Monday, November 28, 2011

Central Coast California Road Trip

Last week our family along with two friends from the east coast took a 3-day trip down the California Central Coast all the way to Santa Barbara. It was our first time on a road trip with Maya and we were definitely a bit nervous. I'm glad I did plenty of homework before the trip and had a big list of dog-friendly restaurants and attractions on hand. Maya was able to join us on most of the adventures, and hopefully to our friends, who flew all the way here, the trip wasn't too doggie-centric.

The only problem we ran into was to keep Maya quiet at night. The walls at the hotels were really thin, and Maya kept being startled when someone walked by or talked too loudly. She would run to the door nervously and bark (or more of a low roar) nonstop. She never barked at home, either to our guests or people walking by our apartment door, so it was quite surprising to us. It was indeed an unfamiliar environment with lots of weird noises, so we couldn't really blame her for being so worked up. I held her tightly in my arms the first night and managed to get through most of it quietly, but the trick failed to work again the next day. I got too tired, so I just shoved her into her crate and decided to let it be. Fortunately, that was the right move. She calmed down in the crate and slept through the rest of the night. I guess the confined space made her feel safe. Now we know what we MUST bring on our future trips.

The highlight of the trip was at Hendry's Beach in Santa Barbara. We found a nice area where she can run safely unleashed and she had a wonderful time running up and down along the coast. To our surprise, she even stepped into the water willingly when chasing other dogs.  Watching her conquer her fear of water was a big moment for us. She still wouldn't go further to get her tummy wet, but it was already a big step forward.

Maya had to share her trunk space with all the luggages 

Lunch in Monterey

Boat paddling in Monterey

Carmel Beach

Indoor dog-friendly restaurant in Carmel

Downtown Solvang

Hendry's Beach in Santa Barbara

Exhausted on our way back home


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