Hound Dog Traveler: Good Times in California

By Guest Writer Cinnamon (Canela) Rose

I have to admit that I've been a little depressed since being kidnapped from my normal life in Santa Fe, New Mexico and forced to live a life on the road.

But today was a good day. We stayed at a La Quinta in Stockton, California and slept in a little this morning. We then found that there was a dog park, Barkleyville Dog Park, a few minutes from the motel. As we drove up to Barkleyville, I let out a yip (yes, hounds can yip). I couldn't believe my eyes. The fenced park had landscaping, sculptures and some huge trees. It was divided into a tiny dog section, a normal dog section and... get this, an agility course.

No one else was around so we went into the normal dog section. I sniffed it out and then decided I wanted to play. There were some tennis balls left at the park so she threw them for me. I chased balls from one end of the park to the other. I even jumped and caught a few mid-air. It was a cool morning and I was having a great time... running, playing and being out of the car!

My only complaint about the park was that they didn't have still water. They had a doggie water fountain and running water reminds me of baths and being squirted by the hose so I stayed away. What a great outing.

Soon we packed up and headed north. The farmland in northern California is much greener and healthier looking than what we passed through yesterday. The produce growing there needed a good washing, in my opinion.

I laid down and dozed off a bit but we stopped at a couple of rest stops so I could sniff around. (That's what I do at rest stops.) After that I was a bit more alert and watched the trucks. The best truck was a flatbed hauling bee hives, stacked four high. Now that is not so interesting in itself, but this truck had the bees too! On each side of the truck it had yellow signs with black lettering.... BEES. The hives were covered with black netting. And inside you could see the bees crawling around. I'll bet they were really mad about THEIR trip. I rolled up my window just in case there might be a few loose angry bees.

I was having such a great day that I didn't even complain when we got off the freeway at Corning, the Olive City. We saw a sign guiding us to the many olive shops in the area. She selected Lucero's and we drove in to see a large tasting room and olive press and processing room. I had to stay in the car, but she came back with some gifts for friends and a large bottle of olive oil for our kitchen. And, as is usual, there was nothing for me!

Soon we were seeing mountains and had reached Redding, California where we pulled into our 4th La Quinta Inn. We got a first floor room again and unpacked a bit. Since there was a dog park in town, we got back in the car and headed over there. It was a fun dog park with lots of dogs playing together but I was tired and just walked around the perimeter sniffing things. I liked the Stockton dog park best. In fact, I wouldn't mind living near there. (I wondered if having such a state of the art dog park was the reason the city was going bankrupt).

It was a shorter trip today and I had a fun time. I liked looking at the green crops, orchards in blossom and the real rivers (most rivers are dry in New Mexico).  Maybe I can become a good traveler. I'm trying, anyway.

I'm going to take a break now and rest on my bed. I am looking forward to seeing the mountains tomorrow. I'm starting to get excited about my new home.