? That's what I'm tawkin' about heah!! Neither of you guys (and that's gotta be Liz I presume...I hope!) look anything like I had in mind's eye! Hahahahaha.
Thanks again for all the great pics and story (along with the reality check!)
And there I go ruining the thread (no Z content and all that). Tell a forum moderator.
01-20-2019, 08:42 AM
Zdayz 2019
