City Kitties Travels: Lion Dance

I attended Jimmy's friends' wedding in Napa Valley this past weekend and they had a surprise Chinese lion dance.  Although they aren't real kitties, I figured they deserved a post.  The dancers did a nice job making the costumes truly feline (read: grooming, scratching).

City Kitties Travels: West Coast Animals

When I left for my road trip of the west coast two weeks ago I had no idea how many cute animals I would meet.  Just because they aren't cats doesn't mean they're not worth sharing.

To begin, we stayed with Jimmy's uncle Joe who owns two horses.  One of them, Koda, was staying at a training camp of sorts when we first arrived, so his other horse and a neighbor's horse were living at his house:

The first full day we were there we went with Joe and his daughter Alicia to see where Koda has been training.  Here is Koda being brushed by Joe:

There were a lot of other horses at this stable, including a baby:

and this one who got to hang out outside:

We met some cute fowl on our trip, too, including ducks swimming in the canals in Venice:

and chickens at a winery in St. Helena in Napa Valley:

We also spotted deer in Montaña de Oro state park in Los Osos, California:

Some of my favorite animals were the marine mammals, including sea lions in San Francisco:

elephant seals near San Simeon, CA:

and the seals (or, seagypsys) in La Jolla:

Jimmy's friends also have some super cute dogs.  Jenny and Joe's dog is named Ana:

While I admire Ana's endless energy, I especially liked Jason's dog, Goldie, who was happy to simply quietly lay about:

Goldie has a roommate named Bella.  Here they are waiting to get some treats:

But as amazing and adorable as all of these animals are, none can match the cuteness that is Bo, the chinchilla.  We met Bo around midnight when we returned to Seattle from our road trip.  He was sitting in his cage in Uncle Joe's living room.  Joe is taking care of Bo while Bo's owners are on vacation.  Although he was a bit skittish at first, he warmed up to Jimmy and me after we gave him a few raisins (which you can see he is eating in this picture).  He was still wary about being picked up, but we got to pat him!

City Kitties Travels: Rick

Rick is another cat that Jimmy and I spotted at the Venice Canals in Los Angeles.  He was out on his porch with his owner, who kindly showed him off.

City Kitties Travels: Sleepyhead

Jimmy and I were walking around the Venice Canals in Los Angeles, which are pretty cool because they go right past people nice little houses and porches, when we saw this adorable cat sleeping on a bench.  We tried to wake it up to get a better picture, but it was fast asleep.  zzzzzz.

City Kitties Travels: Itty Bitty Welcome Committee

I've technically been to California twice before (I guess stepping over the state line from Nevada and having a layover at LAX don't really count), but on my first real trip to the state I was super surprised to find this itty bitty welcome committee at the first rest stop on I-5 south somewhere near Yreka.  The cats were so cute, but I also wondered if some turdface abandoned them there :-C

Orange Creamsicle

I'm pretty sure I found the right guy for me based on the fact that he interrupted our phone conversation this evening by saying, "City kitty!  Gotta go," and then hung up on me.  Here is the cute orange creamsicle cat he was referencing.  He found it in Park Slope.

Cat Mosaic

From Heidi: Hell's Kitchen window art.  Awesome!