All summer I'd been wanting to take the girls to the dog beach for fun but also because Ginger had
never been to the ocean before! On Thursday 7-30-09 I declared a day trip day! Mom and I drove the girls to the Dog Beach in Avila. We totally lucked out...it was a beautiful sunny, breezy 70 degree day at the beach...no
clouds!!! It sure beat the 100-plus degree day Bakersfield was having!!! When you get there...you park along the shoulder of the road and then walk down this, like...big boat
ramp (or at least that is what is SUPPOSED to happen!) You see, the minute we made the Avila turn off I rolled down the windows and Baylie jumped up out of a dead sleep when she smelled the ocean air! She ran from window to window and barked a few times out of excitement...Ginger didn't really know what was going on but seemed to feed off of Baylie's enthusiasm. Once we got
to the people side of Avila we HAD to make a pit stop...too
much water intake on the way up! Of-course near the peer there wasn't any parking so I jumped out of the car and ran to the restroom while mom drove around the block...then a quick "Chinese fire drill" and I jumped into the driver's seat and drove around the block while she ran into the bathrooms. Whew! After that I drove us down to the dog beach...the girls could SEE the other d
ogs down on the beach and started going crazy! I could barely keep them calm enough to get their leashes on and grab the toys, beach blanket, camera, and water! The girls were DRAGGING me toward the beach...only they were looking for the shortest way to the shore and it was all I could do to keep them from jumping down the rocky cliff and taking me with them! We made it half way down the ramp when Baylie pulled out of her collar and took off running for the water!
Ginger started whimpering and so I just unhooked her collar and she sprinted after Baylie.
I was shocked that she had NO hesitation when her paws hit the sand or as she dove into turbulent water! She and Baylie played for a solid 2 hours while we threw the frisbee and the ball. By the time we left they were SO tired and dehydrated they drank about a gallon of water! We were hungry for lunch and I was really craving GOOD fish and chips so we drove in to SLO and stopped at the Splash Cafe (they have outdoor tables so the dogs could come too)! I'm such a sucker, I even got them a
plain burger to split between
them! After lunch it was on the road toward home...the girls slept the whole way (well, with the exception of the 2 pit stops they had to make after drinking soooo much water!) Overall it was a beautiful day and everybody had fun...and only got slightly sunburt! :)
So after we picked up the two filing cabinets and got them all strapped into the trailer we made a stop at the Avila Dog Beach for a fun play-date! The goal was to stay long enough to let the girls get their fill of the water, 
sand, and freedom without staying so long that Baylie gets sick from drinking soooo much salt water (she's notorious for that)! It's funny because as soon as we turn off the main highway towards Avila beach Baylie 
starts to get so excited that she can barely contain herself! Ginger fed off of Baylie's excitement but I'm not so sure she knew why because this was only her second trip to a beach. Once the water was in view BOTH of the girls went CRAZY! It was a beautiful 
day for the beach, all sun, no clouds and even though it was windy it wasn't too chilly! We stayed just under 2 hours and the girls had a great time. Then we were planing to get some fish and chips but it was 
getting late and we weren't sure we could maneuver the trailer through the tight streets and parking lots at the beach restaurants. So we gave up that idea and settled on burgers for all...the girls were VERY happy with 
that decision!
