Corona de Tuccson
November 20, 2025
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| Violas...such happy little blooms! |
I failed to mention in the last blog that Joe had a birthday on November 2nd. He was 79...where do the years go? It was his choice to just enjoy a quiet day at home. And other than a mid-morning walk with Lucy, that is exactly what we did.
Lucy was a year old on August 20 this year. We signed papers for adoption the first of November last year and it was on November 13, 2024 that she made her trip from Greenville, SC to Tucson. I can remember the day as if it were yesterday when the flight nanny handed her to me. Being that the 13th was our one year "gotcha day", we celebrated at Bark'n Berry Doggie Ice Cream Parlor.
Celena is the owner of this unique ice cream parlor. She is a former veterinary nurse and is an animal welfare advocate who founded her business to create a safe
community space for dog owners. The parlor has dog-friendly treats, locally made pet products, and hosts events to support local animal rescue and charities.
"I think about going back in the field, but I think I am better suited to serving ice cream," she said with a laugh.
This fun shop located on Broadway in downtown Tucson offers birthday parties complete with doggie birthday cakes and ice cream, puppy yoga, ice cream socials, low cost vaccines and microchips, nail trims and on occasion a chance to meet adoptable pups. Celena's passion and enthusiasm for what she believes in is contagious. Lucy had a blast! Joe and I had a blast!
The day after Lucy's gotcha day, was Jamie's birthday. Jamie , Andra, and Ozzie came for a weekend visit. Friday was cake and ice cream...
and Saturday was race day!
Tucson Dragway is a 110 acre venue that is a NHRA sanctioned track for drag racing.
We watched the weather all morning as it was raining all around us. We arrived at the track about 3:00 pm and the weather was still iffy, but not one drop fell on the track.
Our tickets gave us access to the pits.
Entertainment for the day was "Wicked Sinsation", a jet dragster. My oh my...what a thrill it was...not just the sonic booms before "take off" but as the car neared us at the 1/8 mile marker we could actually feel the power! Most impressive was the 287 MPH at the 1/4 mile marker in under 5 seconds. It was so fast...no clear photos were taken.
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| A zoom photo of the start line... |
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| My insides rattled as it went by... |
The event we watched was the inaugural of Fuel Altered Chaos at Tucson Dragway. Next years event is already on the calendar as it was a huge success. The event was a two-day drag racing festival that featured a competition of various "altered" drag cars which are stripped down, modified vehicles. Various combinations of nitro methane burning machines, blown alcohol entries, and turbocharged altered cars competed. We arrived at 3:00 to watch the preliminary runs and the semi-finals. The finals began about 7:00 pm.
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| Preliminaries... |
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| Semi-finals... |
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| The afternoon glow... |
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| Sunset behind the track and pits... |
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| And finals under the lights... |
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| Ozzie and Lucy had a great week-end too! |
In between fun, Joe and I had our annual medicare checkups and Joe has completed 8 (that's half) of the radiation treatments. It's an hour plus roundtrip to the dermatologist so Lucy and I ride too. She and I both agree people watching is very entertaining.
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| We have had lots of teasers this week...only one day did we actually get some rain. |
I'll close with a few more photos...
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| We are thrilled to finally see a male Ladder-back Woodpecker. The misses has been hanging around for awhile. |
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| More and more of these sweet little Lesser Goldfinches are in the yard. |
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| And the Sparrows sure know how to have a good time! |
Until next time,
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| We enjoy the sunshine! |
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| We are thankful for every drop! |
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| We watch for the sunset! |
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| And we play everyday! |
Congratulations on Lucy's birthday and her "gotcha day". She couldn't have landed in a better place. Dave watches hose drag races on YouTube regularly - wonderful action there! We'll have to get down to watch them in person one of these years.
ReplyDeleteWhere are those male Ladderbacks anyway? We have a female as a regular visitor, enjoying the oranges we put out, but haven't seen Mr. as yet this year.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Joe. We're so thankful for our friendships......
Hi Sue! We agree with you about Lucy. She sure fills up our little oasis! We have been to several drag strips when living in Georgia, but this was our first in Tucson. It was a lot of fun! The next Fuel Altered Chaos is in November again in 2026. Would love to have you, Dave and Taos here! I know exactly what you mean about the Mr. Ladderbacks. We have had the Mrs. here for the past several years off and on and this was the first Mr. we have seen. I am happy he has decided to return so I could get a photo! We are also very thankful for friends…
DeleteHappy Birthday to Joe, Jamie and Lucy! She is such a doll--that photo with the ball in her mouth--such a sweetie! And while you and Susan are lamenting no Mr. Ladderbacks, I would just like to have any birds--I do have hummingbirds--but other birds would be good too! :) :) Love your "pilgrims"! You are such a great photographer!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Janna and thank you! I almost feel lost without my camera or the phone (which I use for all the micro photos) in my hand. Lucy LOVES to play! And fetch is her favorite thing to do. When we moved here, Itook us a few months to have any birds and whenever we leave for a while it takes a week or so to see them. I bribe them with oranges, a variety of suet, and fresh water until I am sure they are staying. The Gilas are usually the first to return and a close second are the Cactus Wrens.
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