Yesterday, Dobby and I took a trip to Santa Monica to spend the afternoon relaxing at the pier. It was 85 degrees and sunny, what else is there to do on a Saturday like that? I wish I could say the trek was as relaxing as I had hoped. The bus ride on the 704 line took nearly an hour from where I live in West Hollywood to Santa Monica because of the traffic. In a former life when I could still see to drive, the trip wouldn't take more than about 20 to 30 minutes but riding the bus with traffic and periodic stops extends the trip to an hour. With the heavy traffic we encountered, apparently I wasn't the only person who thought it would be a good day to go to the ocean.
Once we arrived, Ocean Front Park was crammed full of people. Dobby did his usual best at weaving us back and forth to get through the crowd. The real challenge for him came when we finally got to the pier itself. The place was a madhouse. I actually considered turning us around and finding a nice quiet place on the grass where we could sit and relax but Dobby loves sitting at the end of the pier watching the world go by. There are always seagulls, pelicans, people, boats, dolphins and a myriad of other distractions constantly going by which keep his attention. If I use my monocular, I can occasionally get lucky and catch a glimpse of what Dobby is looking at. Out of sheer dumb luck, I managed to catch a glimps of a harbor seal swimming in the water near the pier. Dobby was too busy watching a dog that a couple had brought with them for a walk to notice.
The trip home was just as long. I don't go to the pier all that often because the long bus ride is hard on Dobbs. He's good at sitting patiently for about 20 minutes and then he becomes restless. I often end up letting him lay down on the floor during such long rides. It's more comfortable for him that way. We've come up with a routine that works. When the bus stops and the front door opens I give him a sit command and he dutifully jumps up into a sitting position between my legs and out of the path. It's an imperfect solution and has risks but it simply isn't fair to make Dobbs sit still perfectly still for nearly an hour. Who among us could do that?
