The Bou Goes to Cal-i-forn-i-a

Ok, first what you've all logged on for...some Bou content. Here's a picture of the Bou drinking from the incredibly pure water of the headwaters of the Sacramento River in Mt. Shasta City. This picture is about 400 metres downstream from the granite rock from which the spring flows bringing water from within the earth to the river where it will flow out to the ocean near San Fransisco.

Every day we would go to the spring and fill up our water bottles. The spring is right in the city and there are always many people there filling their bottles for the day. The water in the area is so pure the city does not even treat their drinking water.

On the way down to Mt. Shasta last week, the Bou and I spent a night in Eugene, Oregon with my friend Alan. We spent a night on the way back too, and got to see lots of Eugene, a great little university town with lots of Simpsons history and inuendo. Alan is a profoessor at the University of Oregon, where he is "the applied math guy" and studies ice, particularly how glaciers move dirt. This is my friend Alan:

The next day we were in Shasta where we stayed for 6 nights in the tent! The Bou was a good sport about it all, but at almost 12 I knew he'd rather have his creature comforts. Here is the Bou in our tent:

We managed to find a nice day care for Bou, where I payed double the price to have him in a luxury cell. His cell was nicely air conditioned, and located beside the kitchen where he got to smell and sample the doggie cookies being baked.
Last time we were in Shasta, Bou was younger and a little more able. On that trip he climbed the Black Butte with me! It is picutred here:

The areas of California and Oregon we went to were very beautiful. The blues of the skies and the lakes are spectacular. The blue of Lake Tahoe is an example of the beauty, though sadly "Keep Tahoe Blue" has been appropriated for political purposes. Crater Lake in Southern Oregon was a bit off the path we were travelling, but having seen it's blue before, I really wanted to see it again so we took some extra time to go by Crater Lake on the way back to Eugene:

Ok, we'll wrap up with some more Bou content, cause he's so cute. Here is the Bou smiling at the border, smelling the salt air once again, and happy to be almost home. He was a good sport and never complained, but I know he wanted his couch and buffalo bones.