Central Coast Trip and Kargo's Amazing Memory

We recently took a short trip to Paso Robles, Cambria, and Carmel-by-the-sea. These first three photos were taken at the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve in Cambria. It's got great views and lovely driftwood benches.

This next photo was taken along the Moonstone Beach Boardwalk in Cambria, and here's where the amazing Kargo memory comes in. We last visited Cambria in 2015, when Kargo was just a year old. It's documented here. For that visit, we stayed at one of the hotels along the road parallel to the boardwalk. The hotels are on the opposite of the road from the boardwalk so there are many turnouts on the walk where humans and dogs can leave to cross the road to their hotels. This time around, we didn't stay in Cambria but drove over from Paso Robles for a day trip. We decided to walk the boardwalk to see if Kargo would remember it at all. Sure enough, when we reached the turnout to the hotel where we once stayed, Kargo wanted to veer off and cross the road! We were amazed, because she was last there seven (seven!!) years ago. Kargo has always had a great memory for places and how to return to hotels from walking around towns we visit, but we were amazed her memory stuck for so long.

So, to end the trip, we had to visit Carmel-by-the-sea, and here's the required photo on the beach. I'mn not sure how I captured a photo without other humans or dogs, since the beach was quite crowded!

Carmel-by-the-sea April 2022

Most of the Kargo posts involve our trips to Carmel and the central coast since we make about 3 trips a year. The photos seem to always feature the same spots, but I guess that's not a bad thing. :) The first two photos were taken on Scenic Road overlooking the water.

This shot was taken at Garland Ranch overlooking the valley.

This last video shows kargo having a grand time playing with Fido on the beach.

Carmel-by-the-sea Trip September 2021

We visit Carmel-by-the-sea and other areas in Monterey county at least twice a year, so we post the same sort photos at least twice a year. They're still nice photos even if they are similar photos every time! These three are from the lastest trip in September. Here she is overlooking the Carmel beach.

And here she is on our favorite hike in Garland Ranch.

It's a rare thing, but we met a bunch of dogs along the hike and everyone was at the watering hole together. Drink up!

Central Coast Road Trip

We took a post-vaccination road trip down the central coast in early April and took Kargo The Dog along. These are some photos from the trip. Our first overnight stop was at the lovely Allegretto Vineyard Resort in Paso Robles. The resort has lots of art work, including this sculpture.

It also has this oversized chess set.

Here's some nice floral art in downtown Paso Robles.

The next stop was in Santa Barbara. Here's Kargo enjoying beach time at Arroyo Burro Beach Park.

We're taking a stroll through the Douglas Family Preserve, which overlooks the water.

The third overnight stop was in San Luis Obispo (aka "SLO"). Here we are in from the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.

Kargo is posing in front of a tank at the Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum.

SLO has Laguna Lake Park, which contains a large off-leash dog park.

This is the Monday Club, a building designed by Julia Morgan. (No dog in this photo)

Our final stop was in Carmel-by-the-Sea, which is one of my favorite places on the planet. Here's Kargo on Scenic Drive above the beach.

This is play time on the beach.

And of course, we always include a hike in Garland Ranch Regional Park to round out the trip.

Carmel-by-the-sea 2020

Normally, we visit Carmel-by-the-sea twice a year, once in May and once in Sept. Due to the pandemic, we only made one trip recently in Sept. The air quality wasn't great due to all the California fires, but it was better there than in the bay area. We always do a hike up in Garland ranch, although Kargo had to be on-leash this time because of COVID-19 restrictions. You can see all that haziness in the view.

And of course, Kargo loves the beach and also walking along Scenic Road, as seen here.

We did check out a new shop for doggies -- the Carmel Dog Shop. It's got lots of fun treats and toys and very friendly owners. It's also conveniently located very close to the dog-friendly Cypress Inn.

A Hike During Shelter-in-Place

Here in the SF bay area, we are all in the shelter-in-place mode as we deal with the dark cloud of COVID-19. It's perfectly fine to go on a hike because exercise is an essential activity so we took Kargo for a walk in the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve. I believe this was this first time we've been there with Kargo. The weather was a bit cloudy but it was dry and the smells, from Kargo's point of view, were good.

Happy 2020!

Kargo the Dog (and her humans) wish you all a happy new year and new decade!