When I started Out of the House with TLC, I thought I was writing about travel. Looking back, I didn’t realize how much of it would become the story of traveling with my dog, Cooper. For 11 years, he was my travel companion, restaurant critic, hiking buddy, boating partner and occasionally reluctant model. Together, we explored beaches, mountains, lakes, redwoods and more hotel rooms than I could possibly count.

Cooper didn’t just come along for the adventures. In many ways, he helped shape them.

Cooper Was a Beach Dog

If Cooper had been allowed to plan our vacations, I’m pretty sure most of them would have involved the ocean.

Leucadia became one of our regular escapes, but Cooper left his paw prints up and down the California coast. There were trips to Rosie’s Dog Beach in Long Beach, Ocean Beach Dog Beach, Del Mar and Cardiff-by-the-Sea, plus road trips to Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Santa Barbara and Ventura.

Pismo Beach, Morro Bay and Cambria became favorites, too.

He was a natural California beach dog. Give him some sand, an ocean breeze and a spot next to me, and Cooper was happy.

Put Cooper on a Boat

Cooper spent a lot of time at Lake Havasu with my dad and me, and those memories are particularly precious now. He was completely comfortable on the water, usually sporting a life jacket that made him look far more adventurous than his size would suggest.

Later there were kayaks in Big Bear, sailboats and, whenever we were in San Diego, a ride with Eco Boat Rentals became practically mandatory. He even went whale watching in both San Diego and Monterey.

Looking through the pictures now, I realize Cooper didn’t just tolerate my adventures. He expected them.

Traveling With My Dog Made Every Road Trip Better

Cooper was an excellent road-trip companion, which meant California became our playground.

One trip took us through Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea, where Cooper graciously agreed to model along 17-Mile Drive. Naturally, we had to stop at Pebble Beach. Judging from the photo of him sitting in the golf cart, I think he believed he had been invited to play.

We explored the redwoods. He rode a train. We wandered through the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. When he was younger, we hiked, including the Cougar Crest Trail in Big Bear.

There was always somewhere else to explore.

Traveling With My Dog Meant Finding the Best Patios

Cooper was also a foodie.

This was a dog who understood that one of the best parts of traveling was figuring out where we were going to eat.

He discovered the joy of salmon skin at The Joint in Ocean Beach, sampled the doggie menu at Waverly in Cardiff-by-the-Sea and knew that sitting nicely beside me at Le Papagayo in Leucadia dramatically increased his chances of receiving a few bites from my plate.

He even occasionally enjoyed a little “cocktail” of his own, although his was strictly water.

Cooper wasn’t above working the room, either. If I wasn’t sharing quickly enough, he once simply moved on to another table and sat beside the diners, apparently hoping they might be more generous.

Patio dining wasn’t something I did despite traveling with a dog.

It became part of how we traveled.

And Cooper was very good at it.

The World’s Best Hotel Guest

Hotels might have been Cooper’s other great love.

Leucadia became our summer home away from home, and Cooper knew the routine. Walk into the hotel room, put the bags down, turn around and Cooper had already figured out where the bed was.

As he got older, our travels changed. The hikes became shorter. Eventually a stroller joined our travel gear. There were more breaks, more naps and a little more planning involved.

But we kept going.

The stroller didn’t mean the adventures were over. It meant Cooper could keep having them.

One Last Adventure

I didn’t know when we went to Big Bear in July that it would be our last trip.

I’m grateful I didn’t.

We simply had another weekend together. We got out of the house. We explored. Cooper rode along with me, just as he’d done for 11 years.

And I took pictures.

Today, those pictures mean more to me than I ever could have imagined when I took them.

A little more than a week later, on August 3, I had to say goodbye to my favorite travel companion.

Thank You for the Miles, Cooper

There is a strange emptiness in planning my next adventure and realizing Cooper won’t be part of the packing list.

For 11 years, so much of my life was arranged around a little tan dog. Where could Cooper go? Was the hotel dog-friendly? Did the restaurant have a patio? Was the beach dog-friendly? Could he go on the boat? How hot would it be? And later, would there be room for his stroller?

I never thought of those things as limitations.

They were simply our way of traveling.

And somewhere along the way, Cooper became part of the identity of Out of the House with TLC, because he was part of mine.

This blog will continue. There will be new places, new restaurants and new adventures.

But there will never be another travel companion quite like Cooper.

He saw the Pacific Ocean. He walked among redwoods. He kayaked mountain lakes. He sailed. He rode a train. He explored beaches and hiking trails. He stayed in lovely hotels and ate at very good restaurants.

And most importantly, for 11 years, he did all of it with me.

Thank you for every mile, Cooper.

You were the best little travel buddy a girl could ever ask for.