Apr 2009

When last I wrote, Allen and I had completed an amazing journey across Spain on the Camino Santiago, a journey which not only challenged us physically, but which changed us spiritually. When I departed for the Camino the last time I was in the middle of a transition in my life. The Public Defender's in Placer Co. had gone under and I had been hired on at the Public Defender's in Santa Barbara which was both exciting and completely unknown. Five Hundred miles across Spain later I found myself sitting in a Motel 6 in Carpinteria California at 2:30 a.m., all my worldly possessions in my car and five hours away from starting a new job!

I lived in that Motel 6 for three weeks before I found a home in Santa Barbara and it was the feeling I carried home from the Camino that helped me keep the faith that this new adventure would work out. Two years and seven months later life is good. As Allen and I prepare to step back on the physical camino, I find myself in love with a beautiful woman who supports me in everything I do including leaving the country for two months to do this trip. I also find myself still in Santa Barbara having found a wonderful home in the Public Defender's Office with a truly amazing and dedicated group of people.

The Camino that awaits us this time follows a relatively uncharted, or at least largely undocumented course and will present a whole new arrray of physical and mental challenges. Our trusty bicycles Rocinante and La Mujer de la Plata will accompany us once again this time through both the Alps and the Pyranees. The plan is +/- 1600 miles along the Italian and French Riviera, down through the Pyranees to Barcelona and back to the wine fountain in Irache Spain where we will rejoin the Camino Frances until we hit Santiago de Compostela. As we chart our course we will do our best to document our experience here, please follow along with us as we tilt at a whole new set of windmills.