Hollywood-Doggie wood

So today was Hollywood sign park day, off to the big huge monumental sign that proudly shines over the mountains bringing the true-ness to glamor and stardom. The weather this morning was amazing and beautiful, a little chilly, but so clear and fresh smelling, I knew this would be a great park day for us. Charlie and I ventured off to Wholefoods, grabbing snacks and goodies, not forgetting the Buddha with his treats, we played some great tunage in the car as we drove to the 110 to the 101 to Hollywood. Honestly, I love Hollywood to begin with, its filled with so many fabulously unique souls, each one different than the next that just driving down Hollywood was exciting for us (can you tell I don't get out much haha). Going up the windy small side streets we gazed at the amazing houses and beautiful views, and Buddha got more and more antsy as we oohhed and aaahed in our sightseeing modes. We arrived all the way at the end of the park, which seemed nice and pretty, I didn't see a dog park of sorts, but I figured we may have to walk a bit first to check out the surroundings. Buddha bounded ahead, with his goofy and puppy like stagger and we met quite a few dog owners on the way up the hilly walkway, Buddha was in sniff heaven at this moment, bounding from one patch of grass to the next, and Charlie and I were just leisurely enjoying the beauty of it all, taking it in,  of course with an 11 year old in tow, one will come to realize that any time soon this glorious nature adoration will fade away and the whining of hiking will set in. Ok, between you and me, it was a hike, and in my mind "notebook", I enlisted it as a total "to do" hike, but Ugg boots and sweats were not the things to be wearing during a heart raising workout. We came to the top of the first hill and while Buddha was loving the water falls and muddy puddles, Charlie was becoming a tad grumpy, so asking a few folks walking by, I discovered that at the other side of the park was were the dogs roam free. Aaahh I motioned to Charlie, so we turned around and drove about 10 minutes more up a very windy high and steep hill and over the top, there was the sign, right there in front of us, maybe 300 feet away (forgive my estimations, they could be pretty inaccurate) but anyway, it was awesome!! 20 some years of living here and I haven't been this close in ages, it was pretty darn cool, I must say. So then we parked and found a nice vast area of beautiful grassy heaven, Buddha joining the cute labradoodles and Boston terriers galloping around, the wind blowing their ears back, slobber flying everywhere, aaahh it was a gorgeous sight, until of course the park ranger came and informed everyone that dogs must be on a leash at all times and that this was not, I repeat, this was not a dog park...aaahh alas, sorry Buddha, the secret park that was supposed to be awesome, turned out to be beautifully forbidden for you :( , but don't fret Buuds, we shall go back to the trail and walk but the flowing waterfalls, so that you may get your thirst quenched and perhaps chase some tennis balls in the picnic area....so stopping at Gelson's for some more snacks we went back for our hike trip, this time happily continuing on, as Buddha made friends with an Australian Shepard whom he played ball with for quite a while and then he got a "what for" from a really cute Husky, all in all he had a blast, and he slept like a baby on the way home, and I'm pretty sure Charlie enjoyed himself too...and for the perfect ending to a perfect day, it started ice snowing a little as we were walking back down...how cool is that!!!  Till next time...can I get a woof woof :)

Long Beach-Dog Beach

Hi all, so this Saturday we are off to Long Beach. The Beach for furry four legged surfers and tanners. I'm skeptically hopeful about this one guys, I mean Buddha (bless his heart) is a tad bit ummmmm SCARED of everything, not timid or shy, just a tiny bit fearful of noisy, wet, splashing, coldness...and yet I'm driving on the 405 right now heading South towards Long Beach to go face Buddhas fears with him...and pray he likes this park cause its kinda far. Well, beloved Map quest got me there quite easily (and that means anyone can get there) parking was adequate and easy enough to find, it was windy and chilly, but hey...its a BEACH, so walking towards the cones which marked the areas of doggie play land, Buddha became quite fascinated by the feeling of sand between his paws, I could tell by his demeanor he was unsure but open minded about this new experience we were embarking upon. Suddenly Buddha stops mid sniff and looks up, ears pricked up, nose twitching, and there it was, the glorious array of canines scattered a good half mile portion of the beach, some running, some digging, some swimming, it was a giant beach party for pups and all sizes shapes and breeds were participating. Buddha now began tugging and crying and pulling to get away from my grip and his leash, desperate to play with his future buddies. I walk between the cones and unleash the boods, watching him awkwardly gallop towards a nice looking retriever. After the numerous sniffing rituals subsided, I watched hopefully as Buddha approached the water, timidly and cautious, he tippy toed around, back and fourth, his mind going a million miles a minutes while watching helplessly as the retriever bobbed in and out of waves as if it were not only the simplest, but the funnest activity to participate in, finally Buddha took hold of his courage and ran head strong into the water, like a baby deer walking its first steps Buddha's wobbly clumsiness got the better of him at first, then the wetter and bolder he became the better he got, and in no time at all he was in the water swimming with the pros, the retriever played quite long with Buddha showing him tricks with her tennis ball and a stick he discovered. Buddha must have played a good strong 90 minutes in the ocean before running around a little and checking the other scenery's out. All in all I loved this park/beach, it was clean, fabulously beautiful and the dogs there were all great friendly personalities, I give this park an A, and I will go back tons of times during the summer, I must say though, if you do venture with Fido to this wonderful side of town...bring a jacket, oh, and a towel for the pup...cause it gets pretty chilly and they get pretty wet :) till next time this is me saying"yabba dabba dooooooo"  :):)

Laurel Canyon-Doggie Hangin

Valentine's Day weekend, aahh the sweetness of love. For Buddha my pup, its the sweet day of park searching. Today, we go to Laurel Canyon Park, just off of Mulholland Drive. The drive from West LA was decent. Not too far, about 25 mins with the LA traffic, Buddha was already crying, he knew where we were off to, and boy was he excited! Heading a sharp left to Laurel Canyon from Mulholland and voila, we had arrived. I think i was as excited as Buddha at this point...my search for the greatest dog park was just beginning and I had yet to be thoroughly impressed...but stepping out in the Hollywood Hills had its very own excitement about it, the suave, chic atmosphere, the beautiful rolling hills and sun burnt skies all played their part. Coming down the hill, I was quite impressed with the vast hilly area stretched out for a good couple of acres. I also liked the fact that there was no separation between dogs, in my opinion dogs are dogs, I doubt they recognize the importance of being bigger or smaller, I feel that if anything, that's an owners issue not a dogs. Doggies like to run, to play and most of all to sniff. Some more than others. Buddha being the sniffer of all sniffers, If I didn't know any better, I'd swear he was part Hound Dog haha. So Buddha had his fun, running wild and free amongst his peers, sniffing and playing with all sorts and sizes alike. Buddha seemed just as impressed as I did with the cleanliness and involved ownership that took place at this park, the owners seemed well aware of their pups and cleaned up diligently after them, which is well appreciated. I must say that Laurel Canyon gets a B+ score with me..I wont say A because I haven't seen all the parks LA has to offer yet, and an A would be the best, but Laurel is in the running so far..til next week I bid you all adieu and goodbye as my search for the greatest doggie park in LA continues :)