I wanted to cheer my friend Steve up by taking him to Tucson with Trace. He's been in a depression for a while and he's usually good company. This also made a great distraction for me by avoiding anything political.
The goal was to eat at Luke's Italian Beef diner, stop somewhere for beer, and try out a coffee or tea shop on the drive home. We did a bit more than that and it was all so well played out.
I told Steve I would pick him up around 10-ish after walking some dogs down by the river. Instead, Fritz and Wolfie took off up Kino Road going north to fencefight with several lifestock guard dogs. I've never seen them so aggressive. When I got up to them they both ignored me, and they fought me on the leash on the walk back to the house. Between those two dogs I'm pulling on 200 pounds. Once I separated them, though, with Fritz going inside, Wolfie was his usual chill self.
It was a chilly 47F at 7am. Fall is definitely here.
I finally got going at 10:45 and got to Steve's place at 11:15am. I was a little late.
Steve was quiet today. He's normally a talker but he stated right away he's been missing his wife and son, both now deceased. I try to keep him from thinking about them and change the topic to him and his physical health.
We arrived at the Luke's Italian Beef place at 1:20pm and the place was busy. I really liked my grilled chicken sandwich. We both ate our entire meals. We then stopped for two beers each at the Hop Shop and then I suggested we take the dogs to a nearby dog park since both had been so patient sitting by us. The dog park turned out to be the highlight of our Tucson visit.
Yelp has the Smiling Dog Ranch dog park as the highest rated dog park in Tucson. I had heard good things about the place and had always wanted to visit. We ended up staying an hour talking to other people and their dogs. The park is long enough that dogs can actually run at full speed for a distance. There are mesquite trees for shade and two water stations and plenty of pooper scoopers. There is even a small agility station near the parking lot entrance.
Hansel behaved and both he and Trace ran around with the others. We stayed until Trace started limping. I was very proud of Hansel and his behavior. Even Steve was happy with the place and said he would come back.. Since he doesn't hike anymore, letting the dogs run in a big dog park is a good alternative. We left after an hour. Time really flew!
Our last stop was a visit at a coffee shop Revolutionary Grounds on Speedway. We arrived at the start of their Open Mic night, where the female musician did a fine job with the vocals. We sat outside as we reminisced about the day. Steve's mood was much happier now. The coffee was very good, too.
I gassed up at a Shell Station on Alvernon for $3.59 (It is $4.17 at the Sierra Vista Fry's Foods) before the 90 minute drive back to town.
It wasn't until I dropped off Steve that I turned on the radio to listen to election results. I didn't watch the Kornacki cam until I had finished a two-mile walk with Hansel when I got home.
And OMG, talk about a blue wave. It was a blue tsunami. The Carolinas flipped blue. Democrats James Talarico from TX and Abdul El-Sayed won (narrowly) in Michigan. Senator Collins from Maine lost her incumbuntcy. Even Arizona was hit by a blue wave.
Not all results were in by the time I went to bed at 1:30am.
