17.09.2013

Hi there! My name is Marina and I’m looking forward to welcoming Sulo who is currently travelling here from China.

Sulo is going to spend two wonderful weeks in a small green and cosy town called Foster City, in Northern California. We moved here a year ago from Ukraine and we are still exploring the neighborhood with enthusiasm. I hope Sulo will be glad to keep us company during our regular weekend getaways. We will try to introduce him to the beautiful ocean coast, mountains and woods, and of course the famous Golden Gate Bridge.

Our dog Malysh and cat Fedor are also  looking forward to meeting their new furry friend. They are both experienced travellers as well – they made all that big journey from Ukraine to USA with us.

Our neighbourhood:

06.10.2013

Hi everyone! It’s me, Sulo, yahoo! Greetings from the sunny California! 🙂

Well, it was quite a journey! When I finally got out from the package, I found myself in a big and noisy office full of people. I was surprised because it was Sunday! But then my new hostess Marina explained that all her collegues from the international branches came here, to United States, for the big annual company meeting. So today I had a chance to meet many IT people from Russia, Ukraine and Latvia.

I explored their office thoroughly, and I must say these computer geeks have a lot of fun here! Just look at their work places:

I also spent a couple minutes in front of Marina’s desk. She is a poscrosser – this means she sends and receives tones of postcards from all over the world:

Then Marina let me stay at her meeting but I  shortly got bored of all these scary unknown words – so I asked her to take me for a walk to some nice place. I really wanted to see the ocean!

The park where Marina took me is called Coyote Point. I was a little dissapointed since we didn’t meet any coyotes there. But we saw lots of planes which flew very close! I learned that Coyote Point is a popular place to watch the landing airplanes.

Finally, the ocean! The weather was so calm, and warm, and relaxing… just the way I like it!

Trying to get some tan…

There were many eucalyptuses around. I was wondering all the time where were the koalas hiding? We didn’t see any… But we saw a racoon and squirrels! I’d love to chase them! I’m still a dog whatever you may say. Just for fun of course, I’d never hurt them.

And this is me and my hostess Marina:

Well, it’s been a long day! I need to go to bed now. See you!

07.10.2013

Hi there! This morning my hostess woke me up early and took me for a wonderful walk around the lake:

I really like California – it’s warm and sunny, and everything is blooming even in the middle of autumn!

The park by the lake is called  Leo J. Ryan Memorial Park. It’s dogs friendly but there are rules we must obey:

And this is my new best buddy Malysh! He is already 8 years old but still playful and curious. His name means “little boy” in Russian. Probably his mom and dad didn’t expect he would grow so big!

09.10.2013

Hello! Another one busy day at the office. I’m getting bored and really looking forward to the weekend!

Yesterday I tried sushi for the 1st time in my life! We went to a small Japanese place called Higuma for lunch. Higuma means “bear” in Japanese.

I liked sushi but to be honest if I had a choice I would prefer a good old beef bone, woof! I think, fish is cat’s food.

Today I noticed that people here have already started preparing for the coming Helloween. Pumpkins and scary things are just everywhere! In a restaurant:

… and in a supermarket:

I like visiting supermarkets because there are so much delicious food there!

After work, me and Marina went to the San Carlos post office to check her mailbox.

Unfortunately, there was no mail for Marina today. So we decided to go for a walk along Laurel street, to cheer up a little:

We stopped by in a small park with a stage for live music. This statue looks weird, doesn’t it? Especially decorated with a beer mug and a German flag (because of the coming Octoberfest).

We walked by the small shops and restaraunts at Laurel street. It was fun to stare at their windows with tons of different items for sale – some of them looked pretty unusual!

Well, now I’m a little bit tired after the walk and I’m going to bed. Good night, everyone!

10.10.2013

Today I visited a gorgeous place which smelled so-o-o good – the See’s Candies shop!

I would really love to try these chocolates but Marina won’t let me. She told that chocolate is poisonous  for dogs. Can you believe this? I’m so upset!

UPD from Marina: Yes, this is true. Chocolate is very extremely dangerous for dogs because it contains theobromine which is toxic for them.

11.10.2013

The morning was so dull today that I decided to stay at home. Here I am, checking the weather at the balcony:

Smelling the herbs Marina’s growing:

Finally, I had a chance to explore my foster home. I discovered some nice plants on the bookcase:

And tried some Marina’s parfumes – ahchoo!

And spent some time at the fridge looking all over the magnets from different countries and cities:

At the end I found a nice and comfy place for nap with my new friend Fedor:

In the evening Marina came home and asked if I wanted to help her cook the dinner. I have never cooked before so I gladly agreed! We decided to cook a steak salad.

I had many important tasks to do – to taste and approve the meat, to sniff the smells and say if the food is ready, and to lick the plates clean. I did my best!

And this is the result. Yummy!

Learning to cook was such a fun! I’m thinking of becoming the first dog chef in the world!

13.10.2013

It’s been a fantastic weekend! On Saturday we went to the Octoberfest in Redwood City:

There were lots of people in the streets tasting beer, dancing and just having fun!

Not only people were wearing Bavarian costumes! Meet my new buddy and his mom:

I liked his apparel so much that I decided to try on some hats, too:

While exporing the fair I met a funny monkey with an barrel organ:

I’m not allowed to drink because I’m still a puppy. But I couldn’t help tasting just a little bit beer imported from Germany. I felt funny and started to bark to the music, and then suddenly I felt so sleepy and Marina took me home.

On Sunday we went to the San Carlos Art & Wine Fair:

We saw many beautiful handmade things – jewelery, clothes, household stuff. The local people are very talanted!

There were also many food and drinks at the fair. What I like about Americans is their passion to food. No big event here goes without good barbeque!

We also saw the vintage cars show:

And this is what we bought at the fair – a necklace with a key. The Storyteller lady who sold it said it’s magical, all we need is to find a door to which is matches:

14.10.2013

It’s been a busy day at the office! Something has broken and everyone was worring – and then Marina fixed it and everyone becomes happy. This is all I understood.

And after that, it’s been a lazy evening. First we planted some flowers to the new pots:

Then I helped to write the postcards – we sent them to Russia, Belarus, Japan, Netherlands, China, Ukraine and New Zealand:

Then Malysh shared his chew bone with me. He is such a good buddy, I love him!

And before going to bed I cuddled a little with cute Fedor:

21.10.2013

Today is my last day in the sunny California. Tomorrow I’m leaving to France to my new host Erin. I’m going to miss California and my new buddies Malysh and Fedor but I’m looking forward to the new adventures!

The last weekend here was just great! On Saturday I’ve finally visited San Francisco and I loved it sooooo much!

We left home at about 1pm, and I’ve been watching around the whole way to San Francisco:

Those tiny houses looked so sweet! And then we passed by the Golden Gate Park. I’d like to make stop at the park but we were in hurry – we had many places to visit that day:

Here is the video how I cross the Golden Gate Bridge: Sulo passes the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our first stop was at the vista point across the bridge. The view was just fantastic, we took a lot of photos!

It was very windy on the hill. Marina told me it’s always cold and windy here, and also often foggy. So we were lucky to catch the sun. I was a little scared of sitting on the block. I could be blown off any minute… maybe to the Land of Oz? But most probably to the cold Pacific ocean.

I got warm in the car while heading to our next stop – the famous crooked street called the Lombard Street. We drove all the way down – veeery slowly! Here you can see another one video: Sulo’s going down the Lombard Street.

Then left the car on the street and walked back upwards. This place was crowded of tourists, they all were taking pictures:

We also took some pictures, here I am among the beautiful flowers:

After that we took a long walk to a mysterious place which Marina called “the turntable”.  I didn’t know what it means. But when we got there I saw a funny cable car. It entered the big wooded circle, a driver got out and rotated the whole circle with a vehicle on it. Wow! This is how they make a cable car go another direction. Isn’t it cool?

Then we all took a ride at the cable car. It was such fun! I could stand on the footboard and bark greeting the passerbies, yahoo! They all were smiling and waving back.

The sun were going down and we hurried to our last stop – the Pier 39. Marina told me I was going to meet some animals who bark just like me but aren’t dogs. I was curious! And when we got there, I was so surprised – I saw lots of very fat and funny looking animals who had no legs but were barking just like I do! They are called seals. We taledk a little, they told me about the delicious fish deep in the ocean and the dangerous sharks you must avoid, and I told them about my big travel.

It was a long day full of bright impressions, and when we got back home I just fell asleep dean on my feet.

The next day, on Sunday, we visited a really hilarious event – the Halloween Dog Costume Contest in Milpitas! I wish I could participate, too, but I haven’t prepared my costume in time :(((

I met a lot of new friends at the contest. The Squirrel:

…and the Batman:

…the Imp and the Witch:

… and the VERY scary Tiger!

I helped to fill the applications for the contest:

Here are the proud participants:

They also had a raffle, and – can you imagine? – we won a huge bag of dry dog’s food. Hurray!

I also took an agility class and I liked it a lot!

Then I got very sad because Marina told me that some dogs I met at the contest had no family. They were abandoned and put to the public shelters. I felt so sorry about them that I almost cried! But then I cheered up after I was told that all these dogs were rescued by Furry Friends volunteers, and now they are going to find  new homes.

These are my buddies who are waiting to be adopted. Fluffy Quincy looks like my elder sister:

Quincy in her circus costume:

Flash has tried several costumes, the Skunk:

…the Bee:

…and the Spider:

And this is cute little Sherman, he is only few months old:

I didn’t want to saying goodbye to my new friends. I hope to meet them once again and I wish them all to find they loving mom and dad soon!

22.10.2013

Update from Marina: Sulo has left to France today. It was such a pleasure to have him at our home, we spent a great time together. I hope he liked this small vacation, too. I’ll be watching Sulo’s further travel and I wish him to come back home safe. Good luck, sweet little Sulo!