Trip Report 20080704
I was born in Tucson and return there nearly every year to attend my father's birthday. Happily, he was born on the Fourth of July and therefore there is usually some kind of fireworks display close by. With the purchase of his current home, he is within just a few hundred meters of the El Conquistador Hotel which presents one of the largest fireworks display in the area. Since the garage area of the roof has a deck associated with it, we hauled the lawn chairs upstairs and set up to enjoy the show.
The photos below are what we saw. I took several hundred photos, so the photos below represent the best of the show.
My father's house has a commanding view of a local mountain structure called "Pusch Ridge" Since July is the monsoon season, we watched the clouds build all day. With good luck, it would not rain. Or maybe since this is a desert, with good luck, it will rain.
The viewing will be done from the flat roofed garage area at the top left of the photo.
Late afternoon brought darks clouds, but the threat of rain did not increase.
To the west of our position, lightning bolts crossed the sky. With dusk rapidly approaching, the show would begin soon.
The El Conquistador Hotel just to the north of our position. The fireworks would begin shortly from the lower left of the photo.
The display started with a bang, literally, and car alarms could be heard for miles around.
The display consisted of a combination of ground pyrotechnics and air bursts. This set looked like a fountain of fire.
Some of the shots had complex streamers at the periphery of the burst.
A nice compound set.
Many of the shots were multi-colored.
For awhile, there were many shots at once.
Interesting streamers developed from the rising paths of the bombs. These were carried to the east on the light breeze.
A nice shot.
The clear air provided a nice view.
Another nice compound shot of both ground and air bursts.
The ground-based shot looked like palm trees of flame.
Some of the shots had streamers that reached the ground. With the tinder-dry fire conditions, I am sure that they had crews standing by in case of "an accident"..
More nice streamers on the rising path of the bombs.
Some of the city lights of Oro Valley and Catalina are visible in the background.
Blues, purples, yellows and reds.
Some of the shots sprayed particles far from the center of the blast.
Note the lateral streamers of the top burst.
A nice closing shot.
This was a pretty good display. Not as good as the display we saw at the Statue of Liberty several years back, but the fact that this could be seen from our roof made it special. It is so nice that the public always celebrates my father's birthday with such impressive displays.