Earlier this year around the end of spring (May/June), Matt and I drove from Manitoba to California, bringing our dog Mocha to her first out-of-province adventure. Overall this was a trip going 3,400 km one-way (30 hours to Sacramento, and another 2 hours to reach the Bay Area), a car swap, and then I drove the same trek back up 🚗. Since we really only use one car in Manitoba, we brought Matt’s Prius back to his family. For the way back up I drove a Subaru, a car that a friend needed returned to Manitoba since it didn’t fit with California’s emission requirements and therefore couldn’t be registered in California. In summary, I “bought” the Subaru from her to get temporary driving insurance, drove it back, and sold it here in Manitoba. With this very unique situation, I also stayed in California for about two weeks between the drives, visiting friends and family and bringing Mocha everywhere I went, and Matt went back (via plane) to Manitoba earlier for work. There were a lot of firsts for Mocha which made the trip really fun! It was a lot to take in for her, but she did very well.

The trip to California

Matt and I planned our trip to spread the 30 driving hours across 4 days, stopping in Regina, Great Falls, and Twin Falls, then reaching Sacramento on the 4th day. This way we weren’t rushed and we could stop every couple hours or so for Mocha (and us) to get a break. The night stops were also targeted for hotels that allowed large dogs, since not every city/town has these (always good to check before starting the trip!). This was the first time either of us were travelling across the US-Canada border since the pandemic started in March 2020. We prepared documentation for vaccine records, our traveling documents (passports, PR card), dog vaccine and vet records, and also traveled with a sealed dog food bag (we were told opened bags were not allowed), and we passed through with ease and received a bonus dog treat.

The drive itself was very straightforward. We prepared offline maps for the US to avoid high data charges (though stupid me accidentally texted regularly without realizing it triggered the daily roaming charge for everything 🙃). First we drove through the Canadian prairies, then the Rocky mountains, Nevada desert, and the Sierra mountains before reaching the central valley of California. Generally there was hardly much traffic (till we reached the Sierras), which made the drive quite nice, and the scenery was very beautiful. The most exciting thing I saw were a bunch of pronghorn in Montana! 🦌 Haven’t seen them before so it was cool to get some good views on the drive. We observed lots of roadkill (skunks, raccoons, deer, etc), and I unfortunately obliterated a poor mourning dove that landed right in front of the car when we were on the interstate highway☹️. Matt and I took turns throughout the drive, also taking turns to choose music, podcasts, or bird calls (lol that’d be me).

California

This was a much needed trip to visit family and old friends. Mocha also reunited with one of her dog bffs, which was so sweet to see! It had been two years since they last saw each other. I loved bringing her to meet my old colleagues, my parents (re-meet), Matt’s family, and friends. Before this trip we had brought her on only a few “patio” outings, and when she was much younger she would bark quite a bit when she was bored or confused why we weren’t moving along. She did incredibly great this trip for all patio or picnic-like occasions (which were quite a lot since I can’t bring her into the restaurant), she loved the company, settled nicely (and not stressed), and it made it easy for me to bring her everywhere- I’m so proud of this one!

We stayed with my friend and her pup in Sacramento for most of the time. Mocha didn’t get along with the second dog in the household, but we rotated who was where in the rooms and we used a muzzle to keep everyone safe. We were able to get them to be neutral outside, which was a big step from where they started. Sometimes some dogs don’t get along with each other, and that’s OK. I muzzle train Mocha so we are prepared for these situations. We did our best to take positive steps forward so they can coexist safely during our visit. She had a grand time with her bff though, and I would say it was overall successful! When I brought Mocha to the Bay Area to see my folks, she enjoyed exploring the large space, backyard, and swimming pool. She’s not confident yet in the deeper waters, so we used some floaties – also a nice to cool off while in the California sun. It was also super cute to see her and my parents get along so well.

In this trip, we visited Putah Creek, one of my favourite birding spots and where I buried Olive (my house sparrow & Opal’s brother). We also went swimming at the lake and Mocha saw the ocean for the first time 🌊! She immediately learned it tasted very different than the lakes back at home.

The trip back to Manitoba

Driving back up to Manitoba with the Subaru was fine overall. Other than waking up to a flat tire the second morning (a slow leak from a nail), the drive itself went smoothly. It’s great that CAA includes AAA coverage, so it was quick to get the spare tire installed so I could drive to a mechanic for a patch-up. Mocha and I stopped at most of the same break spots we took on the drive down, used the same hotels, and it went great! It actually felt easier than the drive down since it felt like time was going by faster while focusing on the roads rather than sitting and waiting in the passenger seat. Crossing the border on the way up was also very straightforward. This time I already had Mocha’s window rolled down since the border on the trip down requested it to be lowered. Mocha thought this meant we were getting a pup cup from a Starbucks drive-through. Unfortunately no bonus dog treat that time.

We stopped by Delta Beach on the way home, a 1.5 hr detour, but it is one of our favourite places and we couldn’t resist. I guess this blog post turned to be very dog-focused (maybe should be titled “Mocha’s great spring adventure”), but I can’t help that I’m obsessed with her.

-Evelien