The Original Dog Beach

We made it to the Dog Beach parking lot at 1:20pm. As expected, it wasn't easy getting a good spot as the place was crowded and the parking lot shares revelers for the non-dog beach area as well. The San Diego Mission Bay spur bike trail ends here at the entrance to the Dog Beach sign, where people can drop off old tennis balls and other dog toys in memory of a Black-Brown Spaniel named Reba who loved this beach but who died several years ago. "Please help yourself to a tennis ball for your dog to enjoy. CHERISH EVERY MOMENT" said the hand-painted poster with photos of Reba and her proud owner. Yes, I will cherish this memory of my dogs on the beach. Forever. That's why I came to San Diego anyway!

There were dogs EVERYWHERE. Big dogs, little dogs, young dogs, old dogs and every breed imaginable. Both dogs were let off their leashes as soon as we hit the sand, and both did beautifully around other dogs. I wasn't expecting any issues, but Sadie tends to be nervous around other dogs. What I noticed this time, however, was her staying near Minnie at all times. She didn't cower near me, no, she was as excited to play as the other dogs! I was very happy to see this as this freed me up a bit. I threw their Chuckit ball and both gladly jumped into the ocean water to retrieve it. Other dogs came in to join in on the fetching fun, but both Minnie and Sadie guarded their ball with intensity.

I plopped my beach blanket down and relaxed, watching the dogs and petting any that came close to me. There were dogs in all directions having off-leash fun and behaving. The beach isn't very clean, which can be expected from a dog beach, but the filth I saw was mostly from an oily grime across the sand's surface and not from beach goers' trash. Kelp had washed ashore with the last tide but the kelp wasn't a problem for the dogs. Dogs that pooped quickly had responsible owners picking it up...unless the dog pooped in the water.

There were a lot of German Shepherd Dogs on this beach. I am a lover of the breed and appreciate all other GSDs in the area. Many came up to my dogs and my dogs didn't mind getting their butts sniffed. At one point a youngish man, who apparently spends a lot of time lifting weights at a gym and tanning, because his chest and upper body muscles were well-ripped came up to me and bragged about living here in San Diego after 18 years of Scottsdale and its five months of intense heat. While I can't argue with the heat of the greater Phoenix area and I certainly wouldn't want to live there, I am pleased with where we live in Arizona. We live in a higher elevation area that sees more rain that Phoenix-Scottsdale and it's cooler as well. There's less population density and less stress. When people talk about living in Arizona, however, they tend to refer to the greater Phoenix area. Like the rest of the state doesn't exist.

"We get 73-degree weather here everyday, what's not to like about this?" the Gym Boy said. How can I argue with that?! I probably would love to live here as well, if it weren't for the crowds and the ungodly high prices on EVERYTHING! (Gasoline was selling for $4.76 a gallon along the ocean; it's currently $2.59 in Sierra Vista, AZ). There is always the threat of earth quakes as well. And then the added dangers of living so close to Tijuana, Mexico. He had brought his four GSDs along for a beach stroll, all who followed him quietly along the shoreline. Two of his dogs were older white GSDs and the younger one, Sammy, a long-haired pup who gladly played fetch with Minnie and the Chuckit ball. The fourth dog, a smaller white dog, was a mutt.

Watching unleashed dogs is quite a joy, as they chase each other, race for balls, even bite into waves and come up to everyone. This is how dogs should be more often, away from the stress of being on a leash and constantly in protective mode around the owner. Even my own dogs went to my "neighbors" on the beach to drop their ball for them to throw back into the water! Minnie fetched for anyone who threw her the ball, even an enthusiastic little blonde girl who took a liking to Minnie. Another boy nearby dug a sand moat nearby, oblivious of the dogs running around him. For two hours I sat on the beach blanket just watching dogs around me. I didn't worry about a smart phone, the internet, or what new items Amazon was offering me to review. When was the last time I just sat back and relaxed?

I stopped relaxing two hours later when Minnie started vomiting up the salt water and then having explosive, clear diarrhea. She began to walk slowly and not run and showed no desire to chase after the ball. Sadie soon followed with her sad look and low-tipped ears. Others around me told me the first-time salt water experience was a "cleansing action" for the dogs (really?!) and not to worry, but giving them fresh water from my thermos didn't seem to help. They'd lap up all the water and still go back for more salt water. Minnie stopped running around because of her stomach cramps and soon Sadie followed. The beach fun had run its course and it was time for me to leave, as even I was getting sun burned. I had to keep the dogs away from the water so that they wouldn't drink more salt water and focused on walking them on the hard, wet shoreline.

And yet they'd still drink more salt water and puke and shit everything back up. At least it looked mostly clear coming out of either end! We walked the entire length of the Dog Beach down to the waterfowl preserve and back, slowly meandering around kelp and hermit crabs while the dogs vomited and shat. Crowds were less here (due to the muddier beach and silt) but there were still small groups of people cuddling or spending time with their dogs. An abandoned ball here and there peaked out of the sand. The pungent aroma of brackish salt water hugged the air.

I let the dogs drink from the dog water fountain at the entrance to the dog park. Even a transient man helped them with the faucet. Both dogs wouldn't stop drinking the fresh water, as the salt water had truly dehydrated them. I stayed near that fountain for the dogs until I saw that both were full of water and replenished. That only meant that soon I'd have to stop somewhere and let them pee it all out, which happened while I was parked along Sunset Cliffs photographing the waves and watching teens jump off an arched protrusion (despite signs saying jumping off the cliffs was prohibitive). The dogs were in the van as they weren't allowed off-leash here. As soon as I got back to the van, though, Sadie pushed herself out of the driver's door, ran across the street (almost got hit by a car!) so she could pee in the lush green grass in front of someone's home. It took the rest of the day for the dogs to feel better again, but thankfully neither showed any signs of serious discomfort.

I stayed around Ocean Beach the rest of the day, driving along the coast, even entering part of the Cabrillo Monument area and some US Navy property where white tombstones mark the graves of our veterans. The graves are on both the east and west side of the high ridge, so both sides of the cemetery faces either the ocean or the San Diego bay. From here one can see how prominent the US Navy's presence is around the city. What a lovely area for a long evening stroll or a bike ride. Homes here are the small homes from 50 years ago, with small plot gardens barely big or wide enough to surround a car.

The shoreline is what brought me back to Sunset Cliffs. I stayed along the shore well past sun set at 7:50pm, watching the shoreline's sandstone change from light yellow to deep orange. Brown pelicans and seagulls flew overhead, young couples cuddled in rock crevices, older men met on benches to share the view, runners trotted along the road for a last-minute work-out with daylight. Watching the sun set here is very popular, as I remember how popular it was in my days living in Pacific Grove, CA. It's so popular, that people don't pay heed to where and how they park, so when I wanted to leave after sun set, I had to ask the young man who was blocking me in to please move his giant pick-up truck out of the way. "You leaving already?" he asked me rather surprised as he sipped from his beer can. Yes, I was leaving as I'd already been there an hour and sun sets off the California coast are not as brilliant as the sun sets in Arizona. There are no spectacular colors across the western sky, just a brown-red haze across the horizon above the water line and once the sun sets below the line, all light goes out and the sky turns from dark brown to grey.

The dogs were feeling better now but both were resting across the back of my van on my cot. They seemed appreciative of the rest. Neither had an accident in the van, either. The hike and then the beach visit wore them out!

The small business area of Ocean Beach on Newport Avenue intrigued me. Bright lights and street musicians entertained the passers-by, so I opted to stay in the area for a meal. I chose a small corner brewpub, Pizza Port with its long family-style benches and counter order, parked the van by the entrance so I could see the dogs, ordered a small mushroom pizza and one 12-ounce glass of the day's featured Pale Ale, and ate my meal on the front patio. The beer was OK but nothing great and the pizza was just OK as well. But what ruined the mood for me was when an employee came outside to us patio patrons and told us the patio would be closing at 10pm because of the town's noise ordinance and that we would have to leave. It was 9:40pm and I still had half a beer and pizza to eat! The other three couples all got up and left and the employee started cleaning up around me. That was his way of telling me to leave. At 9:50pm I did leave, but the rush out of there ruined what could have been a decent dining experience. By 10pm the entire downtown area seemed shuttered.

Thus ended a great first full day in San Diego, fulfilling three things I had planned to do in San Diego: hike Mt Woodson, visit the Dog Beach and watch the sun set off Sunset Cliffs. I drove nine hours for this experience and I'd do it again. San Diego is worth a long visit.

It wasn't until late in the evening that I heard about the shootings at a Chatanooga Marine recruiting station, where five Marines and a sailor succumbed to the shooter's bullets. Luckily the shooter was killed by police. The shooter was a naturlized citizen born in Kuwait who apparently had depression issues. Oh, so it's quite OK for a depressed man to take up arms and start shooting people at random? Sounds like a premeditated plan. I had my radio station set to just one station during my entire time in San Diego, and that was the local NPR station. I heard the same programs all day long.

I ended up parking my van along Balboa park and sleeping soundly until 5am.