One of the many things I love about living in the bay area is the fact that I can be in a cultural and shopping mecca like San Francisco and in a rural area like the above pictures all in the same day. I LOVE that! Although I definitely love the open spaces that a rural location provides, I still have a strong need to know I can shop for just about any brand of clothing or shoes I want. 
No I am not trying to rip off Arimistead Maupin. His stories take place in the 70s and 80s and mine, well, mine took place today. Besides that, he is a talented writer so there should be no mistaking the two of us.
Well we didn't win in the show but we did win with the weather and the beach. After the show was over, we headed up to Seaside (about 15 or 20 miles north of Carmel) and let the dogs have a nice romp. The beach is very different here than at Fort Funston where we usually go. It is stunning here. We had a nice stretch of our legs and then headed home. Tomorrow will be another day of punish at the show and then pleasure at the beach.
ws (very true if not a slight exaggeration) watch Christopher Guest's "Best in Show". I see those people all the time.
I had no intentions of making an entry today because we went back to Fort Funston. But, on our walk today we found a freshly dead porpoise on the beach today. This is the second in as many weeks and I found it a bit distressing. I haven't seen dead porpoise on the beach before this. I did a little research on the internet and found a place in Oregon that is studying the increase in the number of porpoise dieing along the Washington and Oregon coast line. I contacted them and found out the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito is doing the same thing.
Today I am just going to share a few pictures of our outing at Hastings Island in Rio Vista. It is a great place to take to dogs since there are thousands of acres for the dogs to run and then when they are done running, it's off for a long swim. Hope you enjoy the pictures. It is really quite a tranquil place in the Summer. To avoid confusion, Sara-orange collar, Dixy-yellow collar, Colvin-purple collar, Grady-green collar.
Today is a holiday so my human mom has decided to take full advantage of it and relax for the day. Here is where I step in. I thought I would tell you about our day from my point of view. Even though it was a holiday and my human mom thought it would be nice to be able to sleep until 6, I just couldn't relax enough to let her. As much as she tried to convince me, I couldn't convince myself. Finally she got up at 5:30. I don't see what the problem is, she is usually up at 3:30 so from my way of thinking, she did sleep in. After a bit of grumbling on her part and a cup of coffee, she was back to her cheerful self. We were on the road by 6:30 heading to the beach. Boy were we all excited. The beach is like Disneyland to us. Hmmm, come to think of 
it, everywhere is like Disneyland to to us. We are dogs. Okay, must stay focus. When we arrived, it was so foggy we couldn't see 30 feet in front of us. The mist was so heavy, we were drenched from the onset. We didn't mind though, it is perfect running weather. I found a tennis ball right off the bat. I love tennis balls. I seem to be able to get someone to throw them to me non-stop. Some may even say I am obsessed. Anyway, my mom threw the ball a few times. Then she stopped, left the ball on the ground and told me to leave it. I was confused. Seemed like a perfectly good tennis ball to me. I guess she got tired of that one. Wanting to be the perfect dog, I did leave it. I chased Grady for awhile and then he chased me. Sara joined in too. She is particularly playful in this weather. We made it down to the beach and within 2 minutes, Sara and Grady found a lovely dead sea lion. They rolled in it and rolled in it. Apparently mom wasn't too thrilled about it because she was making the biggest commotion. Finally, they came back. I thought they smelled lovely but I don't think mom felt the same way. I found another tennis ball (I have a nose for them). My mom started to toss them in the water. Of course, I retrieved them all. Grady is just like a human baby brother, a pest. He followed me everywhere. Even in the water. Hmmm, come to think of it, I think my mom may have had an ulterior motive. She spent the next couple of hours trying to get Sara and Grady in the water. She didn't say so but I think she was trying to get that smell off them. We walked a long time and along the way, mom found a lot more sea glass to add to her collection. We were home by 11 and are in for the day. Mom won't be going anywhere tonight because she knows how much the fireworks bother Colvin. Fine by me, I love having her home.
my home and is the main place I take the dogs for their runs during the week. We are fortunate to have so much park area in the congested bay area. There are approximately 36 miles of hiking trails in the Black Diamond Park alone. The most glorious part is that the dogs get to run free in the undeveloped areas. This is one of the main reasons I moved to Antioch. This area was made up of three mining towns; Sommersville, Stewartville, and Nortonville. It is common to find pieces of kitchenware throughout the walk. There is all kinds of wildlife in the area. It is not uncommon to have relatively close encounters with coyotes and I have seen wild pig, deer, and bobcats. I always enjoy being out in the park. It is hard to believe we are so close to civilization. The top picture is taken from the Ridge trail. The Peak is Mount Diablo. 
During the winter, it is not uncommon for there to be snow. It is about 15 miles from my house and is a popular destination for hikers. The second and third pictures are also taken from the Ridge trail but looking north to the delta. The last picture is of Grady and Dixy "wrestling" with each other during 
