A couple of weeks ago I flew from Los Angeles to Cincinnati, Ohio, to meet my friend Diane and accompany her (and her five little Chihuahuas–all rescue dogs!) on her move to Sun City, Arizona. The furniture was being transported with a U-haul truck, driven by her friend Mike. Diane and I drove her SUV (with her precious “cargo” on the backseat.)

Here are three of the pups! The one in front is Griffith.

It took us three days and we spent two nights at a pet-friendly motel. But before our trek through the country, I spent a few days sightseeing in Cincinnati, a city I didn’t know. Since Diane was finishing up her packing, trying not to go completely crazy, I stayed at her friend Barb’s gorgeous house and let myself be spoiled with yummy food and tours through the city.

Cincinnati is a very beautiful and interesting place. Many German immigrants made the city their home and a few of the historical parts of the city have a German feeling about them.

When I arrived at Cincinnati airport (which is actually located in neighboring state of Kentucky), I was surprised how attractive and easy to navigate it was (compared to LAX, the Los Angeles airport). I flew overnight and at 5 am on Friday, Starbucks in the airport was open to welcome sleepy travelers and I was greeted by a sculpture of a mammoth.

Diane picked me up at the airport and drove me to her home which was, of course, full of boxes and five very excited and confused dogs who didn’t understand what all this commotion was about. The best thing to do was to take them on a walk to the park to wear them out and calm them down! The littlest and oldest one stayed home, sleeping. Maddy is a somewhat grouchy grandma. Here are the other four. The two black ones from left to right: Hope and Echo. The brown ones, the one on the right is Gulliver and the one showing his butt is Griffith.

After our walk in the park, it was time for the pups to relax at home and for us to have a leisurely breakfast/brunch at a great coffee shop in Cincinnati, called First Watch. The first thing I noticed, aside from the delicious breakfast choice, was the much lower prices than I was used to in California. The Golden State, as we all know, is not cheap!

The next few days I spent with Diane’s friend, Barb, who had invited me to stay at her gorgeous house.

And here is Mimsy, Barb’s little sweetheart.

The following few days, Barb drove me around Cincinnati where we visited a few interesting places. More about that in the next post.