Well, I have to admit a little bit of surprise.  Two days on the road now, and Mr. bin Laden has only given us heart failure once.  That’s some kind of record for him – almost an improvement.

We left Orange County Wednesday morning, and slogged through the nightmare that is L.A. traffic until we reached the more agreeable realms of Ventura County.  We did our usual stop at San Buenaventura beach, where leash laws are posted but usually ignored, and let the dogs out for a stretch.  Not surprisingly, Bernie took that opportunity to gnaw on his favorite chew toy…

Then it was over to the nearby In-n-Out for lunch.  

With all our bellies full, we got back on the road.  About an hour later is when Idiot Boy decided to stir things up.  Remember that episode of the Simpsons where their dog is riding in the back seat, notices the window is down just a crack, and somehow manages to ooze out the tiny opening in order to escape?  Well, Bernie decided to reenact that.  He was pacing around the back seat, then stood with his front paws on the armrest, where his unerring instinct for mayhem caused him to stand on the window button, which made it start rolling down.  Diane was driving, and I was dozing in the passenger seat.  As soon as the window started coming down, we realized what had happened, and I whirled around and grabbed Bernie’s harness, which made him jump forward and partly out the window.  I was hanging onto him for dear life, and yelled to Di to roll the window up, which she did, but now Bernie’s head was stuck and he couldn’t pull it back in, causing him to thrash around in a panic.  Bernie was flailing, Di was trying to drive straight without going into a panic, and I was swearing like the drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket.  It took a few seconds before Bernie could yank his head back in, by which time all of us were completely freaked out.  After we all got our pulse rates back below 200, we went on with the journey – this time with the window controls firmly locked from the driver’s seat!

Once we made it to Carmel, we let the mutts run around on the beach, which was blissfully emptier than the summer crowd Bernie singlehandedly devastated last July.  We ate at Portabella, one of our favorite dog-friendly restaurants in town, where Linda sat next to us and stared at our plates.  And the more hopeful she got, the more she anticipated, and it just got wetter and more slobbery from there…

We went to Carmel Beach this morning, where Bernie did his best to set some shallow water speed records…

… and did some more Linda annoying…

…and occasionally managed a dramatic pose against the morning sky.

Then we walked around town for most of the day.  Bernie even managed to stand still long enough to pose for the occasional photo.  He mostly cooperated, although you could see the gears turning in his evil little mind as he watched and plotted…

He sort of behaved himself, although he didn’t hesitate to try shoplifting treats from the bins on the floor of the local dog store, and he went scuba diving in a local fountain.  I took some video of that which may or may not show up here, since this is my first attempt at posting a movie…

[VIDEO REMOVED: Embed via YouTube for best results.]

And after all was said and done, he still managed to show mom a little love…

So I have to admit, I’m torn about what to believe.  I’d like to think this is a sign of incipient maturity, that maybe he’s growing up a little.  But my gut instincts tell me that this recent tolerable behavior was a fluke, or a diversion to get my guard down.  If you’re going to be in Mill Valley on Saturday, I’d still approach with caution.  Just because a bin Laden puts on a temporary show of goodness doesn’t mean he’s turned over a new leaf…