Huntington Beach: No Dogs Allowed

On a recent trip to Orange County to attend a big Shiba Inu meet-up in Anaheim, those of us traveling in from other areas decided to stay in Huntington Beach. After all, it has a huge dog beach and was voted one of the most dog-friendly cities in California.

View from HB Dog Beach

Not so anymore. It was very dog UN-FRIENDLY overall. The Dog Beach is still very good - it goes on for a good long stretch and has enough of a bluff to keep the dogs from escaping onto the Pacific Coast Highway. However, it is pretty crowded and narrow and folks hang out there with their kids. For someone use to Fort Funston, it was a bit of a difference.

The bigger issue was the "no-dogs allowed" policy for all restaurant patios in the downtown / Main Street area and through-out the city.

Every patio had an iron fence around it with a large sign stating no dogs. I asked one of the owners and he said they had gotten multiple tickets, so they had to enforce the rule.

Shorebreak Hotel continues to be dog-friendly - check out this little Shiba's own review of the facilities. Because it is their own property, Shorebreak can continue to allow dogs on their restaurant patio.

Overall, it was very disappointing that they had limited things so much in Surf City - but with California being what it is, there are plenty of other places to go that are dog-friendly! (I'm looking at you Carmel-by-the-Sea and San Francisco)!

-- Happy Travels (woof!)

California - The Big Empty

Sometimes I forget just how empty California can be - it is such a very big state and population hubs tend to be along the coast with a few spots in the central valley.

Driving back from LA the weekend of Carmagedden, I was forced to take a back road here and there. From I-5 to Hwy 101, there is a long winding highway: 166. It is gorgeous, lonely and reminded me of the sheer diversity of California's plant life and terrain.

-- Happy Travels!

Bay Area: Treasure Island Flea Market

On a recent Saturday, we decided to brave the bridge and head over to Treasure Island for a new flea market. Treasure Island is one of those Bay Area places you tend to forget. It is an odd place to reach - you have to halfway cross the Bay Bridge and exit to the left. If you are coming from the San Francisco side, you don't have to pay the toll coming or going - but from the Oakland side you will have to pay up. The views are worth the effort though.

The city on the Bay: View from TI

The Bay Area flea market has seen a bit of a boom in the past year, growing from one major event a month to three a month. The grand-daddy of them all is the Alameda Flea Market (technically called the Alameda Point Antiques Faire) - never been, but I hear it is madness. The Candlestick Flea Market opened last year and again - haven't been. It was rained out most of last fall and we haven't made it yet this year.

The flea market at Treasure Island was an un-expected pleasure. It is still small so parking was simple at 9:30am and even getting there on the Bay Bridge was traffic free (shocking). The space between booths was wide enough that you could move freely and there was a good mix of vendors: steam punk jewelry, vintage clothes, new clothing, furniture (old and new), wine barrels and such, organic plants, costume jewelry, antique metal "stuff", and so on.

As an added bonus, FOOD. The mini-donut booth was awesome. Fresh made donuts with choices of topping. Yum yum. There were hot-dogs and a greek booth. Then there were the food trucks: garlic noodles, waffles and a few others I don't remember because I was so focused on getting garlic noodles.

The final bonus: the venue is dog-friendly and for paying our $3 entry, we received a card for free entry next time. 

And did I mention the totally awesome finds? Thankfully they even have an ATM on site. 

-- Happy Shopping!

Hiking: Burned out cars in Belmont

The San Francisco peninsula has tons of open spaces and terrific hiking areas. One of my favorite sites, Bay Area Hiker, does a great job of giving you all the info needed to find good hikes. Armed with an iPhone and the Geocaching app (or old school, using a GPS and the website), you can find all sorts of unexpected things along the trails.

Recently the little dog and I have been hiking in Belmont and we've noticed an odd thing: burned out / rusted cars. On the trails, far from any actual roads.

No road nearby

The first we found was off the Chaparral Trail in Water Dog Lake Park. At the time, I didn't have my geocaching equipment with me, but there is a geocache around here I think. A note on the website says this car is "maintained" by the park rangers.

The second one we found off the trail in the Sugarloaf / Laurelwood Park. We came in via the entrance off Laurel Creek Road, taking the Salson Trail. This was a weekday hike and the park was silent - when something shifted in the car, little dog and I both startled. It was almost guaranteed to be wildlife moving around, but too many years in San Francisco made me suspicious someone was living in it and since there was no cell coverage in that area - I didn't stick around to take photos. Next time!

Finally, the third one we've found was again in the Belmont open preserve space, along the Rambler trail heading toward Canyon Creek Trail. 

Car Bridge?

This one was just super-cool in my opinion. How on earth that car got there, I can't imagine - but to make it part of the trail was a very cool idea. 

Hipstamtic shot of the car bridge from the other side

It's still a mystery to me how these got down into these canyons. All of the cars seem to be from around the 50's, so maybe there was a road through here before. Highway 280 isn't far away, so there could have been a road through the hills and mountains. 

I'll leave you with this final mystery:

The sign is so old the tree grew around it. Trail is only 2 feet wide.

-- Happy Hiking!

London Heathrow: Terminal 3

Don't expect to get through LHR quickly for international flights out of T3.

One you get past security you will find the "World of Shopping". I don't know
what it this area is really called but it is extremely annoying. The bright lights and strong
smells of perfume stop people in their tracks. Eyes glazed over, they
stare around while blocking the narrow winding pathway through the
mega-duty free shop. If you can muddle through and pass up all the
lovely (fake) deals, you come to an open seating area where a sign
clearly informs you that if you are headed to gates 20-22 you may want
to plan for a 20 minute walk. Son of a .....

I made it to my gate in 10. I also think I knocked over at least one
person along the way. Folks have a tendency to lollygag in Heathrow.

Don't get me wrong - I actually like London Heathrow overall. But the
standard international flight rule of getting to the airport two hours
before departure is a bit misguided for this airport.

The Star Alliance Lounge is nice but always very busy. The World of
Shopping is extensive but I've never had time to browse. Food stops
seem good but again: no time to stop and enjoy.

Really, my biggest complaint is just the sheer size of the place and
the comatose passengers wandering aimlessly. Due to these factors, I'd
get there a bit earlier than two hours. See my note on Virgin Atlantic systems
on more reasons why you might need the time.

-- Happy (Fast!) Travels

In flight experience: Virgin Atlantic

I do not know how United Airlines manages to make their seats so
hideously uncomfortable, but they are indeed masters of making even
simple things complex and horrid.

It was therefore a nice change to have an economy seat that was at
least comfortable on my bum. While I am never happy to fly economy,
the in-flight experience on Virgin Atlantic was a big change.

The seat bottoms were more comfortable and they have about one more
inch of pitch than United. The in-flight entertainment is a larger
screen than I expected and all of the movies, games, audio and TV were
free. The headphones were even slightly better (though still cheapies)
than what you would receive on other airlines. The audio quality was
good and clear. My only major problem was my system freaked out and
went to a command line and would not reboot. I rang for an attendant
and she immediately reset my system. The game / remote controller was
a bit touchy and took a bit to get use to. I could see some non-techie
travelers getting frustrated with it.

The amenities during the flight were very nice. Food was of decent
quality and alcoholic drinks are free on all international flights. A
kit was handed out that provided you with a eye mask and socks.

An upgrade to Premium Economy is really much closer to being in
Business class. The seats are bigger and wider - it isn't just about a
few extra inches of legroom on this airline. Beverages, including
sparkling wine are served before take-off. The food is a bit better

and the amenity kit includes earplugs. I was seated in a bulkhead

 and the flight attendant brought us footrests after take-off.

Finally, the Virgin staff are lovely people. Very helpful, very
friendly. They seem to like their jobs, enjoy working with people and
want to help make your flight pleasant. In a time where most airlines
seem staffed with bitter, jaded individuals, this attitude was a
welcome change.

Virgin Atlantic: You can do better with your systems

I have frequently discussed how much I love Virgin America and how
much I loathe United Airlines even though I am a Premier Executive
flyer with them. On a recent trip to London I decided to fly Virgin
Atlantic. One month before I had flown United to London and as usual,
it was horrid. Their seats are super uncomfortable and despite having
status I was trapped in horrible coach seats both directions.
Appalling.

In another post I discuss the in-flight experience with Virgin
Atlantic. This post is about their systems. Compared to the ease of
use of the America line, Virgin Atlantic has a way to go. Check-in
online is not intuitive. When asked about your checked luggage, it
shows you a graph of your allowed bags and then asks you how many
EXTRA bags you need. Once you decipher this, you check-in but cannot
pick your seat until after you have checked in.

I changed my seat after check-in and received a confirmation saying if
I had changed my seat, it would not be reflected in this confirmation
message. Really? How incredibly backwards.

Next issue: upgrades. They are available but not through online
check-in nor at the check-in kiosk at the airport. When I inquired at
the bag drop counter (which had a very long line at both airports) I
was able to upgrade to Premium Economy. The agent there assigned my
seat then directed me to ANOTHER line to actually make the payment and
get my boarding pass.

And this is why I was knocking people over as I hurried to my gate in
Heathrow, despite getting there early.

I expected better from Virgin Atlantic given how smooth systems are
for Virgin America.