Our Berner Family Blog

Luce’s brother Max and his BFF Barron came from far away Arizona for a quick visit before we all headed off to Lake Tahoe. When they arrived, there was some rearranging that had to be done since the SUV was pretty full up.

We took a little side trip to Henry Cowell state park and the boys seemed to have had a good time. In this picture we were waiting for Dan and Valerie who were checking out the river. Max was intently watching and hoping he could take a quick swim while we were waiting.

We made it all the way to the “bench” which looks out over the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.

Finally, we headed back with the boys. Dan and Valerie took a different path back through the Redwood Grove which unfortunately, does not allow dogs.

Once back at the car, Max claimed his favorite spot which he kept all the way back to our house (where this picture was taken)

On the way back from Bacara we decided to finish out our tour of 5 star hotels in the Santa Barbara area by stopping by the El Encanto for a drink and bite to eat. The hotel is up in the hills and the terrace has a great view of Santa Barbara. They are also very dog friendly and brought him a big bowl of water which he went through quickly.

It was time for a change in scenery so we decided to take a little ride up to Bacara in Goleta which is just north of Santa Barbara. It is a little hike from the parking lot to the beach but Luce knew the way.

After the trail ends, we go to the right to get to the beach

Then into the water to cool off.

Then a quick shake off.

Now he is happy and we can continue down the beach to see what kind of trouble we can get into.

After some time on the beach, we headed over to the hotel to wander around a little. Luce decided to find a shady spot across from the restaurant. I think he was staring down a party of 4 that just got their meal.

We took a road trip south into Ventura County and ended up at the Ojai Valley Inn in of all places, Ojai Valley. For those of you not from around here it is pronounced like Oh, Hi. We wandered around for a little while then had a great lunch in the outdoor restaurant. They are very dog friendly and brought Luce a bowl of fresh water with some ice cubes. He was a perfect gentleman.

What is a big furry dog to do after a getting a clean and tidy, well, obviously get all wet and sandy. The stick had 2 purposes as first, Luce likes to run after it as you may know but second, and more importantly, it was good to have in case the aggressive Rhodesian Ridgeback, Golden Retriever, and/or Great Dane came back for another piece of Luce. Fortunately those 3 incidents all came out OK but Luce definitely was a little apprehensive afterward.

Well, after many trips to the beach, Luce was starting to smell like a sea lion which is not a good thing. After a quick search online we found TJ Paws which is both a self service dog wash and regular dog groomer. The owner gave us several good tips which were great. You would think by now, we know how to wash a dog but no, not exactly. I think Luce even felt better after as you can see he was just fine.

Here is Luce waiting patiently for Stacey to come out of the cottage for the daily trip to the beach. The funny thing is that he always wants the pack to be together, even when he knows he is going somewhere fun. That’s probably a by-product of COVID since we have been together day in and day out for more than a year. I guess we all grew on each other.

After the beach comes the rinse off with the hose. While pretty much impossible to get all of the sand out of his fur, the daily hose down ant least took off the outer layer. Then we were left with a very wet Luce and he was not all that happy about it. After a towel down, he needed to air dry for a while outside the cottage.

Luce’s favorite time of day at the beach is in the morning here on the west coast since the sun can be blocked. At Henrdry’s Beach in Santa Barbara, there are cliffs which provide ample shade in the morning. Here, Luce is providing moral support for Stacey who is stretching during the multiple mile walk.

After that it was time for a little play.

We took a little side trip to San Ysidro Ranch just to walk around and go on a little self guided tour. When we arrived at the security check point we asked if it would be OK to take a look around and if it was OK for Luce to be there. The attendant was clearly a dog person and took to Luce right away. I don’t think he was supposed to let us pass but he was so friendly and told us where we could park and some things to see. Here we were taking a little rest in one of the many gardens and Luce really appreciated the padded bench.