Heading for the Redwoods

Today Godzilla, Zip, Ru and I are hitting the road with some friends, and going camping in the great redwoods of California. We don't have many epic trees here in southern California, and our forests tend to be dry, spiky, and frequently on fire. I absolutely adore the redwoods, so we are headed up to the Avenue of the Giants to commune with the biggest trees in the world.

Brisbane loved climbing trees, this is a Coastal Live Oak.

Though I didn't take Brisbane to see the Avenue of the Giants, I did take him to see the Sequoias. We also went camping in the redwoods in Big Sur. I like taking my dogs to visit big trees.

Before we set off an an adventure, I always make sure my dogs are up to date on their vaccinations. I keep copies of their shot records with me, along with their microchip numbers. One of these days I'm going to get really fancy and put all their records in a little binder with recent photos of them as well.

Camping with dogs in California isn't like camping with dogs in other places, as far as I can tell. Lots of people talk about going backpacking or hiking and letting their dogs run free, but there are pretty strict leash laws in California state parks, and dogs are barely allowed in many places. A lot of campgrounds only allow dogs on paved roads and in the campground itself, you can't take your dog hiking on the trails or actually do anything fun. Before booking a reservation or choose a place to visit, it's a good idea to do some research and find out where your dog is actually allowed.

I was a bit disappointed that nobody took pictures of me and the girls at our herding trial from hell last weekend. I'm bringing my nice camera on our adventure, and hopefully I will make up for it with nice pictures of the dogs. Maybe I'll even end up in some pictures.