Last night, I  slowed down long enough to think, 2010 is over!  Are you having a hard time believing (like I am) how fast this year went by?  I once read that life is almost like a road trip – it seems to go by faster the older we get, just like the return trip home always seems faster than the journey to a destination.  This is (supposedly) because on the way home, a lot of the sites you pass seem familiar, and you’re not spending as much time taking everything in.  I don’t know.  But I do know that this year has flown by for me.  

For those of you who have taken the time to visit this blog, thank you very much for reading what I’ve had to say.  It’s been a wonderful place for me to “talk story” about some of my favorite family food traditions from Hawaii, to jot down my culinary and travel experiences in California, and to try in my own way to capture these experiences that always seem to pass by too quickly.

We’re in Carmel, California right now, and spent a good chunk of our morning at what may very well be the most pleasant place on the planet for our canine companions – Carmel City Beach.This view is looking toward the left of the beach, after entering the beach from the main parking lot.  To the right, you get an amazing view of Pebble Beach.  The photo below was taken at the other end of the beach, looking back toward Pebble Beach.Carmel City Beach is a long stretch of powdery white sand, and best of all, it’s off-leash.  We didn’t see a single unfriendly or unsocialized dog at the beach, and our two Corgis couldn’t believe their luck.  They tried to herd another beach-goer…Reenacted that scene from Rocky 3, where Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers are racing on the beach… Played on the dunes…And played by the shore…This beach is so dog friendly, that it almost seems like it is a dog beach rather than a city beach that happens to be dog-friendly.  In fact, the vast majority of people we saw here had dogs, with only a few “people-only” visitors. To access Carmel City Beach, take the Ocean Avenue exit from Highway 1.  Drive until you reach the end of Ocean Avenue.  (You will pass the quaint, picture-perfect district known as Carmel By the Sea.)  The parking lot for the beach is at the end of Ocean Avenue.  Happy New Year!