Rose’s Father’s Day Present to Brian

I always promised Rose that we’d take her to a beach at the Pacific Ocean. She’s been to many lakes and rivers, but never to the magnificent blue Pacific. It turned out we found a wonderful dog-friendly beach in beautiful Santa Barbara, California, Arroyo Burro Beach, also known as Hendry’s Beach. It was a glorious sunny morning on Father’s Day when we got down there, but parking turned out to be a major challenge. All the spots were taken at this very popular beach so we had to circle around and around until a spot freed up. We almost gave up and left, which would have been a shame because we ended up having a super time.

They had two sides to this expansive beach, leashed and off-leash, so we started at the leashed section until Rose and Kate got used to being there. They both loved going into the ocean and playing in the sand. Kate has a tendency to scamper off, but we thought we could try letting Rose go without her leash. She was so happy! And stayed close by us. She quickly discovered that people bring SNACKS to the beach, yes SNACKS. Thinking, “Who wouldn’t want to share their snacks with a friendly Irish Setter”, she approached several people who had the yummiest looking snacks. And yes, some did share with here, which made her day.

All the dogs there looked like they were having a great time, which meant their owners were having a great time, too.

The beach even had a dog washing station so Rose and Kate didn’t have to return home with sand in their coats.

All in all a truly fun day. I fulfilled a promise to Rose, but she gave me a Father’s Day I’ll remember always.

Posted by Brian, from Greenfield, CA