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Chloe’s Clicks: This week’s best dog travel links

This was shaping up to be an epic Chloe’s Clicks last week — and then I missed posting it — so now it’s epic times two. Here we go, in no particular order.

The oldest link in the collection is a report from Laura Stephenson about her post-college road trip from Guatemala to Nicaragua and back — which I include because of its general can-do attitude and because she traveled with her dog Chispa. Also off the beaten track? Zuma’s Paw Prints describes the history of the Alcan Highway (between Alaska and the Lower 48), traveled by Iditarod contestants and Ellie, the author’s Black Lab, among others. The link I’ve provided is to Part 1 — look for Parts 2 and 3 for more history and personal experiences. And hardly anything could be more off the beaten track than a cruise on the Queen Mary 2 — heartfelt thanks to The Road Unleashed for two wonderful posts (Queen Mary 2 Kennels: Embarkation and Queen Mary 2 Kennels: Frequently Asked Questions), with great photos, about the kennel accommodations on that glorious ship.

Looking for something more accessible? Check out NorthJersey.com‘s report on northern New Jersey‘s dog-friendly Saddle River County Park Bike Trail, as well as petswelcome.com‘s blissful review of Vermont’s North Cove Cottages, located just outside Middlebury, VT. If you’re in the Boston area, take a look at DailyCandy.com‘s list of off-season dog-friendly beaches, including options in Ipswich, Gloucester, South Boston and Wellfleet. Speaking of beaches, The Palm Beach Post reported that West Palm Beach‘s vegan restaurant Darbster was voted the area’s most dog-friendly restaurant (holding off a late challenge from O’Shea’s, an Irish pub). On the other side of the country, check out Kyle Merwin Cheney’s recommendations, via the Travel Oregon Blog, for dog-friendly options in Bend, OR, as well as the Take Paws team’s joyous post about two day trips in the Lake Tahoe area. Very close to home (mine, anyway!) the youdidwhatwithyourweiner team found snow at Source Lake. Chester? Yes, still brave, but aided this time by a handmade neck cozy and a puffy bed to stand on when admiring views.

Now that you’re on the West Coast, take a look at the Mountain Democrat‘s review of a new book from Debbi Preston, called Dog-Friendly Trails for All Seasons in California’s Foothills and the Sierra Nevada (an even smaller subtitle explains that the trails are located in California’s Alpine, Amador, Butte, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer and Yuba Counties). The reviewer praises the book for including not only “directions to the trail, trail difficulty level, trail descriptions and information about whether the trail is shared with mountain bikers and equestrians” but also “tidbits like ‘Before the hike’ — a plug for local breakfast spots” as well as post-hike burger spots.

The next group of links I have for you this week are blogs I hadn’t seen before, and was happy to find, including Travels with the Blonde Coyote (author Mary Caperton Morton has spent the past 6 years traveling the U.S. with her Border Collie mixes Bowie and Dio), 3 Pups in a Pop-Up (a couple traveling in a pop-up camper with rescued pups Chance, Roxie and Kismet), and Road Dog Tales (a South Carolina couple taking road trips with their five dogs — ranging from Chihuahua mix Taz to German Shepherds Gracie and Aspen).

And that brings us to a collection of wonderful posts that defy categorization. My favorite, of course, is from long-time Dog Jaunt reader Patty, who wrote a very useful post about her recent trip with Truffles (remember Truffles?) from Victoria, B.C. to Nassau, in the Bahamas — don’t miss the photos of Truffles in her large SturdiBag under seats on a WestJet 737 (Victoria to Toronto) and an Air Canada A320-2 (Toronto to Nassau). Speaking of flying, a Dallas outpost of CBS reported that “the Paradise 4 Paws Pet Resort, the only pet hotel located on DFW Airport property, will operate seven days a week, 24-hours-a day.”

I was fascinated by this post from Planet of the Blind, about a couple of the author’s experiences traveling with his service dog — though what really grabbed my attention was his suggestion that “disability [does not] make[ ] for a different experience of the social circle, but that it simply intensifies the experiences. This is because of the inherent stigma associated with physical defect on the one hand, and the compensatory decency of civilized people on the other hand — but both principles involve something heightened, a mode of human activity that’s spurred by symbolism.” By contrast, I was not a bit surprised to be told, by seattlemag.com, that Seattle is crazy about dogs. Also crazy about dogs, according to Montecristo Travels? Italy, and the MT team has four more posts about their recent trip for you to savor: Siena, Florence, Fiesole and Rome.

I’ll leave you with a positive review of the EZDog harness and seat belt, from my friend Mary Haight, writing at Dancing Dog Blog, and some very good suggestions for planning a home visit with your dog — so useful at this traveling time of year — from Shannon L. Hill. As you may recall, I wrote a post on the same topic a couple of months ago, but now that I’ve read her post, I wish I could have a do-over!