Nicole Tasker Woods

I had last Thursday off of work before the Friday July 4th holiday so I took Cali to the beach in Oxnard that day. I had never actually gone to the beach in California in full on beach mode—bathing suit, suntan lotion, etc. I had walked on the beach a time or two in Santa Monica, but since I have moved here, there have been no beach day adventures. My mom used to say to me and my brothers when we were little that we were going on an ‘excellent adventure’ whenever we were in the car heading somewhere. Whether it was some new and exciting place, or just the hardware store down the street…it was always an excellent adventure.

That Thursday morning, I packed up two bags full of towels, a handful of poop bags, two peanut butter & fluff sandwiches, three bottles of ice water and a cooler full of ice and sodas. I loaded the bags, cooler, chair and pup-ster in the car and we were off. I had to turn around a couple of times because I kept forgetting important things…like the directions and her retractable leash. But when we finally got to the freeway, we were on our way and I kissed Cali on the check as she surfed on the center console and I told her we were off for an excellent adventure.

Ryan had to work that day so I was on my own. I had my trusty GPS so I was not too worried about getting lost. All I really had to do after getting close was drive towards the blue. When we finally pulled up to the sand, there was street parking and signs with dogs on them and a bag dispenser for poop. That is when I knew we finally made it to the dog beach. I did not even unpack the car. Instead, I got Cali hooked up to her leash and we ran up the hill and towards the water. She was so excited! She never stopped smiling the whole day (yes, I believe dogs can smile; if you knew Cali, you’d be a believer as well). We got everything unloaded and split one of the peanut butter and fluff sandwiches with carrot sticks on the side. She was definitely getting treated way better than the rest of the dogs on the beach, which was not crowded at all. And despite Ryan’s wary words of the chilly water, it was quite refreshing. I guess that part of me from New England is still used to swimming in cold oceans and pools.

We hung out for 2 ½ hours and enjoyed every minute of it. But having the whole day to myself with no one to enjoy it with me (except my favorite Basenji) was something I was determined to take advantage of. On the drive home, we stopped at PetSmart for a quick shop stop and enjoyed the air conditioned store. While the shores of the beach were in the mid-70’s, the temps got up to the mid-90’s as we drove inland. Then we made our way to the Golden Spoon and both got some fat-free frozen yogurt.

When we finally rolled into the drive way, we were both sandy and tired. I cleaned out the car then cleaned up Cali and we took a nap in the squishy soft covers of the bed. It was truly an excellent adventure!