Traveling with Dogs

Travel has always been something that I loved to do, and when Beth and Ophelia moved out here, it's something that we all continued together. As I alluded to earlier, traveling with dogs is something that isn't always easy. Often times it is hard to find accommodations that are pet friendly, and activities that are pet friendly. Flying was pretty much out of the question, so it was always long road trips (apologies to the rental car companies who got their cars back with much more fur in it then when they loaned them out!) We did however, manage.

Whether it was traveling through the south west to the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest, or to northern California through the redwoods, Ophelia was always game to go on a car ride (even if she didn't always love being in the car . . .Thunder shirts FTW!); she especially loved the beach. The first time we took her up the coast, she would just spend so much time playing fetch with a stick and tearing around like crazy on the beach. Even when she was older and we took her down to Ventura to visit with my sister and her family, Ophelia would love to just run and run around on the beach (thankfully she was too smart to chase the birds into the waves . . .).

We managed to have many adventures with Ophelia (and later on when Abby came along), and always included them in our travel plans. It was great to experience the new places (so many smells, sounds, and new places to pee on!), but the best times were always coming home as a family. As we would pull around into the neighborhood. We would say, "Ophelia!? Where are we!? Are we home?" and she would have her head out the window, snorfing every bit of familiar air, and give us a small and excited affirmative wuff!