As most of you know we recently uprooted our pretty pup, Sierra, from her big fenced in yard, forced her to ride in a truck for 10 days cross-country, teasing her with pastures, fields and forests across the Midwest only to end up in the middle of a concrete jungle in California. She expressed her unhappiness by looking at us as though she’d like to snack on our faces for lunch and consistently shedding her fur like a stressed geriatric. So, we tried to appease her by taking her on daily outings to the area parks.
Fortunately we have a city park right across the street, about 50 feet from our front door…that technically doesn’t allow dogs. But, that doesn’t stop us from taking her there to pee, poo, chase squirrels and entertain the very loud elderly gentlemen who congregate there at sunrise to drink coffee and yell at each other from across the park. Such a nice way to wake up each morning. We also tried taking her to the dedicated dog park about 5 minutes away. Visits here include a lot of sniffing and little pooing, but hardly any running or playing. This must be what parents feel like when their kids stand alone in the corner of the playground. And poop.
So, we ventured out from the city parks to some regional parks around East Bay where Sierra could run around without being attached at the hip (literally and figuratively) to her humans. These larger parks have tons of space for our four-legged social outcast to run free, some hiking trails for her often lazy humans to exercise and beautiful shorelines and views. The parks we frequent include Oyster Bay, Albany Bulb and Point Isabel.
Oyster Bay was actually converted from an old landfill, which is an impressive use of an unimpressive property. Sierra's favorite part is the jackrabbits who run around the park burrowing holes and tunnels. Don't say anything, but they totally mess with her. They pop their heads up out of the ground, whistle at her then jet back down under the surface only to pop back up at a different hole (whack-a-mole style). She's mystified by it.
The Albany Bulb has its very own doggie beach (photos courtesy of a stranger on Flickr who didn’t protect their photo rights – thanks!), which Sierra very tentatively approaches when we throw a stick in the water for her to catch. Usually she only wades in ankle deep and waits for the waves to bring her the stick. The Bulb also offers many interesting and intricate trails with hidden gems of hippy artwork (and possibly hippy shacks) among the landscape.
But our favorite park is Point Isabel, which offers leisurely trails (with no threat of hippy interaction) and amazing views (uh, on a clear day) of the San Francisco skyline, the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Not to mention the café/shop that sells goodies for humans and doggies! SOLD! Sierra gets butts to smell and fields to run in, and her humans get deliciously warm coffee on those cold, blustery July mornings - no, really.
We were very proud of finding our doggie so many fun places to visit, and even thought she might be coming around to the idea of her new home. Then the Fourth of July came and we realized our conveniently located loft/apartment meant we were conveniently located near a few of the local fireworks shows and our newly happy pup spent the entire night sleeping (and shaking) in the closet, with the doors closed. Damn. I hope dogs are as resilient as kids.
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