Mendocino Trip Notes

After a very nice Thanksgiving with Tracker, his guardians and relatives, it’s been fairly quiet around our Cow Hollow home.

We did have Larry & Janet, Cece’s guardians, up from Orange County for several days, which was a nice break in my routine. We all went on an expedition to Mendocino, my first time to that area. (Unfortunately, my guardians forgot their cameras, so I don’t have any good photos.)

On the ride up through the Anderson Valley we stopped in downtown Philo for what I was told was a great lunch at Libby’s. (It’s next to the post office, you can’t miss it and plenty of free parking). Then we circled back to Goldeneye Winery – it was a beautiful day and I walked amongst the vines – somewhat reluctantly because I wanted to be at the house with the wine tasters…With the sun glistening, evergreened hills in the background, and the vines, bushes and nearby trees in yellow, oranges, and browns, it was simply spectacular.

My pack settled on a pinot noir and we motored on. Just before we reached downtown Mendocino, we were hailed by Larry’s cousin Ted – we turned left to visit with him, his wife Judi, and Muddy, a brown lab. Things moved so fast! I was hardly out of the car when Ted encouraged Muddy and me to run around the field (off leash, yea!) and down to the coastal bluff. The salt air, the sun, the view, and the waves and surf were totally awesome! I could hardly contain myself and am sure my guardians’ hearts skipped a beat when I nearly fell off the cliff into the Pacific!

Honestly, I get so excited when I’m off leash near the ocean – free as a bird with great views and air, my whole body feels it – in such circumstances I find it easy to forget my name!!!

Well, we were hosted for a nice dinner that evening and I overnighted at the MacCallum House (http://maccallumhouse.com/), cozy by the fire…

In the morning, just after dawn, two of us walked over to the nearby coastal bluff and found a way down to a beach protected from open ocean wave action. With a lowish tide and lots of driftwood and seaweed on the shore, along with the sun rising across the bay, the scene was classic and I could have sniffed around there all day…

After breakfast, my entourage wanted to go shopping so I tagged along. Some shops and the very excellent Visitor Center welcomed me, but I stayed away from the art galleries…My favorite store was Anderson’s Alternatives, an eco-lumber business with a busy, large-scale woodworking shop and a nice dog out front. It’s the real deal, be sure to visit http://www.andersonsalternatives.com/aboutus.htm.

We took the coastal route back to San Francisco – more time but different views. After a good night’s rest, the next morning I was invited down to the Crissy Field beach for some exercise and getting real dirty before a much needed bath – our houseguests were impressed with my rambunctioness.

Without photos, I didn’t think I’d have much to say about Mendocino, but I’ve proven that theory wrong. Prior to writing this, in hope of finding some interesting content, I asked one of my guardians to look into Mendocino’s history as affected by dogs – he hasn’t found much yet. But he did discover a most fascinating peer who writes about Mendocino County and its dog friendly establishments – you’ve got to check out http://hairysblog.com/ – I definitely look forward to meeting Hairy Putter.