Happy New Year, friends! On a looking-forward day like today, I’m looking back at last week, at posts like this one from Fido Friendly‘s blog, written by Helen Fazio (who’s also guest-posted on Dog Jaunt). She and Raja, her Shih Tzu, describe a couple of dog-friendly winter vacation options — in Mt. Tremblant, Canada (not far from Montreal) and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Take a look, too, at the guest post on All Things Dog Blog by Fido Friendly‘s Carol Bryant about her favorite dog-friendly ski resorts. It’s Part III of three posts — click on the link at the end of Carol’s post to start with Part I.

A tweet by Fido Factor led me to a note on the California State Parks site, listing the parks in the Russian River District where dogs are allowed on beaches — very useful — and when I temporarily lost that link, I found this fine list of all California state parks where dogs are allowed on the beach. In other news from California, the Orange County café I mentioned in a Chloe’s Clicks in September (“a café that not only allows dogs to join diners at an outdoor patio but also provides a doggy play area for them”) will open in early 2011, according to the O.C. Register. And take a look at this post from The 50th Plate — you won’t want to miss the author’s pictures of her two Corgis — two Corgis!! — romping on the beach at Carmel.

A couple of links from abroad to share with you: Yak & Natter wrote an inspiring post, with beautiful pictures, about a week-long dog-friendly getaway (beaches, trails, rental, pubs) in Pembrokeshire, and CNNGo reader Shirley Ngo wrote an extensive article about “the best dog-friendly spots in Singapore.”

The three last links I have all focus, in different ways, on driving with your dog. Our friends at Take Paws wrote a very useful post about preparing for a pet-friendly road trip, and Have Dog Blog Will Travel drew my attention to “Pit Stops,” a book written by Michelle Sathe about her road trip from California to the East Coast and back with Loren, her rescued pit bull. Click on the link in the post to see excerpts from the book and to learn more about Michelle and Loren, “a perfect ambassador for her breed, charming everyone she met along the way.”

This last post is my favorite this week, and that’s saying something (did I mention the TWO CORGIS?!). TechEBlog posted an overview of Honda’s W.O.W. (“Wonderful Open-hearted Wagon”), a concept mini-van with a pair of seats that convert into a dog crate and — here’s the part I love — a crate for a small dog built into the dashboard. It’s actually old news (the wagon first appeared at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show), and I don’t know why TechEBlog just ran a post about it. However, it’s new to me, and I’m in love. Watch the short video, and you’ll fall in love too.