Eating out : Cascal

Hello, this is Cinny taking over mommy's computer :)
Today I'm going to review one of my favorite restaurants in the Bay Area: Cascal in Mountain View.


Pros:
- Outdoor seating.
- Dog friendly (they gave me water and cookies as soon as I arrived with my human parents)
- Excellent service (sometimes I wondered around, but waiters didn't mind me)
- Delicious Tapas (my human parents kept saying that food wasn't disappointing and I trust them, but I wish I could've tried a little for myself :(
Cons:
- It can take forever to get a table, specially if you prefer outside seating, so I recommend you make a reservation.

Outdoorsy Girl

Explorer Shih Tzu 

Hello furry friends, my parents finally took me for hike last weekend and let me tell you I had forgotten how much I enjoy running in open spaces.

We went to Thornewood open space in Palo Alto. Dogs are allowed on leash, but because I am a very well behaved pup, I was off leash (shush don't tell anyone). This park has a lot of shady areas and great views of Portolla Valley. As you see in the pics my mommy took, I was exploring the area, drinking from clean creeks, chasing naughty squirrels and I crashed on the car at the end of the day. 

If you are as adventurous as me you definitely have to visit this park. Don't forget to bring water, snacks and poop bags :)

Mendocino according to Cinnamon

  

"Mendocino rocks"

"woof.....If you are a dog parent and live in the Bay Area, CA you must visit Mendocino and bring your dog child along. This beautiful small town offers many dog friendly activities."

"Sand in Mendocino beach is tasty"

"woof....we were there last week and let me tell you that it was an awesome experience. I went to the beach (off leash), saw some nasty clams, went biking with my parents, canoeing, visited a botanical garden and more beach. My mom put together a photo slide about our adventure:

Canoeing with my parents!!!

Dont forget your life jacket :)

Hot tub time.

"Here are some recommendations if you are planing on going there." Accommodation:
- Mendocino Seaside Cottage. I give this place five paws up because it had everything a dog can dream of from a temporal home; hot tub with a fire place, full kitchen, private deck, ocean views, and a big back yard for me to run around. Ask for the Tropical room :) Oh and the owner was just amazing, he made sure our stay was enjoyable.
To Dos:
- Mendocino beach. Not sure if this was an off leash beach, but people there are so friendly that did not mind me running around off leash.
- Catch a Canoe. My favorite part was canoeing. This place allows dogs on the canoes and they even have life jackets if your parents forget to get you one.
- Biking around the Big River trail with amazing views.
- Botanical Gardens in Fort Brag. Just 10 minutes away from Mendocino is the Botanical Gardens and yes, dogs on leash are allowed as well! If you bring your lunch you can have a nice picnic on the garden.
- Noyo Beach, Fort Brag. I didn't like these beach very much. There were a lot of wood sticks everywhere and boat sirens go off every 30 seconds, very annoying!!!!!

Cycling trough the bay

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, as always during summer, it was cold brrrr!

Summer adventures continue and the past weekend the hubby, I and Cinny headed to San Francisco to bike 20 miles to Tiburon, CA. It was an exhausting trip, but oh so worth it!! The views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the city were spectacular and Cinny was introduced to new dog friendly parks along our way.

Dogs don't care about looks!

Cinnamon after rubbing herself against the dirt, she looks happy!

No matter how careful I am to make sure Cinnamon's fur remains clean and pretty after a hike, she takes every opportunity that I am not watching to rub herself against dirt or mud. And oh my she gets filthy very filthy!

Gear up for Summer!

Shih Tzu Aboard

Summer is here finally!  What can I say, we LOVE outdoor activities. There is nothing like breathing fresh air and feeling the wind caressing  your face. We decided to spend as much time as we can this Summer doing outdoor stuff like running, hiking and biking. All of these WITH Cinnamon!

Last snow days!

Cinnamon enjoying her last day on the mountains!

It is sad to say good bye to winter. No more ski trips, snow-ball wars, cuddling next to the fire place and hot chocolate :(

Feels like Summer in the Bay!!

Fort Funston, CA

The weather in the Bay Area has been crazy lately. Mornings and evenings are freezing, but in the afternoon it feels like Summer again!
Last weekend we reached 80 degrees and it was a good excuse to take the doggies to the beach and they had a blast :)

Heat Wave in the Coast!!

 The past four days have been hell for Cinnamon and myself because of the heat wave that hit the Bay Area. Our AC decided to stop working for those days and I had to bathe Cinny at least twice during the day to keep her cool. Shih Tzus are very sensitive to heat and the 100's degrees was not pleasant for my baby.

Luckily we live in the wonderful Bay Area and are minutes away from the beach! So we spent the day cooling off and it was a precious bonding time :)

Snow-bunny Cinny!

For president's day weekend we went to Tahoe with a bunch of lovely human and furry friends and no one was more excited to be back in the snow than Cinny!....

Cinny exploring!

 Any normal people would think we were some kind of animal hoarders for all the dogs there were at our cabin! (6 to be exact!!!)

Five pups waiting for Bella the pug!

Bella, her tongue was purple after eating some yummy snow!

Derbilicuous lost in the snow!

Cinny's love, Burger!

The moms having some fun! Cinny and Bella wanted to go along!

Daddy wants to have fun too!

My two loves!

I am so glad that Cinnamon loves the snow like us because more adventurous trips to the mountains are ahead of us!!!

Hiking with the pups!

Last weekend we took the pups for a hike to the largest tract of undisturbed marshland remaining in the San Francisco Bay. This place is home for a great variety of birds and squirrels. The dogs were in heaven chasing them! 

The now classic pose!

Marco in charge

Cinnamon and Burger were excited to be off leash

Sniffing duck's pup :)

Cinny and Burger breaking the law as always! They found a dead fish and were rubbing themselves against it......it was nasty!

I love taking pics of Burger, he is very photogenic!

Wild ducks

Some pretty flowers on the trail!

The sunset and time to go!

It was fun having Burger and Derby at home. Cinnamon will miss them,she will  especially miss her only and true love Burger!

Christmas in Tahoe!

So this year we spent Christmas in North Lake Tahoe. It was a bitter sweet Christmas because I missed my family a lot. Besides I found out that my brother's pup is missing. When I spoke with  my little bro on the phone he was devastated and couldn't stop crying :( It made me really sad, and the fact that it was Christmas eve did not help at all!! :(
I really hope he finds the dog!

On the other hand, I was excited to spend Christmas with my two loves: Marco and Cinny!
I am so fortunate to have Marco in my life. He always brings a smile to my face and cheers me up when I need it the most :)

These are some pics of Christmas day:

Cinnamon got a lady bug plush toy and a yummy bone for Christmas!

We  went for a walk and Cinny loved playing in/with the snow!

She also ate some snow...yummy!

Looking for her ball!

Marco and Cinny!

She was very exhausted that night!

My little ewok keeping me warm!

Merry Christmas to all dog lovers!

Cinnamon's longest hike ever!

This weekend Marco and I decided to spend some quality time together with Cinny. On Saturday we went to see an art exhibition, but Cinny had to stay outside. I wrote about this art exhibition here. Right after the exhibition we drove to South Lake Tahoe for a hiking adventure.
We stayed in a cozy hotel and woke up early in the morning for our hike. It was really cold out there, but after a hot coffee and some yummy eggs we were set to go. We went to Echo Lake were pooches are aloud.

One cozy looking cabin on the Lake.

The view was amazing! The smell of clean air and woods kept us going. As soon as Cinny got out the car she was jumping from rock to rock, chasing birdies, leaves and everything that moved. We walked for about 7 miles when we decided to go back because it was going to get dark.

Cinny looking for birds!

The return was faster, but we were tired. We were impressed with Cinny, she kept walking and walking always in front of me, always vigilant!

Climbing rocks!

Yes, we had some snow!

Water break!

Posing with daddy!

It was already dark when we got back to the car. We praised Cinny for her hard work. She walked 14 miles for about 8 hours! She refused to have her delicious chicken bone. All she wanted was to rest inside the car. We are so proud of her!

Our precious, so exhausted!

(Now en espanol: Este fin de semana decidimos hacer algo de aventura juntos con cinnamon ya que andamos muy ocupados y hace tiempo que no hacemos algo asi. El Sabado nos fuimos a ver a Mamani. Y despues de eso manejamos hasta Tahoe para hacer una caminata con cinnamon. Hacia mucho frio pero despues de un cafecito caliente estabamos listos para ir. Nos impresionamos de cinnamon que camino por ocho horas con descansos. El lago donde caminamos era muy bello y se sentia el aire fresco. Ya de regreso se nos hizo tarde. Felicitamos a cinnamon por caminar tanto. le ofrecimos su huesito favorito pero ella solo queria dormir en el coche. Nosotros tambien estabamos cansados y hambriento pero nos fuimos a comer unas carnes deliciosas en el camino de regreso.)