Yes, I know those aren’t dogs. Those are deer. Don’t be a wiezenhiemer! You know that whenever I come back to the Bay Area to see my mom, I play the ‘spot the deer before you have to go back to San Diego’ game.

I hit the jackpot when I was leaving my mom’s house, on the way back to that park on the bay with all the dogs. It was like deer rush hour.

And yes, I also know that I was just down at the dog park a few days ago. I also know that I promised you some new adventures, not just more photos of San Francisco lurking behind a fog bank. We will get to those.

I was at the park for a few hours. I never did see the Golden Gate Bridge through the fog, but there were a lot of sailboats.

There is a reason I was back at the park so soon. When I was there the other day, I met an old friend, a big, sweet, Bernese Mountain Dog named Gonzo. His owner, a very nice German lady, said they were having a party for Gonzo on Sunday, because he was turning 11.

Well, you don’t turn down an invitation like that, do you? Not if you love dogs.

But I forgot what time she said the party was, and I showed up an hour… or two… early.

I may have broken my record for petting 80-something dogs in one day, but unfortunately, I wasn’t keeping count.

I will say that I petted almost every dog you will see photos of in this series… which might take me a few days to finish… and a lot of dogs that I didn’t get pictures of.

No pelicans were petted in the making of this blog series.

I also didn’t pet any windsurfers.

There is Gonzo, and his birthday cake, which is made of a layer of raw ground beef, covered with a layer of cottage cheese, and with a number 11 made from Milk Bone snacks. Okay, back soon with the next installment.