Here We Go Again

There ya go. This morning we started our second Camino Frances. Today we fly into Bayonne, France to enjoy a leisurely evening of wine and relaxation. We take the 11:00 am Wed train to Saint Jean Pied de Port and will spend the day exploring this town we breezed through the first time. Thursday morning we start the journey.

Learning from our first experience, we have allowed seven weeks instead of the five. This will allow us to walk every step, skipping no sections, on our much older frames and battered knees. We also expect to stay a few extra days in Pamplona, Burgos, Leon and Sarria; to recharge the batteries and get to know the cities a little better. Our son and daughter in law Jenny and Jeff, and now Mary Lou's sister Leslie, will join us in Sarria and share the final 115 km with us. After a few days in Santiago de Compostella, the three elders will continue the walk thru to Finnistere. It will be interesting to see how our perceptions have changed.

Instead of blogging this time, I will track the pilgrimage on a new Facebook page. You can follow along by searching:

  "The Two Caminos - Magic and Mystery on the Camino de Santiago" on Facebook.

Will be trying a few different things this time.

And, oh yes, the book is complete. From draft after draft - to editor review - revisions - copy edit - revisions - final copy. It will be published this fall, the exact date to be confirmed sometime later this summer. Thanks for watching.

Mitch and Mary Lou

The Second Camino

Things are moving along nicely with The Two Caminos. The manuscript is currently under copy edit and some time in the next few weeks I will get feedback. That will leave me a month or so to get any changes done and start the publishing cycle. I still have some trepidation about that whole process, but this is what it is all about, so onward we go.

Mary Lou and I leave San Diego on the 10 May for a brief stop in Toronto, before heading to London to see Jenny and Jeff on the 16 May. We will make our way to St Jean Pied de Port before starting our second Camino on the 25th. If the stars align we will visit Bruno, a friend from our first Camino, at his home in his Basqueland. Coincidentally, he is leaving on his third Camino on the 20th.

Our journey this time will be quite different. We will take seven weeks instead of five, walk every kilometer, and intend on continuing to Finestere after Santiago de Compostella. Jeff and Jenny will meet us in Santiago on the 4 July to walk the last 115 km with us. How great is that to have your son and daughter in law share the experience. We will stay in some of the same towns, but most of our stopovers will be in lesser known communities. Neither of us expects the same spiritual experience, nor that we will assemble a Camino family, as we will be the slow boats on the trail, and "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river, and he is not the same man." This trip will be all about history, and seeing those things we missed the first time around. The research for The Two Camnos has given me a new appreciation of this walk, and the importance of it's past in just who we are.

We will create a new Facebook page, document the key historical and cultural elements of the walk and maybe even interviews with some of the characters we meet. We are are doing our best to get technologically hip.... daily podcasts youtube clips, instagram, etc, so you can experience the journey as we go.  I don't believe there is a second book on the Camino in in the the cards , but you never know. I have already started working on another idea for a fictional story about what was to be my second career. Stay tuned.

Final Draft Complete

An update has been a long time coming. I have finished the final draft of The Two Caminos, and it has gone to my editor for a complete copy review. I am happy with the book after some eleven edits, pairing it down to 86, 000 words. After some touch ups from the copy edit, it will go through a publishing process, and I am interested in seeing how it all ends up.

Mary Lou and I head back to walk the Camino again this May. My son and daughter in law will join us in Sarria for the last 115 kilometres. Can't wait.