Annie's First Time at the BEACH!

 A dog park friend called and asked if I wanted to go to the beach - Fort Funston, to be exact.  I looked out my window ...ummm... yea!

 After a short drive, we started walking down this path.  The parking lot was full of dogs!

 We met up with another friend and her two Deer Hounds.  My friend, Donna, has a little rusty colored pit bull pup, named Ginger.  Donna is in the brown jacket. 

 Walking, walking, walking.  I took my walking stick, as another dog park friend had warned me of a staircase of over 200 steps.  Inside, I was panicking, but then remembered Donna is recovering from a pretty severe ankle surgery, so she would have to take it easy too.

 Walking, walking, walking...

 Then we made a left, off the beaten track, down towards the beach.  Donna said that this was the best weather she'd seen here at Fort Funston all summer, and she goes quite alot.

 Ginger!  She is an adorable pit bull (mix?) who loves, loves, loves Annie.  Normally they chase each other to exhaustion, but the two Deerhounds wouldn't allow them to run too much without barking and chasing them down.  Meanies!

 Annie, Ginger, and the two Deerhounds.  They had weird names that I couldn't pronounce, much less spell.  One of them had to be muzzled, as it wouldn't quit nipping at other dogs. 

 Annie's first look at the water.  She was afraid.

 Running away from the water that doesn't act like any water she's used to!  And it tastes weird too.

Between the two Deerhounds and the water, it was a bit stressful for Annie.  I walked into the water, and she would go with me - I think because by that point I was pretty unstable, so she stuck like glue - not happily tho.
 

 We passed another Golden Retriever with a dead crab in it's mouth.  The owner said she would carry it around all day if she let her.

 I told Annie not to get any ideas. 

 

Donna is a very dynamic, energetic, friendly person - the first person in the dog park that I really talked to when I first got here.  Our dogs fell in love with each other, and we were both grateful for the running around they did, burning energy.  Today I asked her if she was married, had a roomate, girlfriend, etc., she told me her partner had been killed in a motorcycle accident 2 years ago.  :- (   She was quiet, and I told her it gets better.  A bond we share now. 

 Here we are about ready to head back up to the pathway.  Just before I took this picture, about 20 dogs of the same color came down, all sizes, but mostly of the same breed... Ridgeback somethings, and it looked like a brown river coming down the hill.

 This is looking down at the group with all the brown dogs.  Somehow I managed to take a shot without all their dogs - don't know how I managed that, cause I wanted to be able to look them up so I could figure out what breed they were.  Because of them, I've definitely decided to join the local Golden Retriever group - it's a great way to meet people.

 This is the back of the Twin Peaks, that I see out my window from my bed.

Back home again, by noon, and I caught the last 80 laps of the NASCAR race!

Jeff finished 6th. 

So we're home, and Annie is absolutely exhausted.  She will sleep all day.  I have to go up 6 blocks to pick up my meds today, and I'm out of milk, so will probably stop at the grocery store in the opposite direction.  The trike makes my errands so much easier and quicker.





I think going to the beach today will kick start my desire to go more often.  I have no idea why I haven't gone sooner - it was definitely one of the reasons I moved here.  The BEACH!

I am soooo happy!
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