The West County

It rained so much yesterday so we weren't sure of our chances of going to the beach today, but it dawned sunny, if not terribly warm, and Dana wanted to go, so we loaded Blake and Ozzie in the back of their car…Rudy gets to sit in front…and headed for the coast. Western Marin and Sonoma Counties have been protected from development  and are largely dairy farms. The countryside reminds me quite a lot of the Scottish Highlands. It's not surprising, then, that one of the main towns in the Point Reyes National Seashore…a tiny hamlet...is called Inverness. I think I saw a little group of Highland Cows as we whizzed by today.

The beach was…bracing. A stiff little wind blew us along as the dogs ran in and out of the surf…Ozzie chasing the stick, Blake chasing Ozzie and Rudy running around above the high water line, their behavior completely dictated by their comfort level with the water. Rudy doesn't really like it at all and Blake doesn't like to swim, so Ozzie becomes the stick fetcher by default. He is learning to defend his stick from Blake when he comes out of the water with it. (See extra)

The Sonoma coast is famous for riptides and 'sneaker' waves which makes Dillon Beach a doubly perfect place to go with dogs. It is protected by Tomales Bay and Bodega Head, and dogs do not have to be on a lead.

Nonetheless, we are constantly being told never to turn our backs to the water. A man and his 11 year old son were swept out to sea further up the coast near Bodega last weekend, and rescued by helicopter.The son survived, but the man, who had been face down in the water for 15 minutes was revived and put on life support, but declared brain dead yesterday morning. A tragic ending to a family outing. Another fairly common story is when the dog gets washed out, the owner goes in after it, the owner drowns and the dog saves itself. Even at this fairly protected beach, we keep a close eye on Ozzie as he is fond of playing with the waves. 

The changes in the shape and configuration of the beach tell the whole story. There was a large pond quite a distance up the beach today, perfect for wave phobic dogs and children, which just last week was part of the sea.