One Road Trip, Two Dogs, Endless Good Food

Taylor
Aug 15
6 min read

As business owners, it’s easy to forget to take a break when there are so many things going on and so many people who rely on you for answers. It’s also easier said than done to turn the business part of your brain off once you get home.

For us, a true break involves traveling and eating delicious food along the way. We saw that we had a slow period during the Fourth of July and decided to capitalize on it! We chose to road trip to central California and then take the Pacific Coast Highway up to Portland, Oregon, taking two of our dogs. Now, that might not sound very relaxing to some of you (and trust us, at times it was decidedly not relaxing), but we did have a lot of fun, and a break from work is a break from work.

Our first destination from Denver was Red Cliffs Lodge in Moab, but unfortunately, due to the fires and the high winds, the hotel had shut off all power to the rooms. Its a very cute hotel though and worth a visit. With a quick pivot, we did find Wingate by Wyndham, which was just a simple dog-friendly hotel. There was a small unfenced grassy area for the dogs, and though not ideal, we were not in a position to complain. We were so exhausted, and it was so late by the time we had our accommodations figured out, we just decided to eat Subway sandwiches for dinner.

The next morning, we rose early and decided to go to The Bark Park in Moab proper. This dog park was large and surprisingly empty when we arrived. It had plenty of space for our boys to run as well as ample shade, which is a must during the summer.

Once our boys were tired, we grabbed some coffee and breakfast at the Love Muffin Cafe. We each got a muffin; I opted for the blueberry and bacon, and my mom got the Banana Cream.

We made a stop in Santa Clara, Utah, and found the Firehouse Dog Park. Another good space for the dogs to run around for a bit, though it was a bit too hot for them to play for long. We met a woman at the dog park who suggested Sweet Sage Coffee for lunch, where we got a delicious chai, a phenomenal turkey sandwich called the “Kingpin,” and some pesto crepes.

Once we reached California, there was quite a bit of traffic, so we made another pit stop for date shakes from Cima Mining Co. in Nipton, California. The date shakes were unbelievable. We recommend just the plain date shake.

Once we got to Pismo Beach, we checked into the Inn at the Cove. This is a beautiful hotel with an amazing view. They even put your pup's name on their board to welcome them. They include an amazing breakfast buffet as well. The next morning, we were able to walk the dogs around the paths of our hotel, which was right on the coast with stairs down to the beach. We did want to let our dogs roam off leash though, so we found the Elm Street Dog park in Arroyo Grande. The park had tons of balls and toys for our doggies to play with and extremely friendly people and frogs!

We grabbed coffee from Tribal Coffee and then visited some family who graciously picked us up cinnamon rolls from Bread Bike Bakery that were absolutely delicious. We went to dinner at Ada’s Fish House where we got to try the clam chowder, crab cakes, fish n chips, and halibut. The food was good, but our waitress completely blew us away. Ada’s is definitely worth a stop, and the patio is great!

The next day we were mostly on the Pacific Coast Highway headed to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Along the coast, stopped at Piedras Blancas Light Station to watch the sea lions and feed the chipmunks. We also knew we had to visit the Henry Miller Memorial Library per an employee’s suggestion. It was such a fun bookstore tucked into the woods. This is a must if traveling that direction. Thank you, Robyn, for the suggestion.

We stayed at the Stilwell Hotel, a newly remodeled hotel that offers champagne upon arrival. They have a beautiful courtyard with wood-fired pizza, charcuterie, and cocktails. Carmel isn’t the most dog-friendly in the sense that there weren’t any parks or anything for us to walk the dogs to without having to go all the way to the beach. They are dog-friendly in that they have several dog-friendly restaurants/stores. We went to Grasings for dinner, and they had an entire dog menu. They also had dog beds and water bowls on their patio for our dogs to use. We got our pups Salmon and brown rice. Our dinner highlights were the bread and butter, Ahi Tataki, and the Spade and Plow Greens. This is an upscale restaurant with a great patio if you're looking for a nice meal with the pups.

We had breakfast the next morning at our hotel, and it was surprisingly one of the best hotel breakfasts we’ve ever had, with quiches, potatoes, charcuterie, and pastries. It was all very luxurious. We took our boys to the beach where nearly all the dogs were off leash, and they had so much fun with more than enough room to play.

On the road again, we picked up French sandwiches and coffee from the Lafayette Bakery & Cafe and began the trek toward Mendocino. It was a perfect midday Parisian snack. We stayed at the Little River Inn, and it was a beautiful dog-friendly hotel on the coast. This was one of our favorite hotels. On a golf course, insane views, big rooms and beautiful decks overlooking the ocean and cliffs.

The next morning we stopped by Goodlife Cafe and Bakery on our way to Oregon and maybe ordered a few too many pastries. Put this one on your list for sure if you're in Mendocino!

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Portland and met some family for dinner at Portland City Grill. We had a beautiful view of the mountains and ate their burrata board, a sushi roll, and crab cakes that were all amazing.

The next day we took our dogs to Mt. Tabor Park, which is not a fully fenced-in park, but is big enough that it feels like it is. Lots of kind people and our boys had a blast. We grabbed lunch at Tabor Tavern and had the best house-cut fries with a malt vinegar aioli that were to die for. We also got a burger and a sandwich, and it was hands down some of the best food we had in Portland.

We also met our friend Rick (friends for 25 years) at Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen, and the food was so delicious, and the portion sizes were very large. What stood out to us were the crab rangoons, the tom kha soup, and the green beans.

On our way out of Portland, we made our obligatory visit to Ken’s Artisan Bakery to grab bread and pastries. They have the best baked goods and the service is always amazing.

Pastry

In Boise, we were exhausted, so we grabbed a pickup order from ALAVITA and had two pasta dishes and their creme brulee in our room. It was just what we needed. We decided the dogs needed a good run, so we took them to Together Treasure Valley Dog Island, and it was one of the best dog parks we had seen on our entire trip. It had so much space to run and water for them to play in. The people were so incredibly friendly.

Next stop: Salt Lake City

In Salt Lake City, we didn’t stop at any dog parks, but we did eat dinner at Rouser, located in our hotel, the Asher Adams Hotel. We loved the hotel so much; the rooms were stunning and in a nice area. The food was great and just what we needed to end our trip. Salt Lake City is such a great city if you haven't been.

All in all, we had such an amazing time. While it was more difficult with the dogs, we found so many fun dog parks and places for them to go. Even several Love’s gas stations had pretty decent parks. It was great to visit family and friends and get to have our furry buddies with us along the way.

-With so much joy & love, from Taylor