Today we took Goldie to the beach for the first time. It was a terrific day to be at the beach: the weather was hot and clear inland, and the fog was pushing its way in across the ocean. So we had this warm still air at the beach, with a slight overcast that made it not too hot for running like mad, and not too sunny for good photos.
The girls sit very nicely in the back seat together. Especially when they are going somewhere obviously fun, like the beach.
Me and the girls at the beach. I was a bit overly warm, hence my bright pink colour.
Goldie very quickly picked up on the basics of beach fun, like sniffing stuff that washed up on the shore.
And, of course, dipping into the water then shaking yourself off right next to your people.
The beach atmosphere made Goldie more playful than she has been since she came to stay with us. She and Rosie ran and tumbled and chased birds...
And drank sea water in copious amounts (that's Rosie lying in the surf behind Goldie).
It's been terribly hot here the last few days, and the opportunity to cool off in the water was very welcome.
We used the visit to work on long-distance recall ("come here!") and walking together ("come on!"); Goldie did a very good job at both.
Mostly, though, she ran back and forth in the water. And mostly Rosie lay in the water and sighed with relief. Heavy black fur really sucks in 100F weather.
The happy kiddos.
The tide was pretty far out this time, so we also explored some of the tide pools and rocks that are usually submerged. This one had lots of anemones on it, plus other encrusted sea thingies.
There was one huge starfish on this rock; we could not tell if it was alive or dead.
Goldie really enjoyed exploring the rocks. I think they must smell very interesting to a dog.
Rosie, of course, is an old hand at tide-pool exploration.
Then the tide was coming in and we'd walked as far as we usually walk, so we headed back.
On the drive home, the girls were zonked out almost immediately. Goldie was even snoring back there.
They didn't really wake up until we got back into San Luis Obispo, and even then they book looked groggy and rumpled.
Oh, what cuties! I loved going to the beach with Hamlet (C. lupus familiaris) and Tigris (H. sapiens) in Hawai'i. Hopefully I’ll get to do that again sometime this winter or spring.
Goldie and Rosie are adorable!