My recollection of last winter is that it was much tougher to fight off the cabin fever than this winter has been. This doesn't make sense in that this winter was much rainier than last, and on top of it, I had no car for most of this winter.

In any event, spring has already sprung big time in our neck of NorCal and with us back on daylight savings time, the good times have just begun for 2010. We had a weekend of canine-human firsts, including our very first visit to the South Bay Chihuahua Meetup (the "SoBay Chi'd Up"), and our very first visit to Bolinas Beach. Good times were had by all who were within earshot of our merrymaking!

Marin County sucks for many reasons, including a paucity of off-leash-friendly spots, but for all the faults, you can't deny the beauty of its scenery. It packs more beauty into its space than most any other place in Cali, and that is saying something.

Wanting to take advantage of the awesome weather to see the coast - which is usually coldest - I decided to use our time to see the handful of spots in Marin that have doggie-love, and first on the list was Bolinas Beach.

I have been to Bolinas more than a few times because it is relatively southern in Marin, and because it is a known bird/nature-watching hotspot. I have seen seals and exotic birdies galore in the lagoon east of the town many times, but I am pretty sure I haven't ventured as far as the pier and beach itself before.

While Bolinas has that coastal flakes element in spades, I admire it for thumbing its nose at the archetype Marin resident and the archetype tourist there. Much in Marin truly is repulsive in terms of those people-ing and visiting it, and keeping a sliver of it genuinely weird and stand-offish makes sense. I am guessing they are just as chock-full of nasty money losers as the rest of the county, but they allow more weirdness loose on the streets, so I have to give them SOME credit. In any event, Boomie loved the beach, and had we been hungrier, we coulda eaten at the outdoor cafe, so I am sure we will be back this summer at some point.

Eventually, we had to move on, and next up on the list was Mill Valley's dog run. Eeek.

My landlord lives in Mill Valley, so at some level, I am contributing to their local tax base, so I figgered I had as much right to let my doggie visit as anyone. Known by some as "Milf Valley" (Milf's are a lot like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny if you ask me - believed in only by those too young to know the difference) I did see more than a few many-thou$and$ of dollars designer doggies there. I can't blame the dogs for having repulsive owners can I? I don't hold the goofy-looking anemic nerd fertility twins at the skate park there responsible to account for their genetics, so I certainly don't have to find their pets untouchable for being the product of aspiration eugenics, right? I did indulge my immature disdain for the moneyed denizens of Marin by not cleaning up after the chihuahua (the turds are small and come out of John Varvatos All-Stars easier than most - so I think I am ok on the karma too, yes?) All in all, their dog is excellent being right on the bay and with lots of agility training toys to boot. Booms doesn't play with that stuff, and the pure bred doggies there were too tall for him to hump, so I don't see us going back unless we have an emergency when passing through.

Our trip out ended with a stop at Miller-Knox park at Richmond Point, along the line to the old ATSF Rail Ferry Slip.

It is such a beautiful piece of land with such an amazing history, it is good to see it starting to be reclaimed for people to enjoy. I keep seeing it back in WWII when it was the shipbuilding capital of the world, with 3 shifts of Rosie The Riveters riding the old trolley to Whale Point or Kaiser Yards or whatever. Most of the rail infrastructure has been ripped up, which is how Miller-Knox was left open to become a park at all, so I suppose I should be happy to see things as they are. Boomie sure liked it, but I think that was more because Miller-Knox is so popular with Hispanic families who bring their chihuahuas out for the weekend picnic. To each his own I guess...

More spectacular weather is on the way, so our next adventures should be off the hook - after all, we start babysitting Pocket on Friday afternoon! We can't wait! Booms and I know so many more awesome spots to visit with the canine set than when we had her visiting last year we are chomping at the bit to show her what's what. You should be excited too; after all, we can't show her what's what without showing it to you too!