One day I decided to go for a walk...

WALKING IN THE STEPS OF…

October 1, 2026

Reims, France

WWI Battlefields

When I was a student in Tour 48 years ago our group toured around many of the chateaux in the Loire valley. We were studying the history of the region; it always struck me that I could be standing where King Francois 1st stood, or where Henri de Navarre was killed trying to take over the throne. The history seemed to speak from the walls.

Walking the Camino I was always reminded that I was following the footsteps of pilgrims from before the time of Jesus.

Today Glen and I walked in the steps of his grandfather who fought in WWI. This is a pilgrimage of a different sort, and a pilgrimage nonetheless. I won’t say much here because this is really Glen’s story to tell. I can only share that it was moving to stand where so many young men fought and died to stop the Germans from trying to capture all of France. I stood in their cemeteries and felt the impact of their sacrifice. British and Americans stood side by side with the French to save their country. There was bravery, honor, and sacrifice for something greater than themselves.

German trenches. These were built using concrete; that’s why they are so well preserved.

Someone came to leave flowers at the grave of an unknown soldier.

Memorial built for the Americans who sacrificed their lives in the Battle of Saint Mihiel which brought the war almost to conclusion. Glen’s grandfather fought here

The flagpole was originally part of the monument but after it came down several times it was removed.

This is a Saint Nicholas cookie made out of spice bread. The tradition in this particular region of France is that there was a butcher who would grab children, cut them up and keep the pieces. Hey I didn’t promise a nice tidy story. So one day Saint Nicholas comes along (he wasn’t a saint then), goes to the butcher, returns all the children to life and takes them away from the butcher. On December 6, which is the feast day of Saint Nicholas all children receive a gift and a Saint Nicholas cookie. The story and tradition is unique to this area in France.

WHAT DID I JUST READ?

September 28, 2026

Saumur, France 🇫🇷

I have crossed a barrier. I just read a paragraph is French and afterwards realized that I was not reading English text. As a student in France we knew when we were becoming acclimated to the language because we began dreaming in French. The mind is a funny and incredibly adaptive creature.

I know musicians who can sit and play music, not from brain memorization, rather it is memory imbedded in the muscles of the fingers.

God created us with amazing abilities.

A tractor carrying one bale of hay. Not very efficient 😮😬😂

Your eyes do not deceive you. That is a baguette vending machine.

AN AUSPICIOUS START

September 26, 2026

Tours, France

After an excellent trip to Yellowstone the the Grand Tetons we are once again on the road. Or in the air as it may be. And riding the rails too.

It really was a janked up beginning to this trip. We gave ourselves two days to do laundry and re-pack, however thunderstorms made us miss our flight to France. The next day we were delayed again but still managed to make it to Dulles. We took a flight to Paris the next day. So we missed our two nights of recovery. On the other hand we managed to change our train from Paris to Tours to the airport to Tours.

Two nights in Tours got us back on track. I was a student here 48 years ago. It still feels familiar after all this time. It was such a pleasure to walk around and see what’s changed and what hasn’t. Time marches on and I have changed a great deal too. Luckily the changes were not as startling as I brought each of my daughters here when they were teenagers to see where their grandmother came from, where I went to school, and to meet the rest of the family.

Sadly I have no more family here as my mother’s cousin passed away in March 2024. I still remember the little jokes we shared and the memories we made with my girls. She always cried when we parted at the airport.

A stuffed elephant at the fine arts museum. He was part of Barnum & Bailey’s circus. Unfortunately he went berserk and had to be put down. Now he is at his he entrance of the museum.

Also at the entrance of the fine arts museum, this tree was planted over two hundred years ago by Napoleon. You can see the boughs are so heavy that braces were constructed to hold them up.

A pink castle made of sugar in the Museum of Arts & Crafts

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

September 11, 2026

Yellowstone National Park

Today is a solemn day. I remember vividly that I was starting my first day of work at a new church 25 years ago. Before turning into the parking lot I heard on the news that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. My first thoughts that some pilot of a small plane had a heart attack or something and it was an accident. Then the announcer said a second plane had crash into the building. I knew instantly this was not a mistake, but I didn’t know exactly what it was. No work was getting done that day so I returned home. Soon my girls were home, the school having sent all the kids home early. I couldn’t reach Glen at work at the Air Force base, all the lines were busy and we didn’t have cell phones. We were simply glued to the tv. Then I remember Glen coming home around 3pm. Our oldest ran to him sobbing in his arms because she feared an attack at the base.

Everything changed that day. Gone are the days when loved ones could see you to your gate at the airport. I remember when Glen and I were dating. He came home from Albuquerque and a group of us brought musical instruments to the gate and when Glen exited the plane we started playing This Land is Your Land (it was the only song everyone knew). I was crying and hugging Glen while other passengers who wondered what was happening, started cheering.

Yes, everything changed.

Not Yellowstone.

The park is huge. And I am so small. I can imagine for some it might be scary to be so engulfed by all this grandeur. Or one can sense that one’s place in the world is minuscule and fleeting. I choose to see myself as God’s guest in this world God created and I look for God in all.

When I receive communion, I approach with my hands cupped. My hands are so small to receive the Grace embedded in the bread and wine.

Yes, the world has changed and God has not. God’s Grace is a gift for all.

Not a geyser, it’s more of a steam vent. The colors are so rich and vibrant.

Upper Falls video

Old Faithful 2 min video

MY FINAL DAY IN ROME MAY 15 – THE LAST LATE POST FROM ITALY

The Way of St. Francis

May 15, 2026

Rome

Miles walked

I’m sitting in a little church. Definitely not one of the big basilicas that dot the streets of Rome. This one is more modest and there are less than 20 people visiting it. Some come to visit or like the young man in front of me, to pray.

The smell of incense lingers in the air. I know what I’m about to say is as controversial as singing contemporary music; I wish that worship had the “smells and bells” that used to be part of worship. It was a means to enter into a sacred space through the olfactory senses. Or as I’ve often heard about the Cathedral of Santiago, it covers the smell of the pilgrims who’ve walked so far.

It occurs to me that this sanctuary is about the size of many mid-sized churches at home. At full capacity it probably seats about 150 worshippers. It’s just the sanctuary and a few offices and storage. The sides of the sanctuary have small carve outs on either side dedicated to this saint or another.

There are no Sunday school classes. No rooms for the ladies’ quilting circle or an AA meeting. This is a place of prayer and worship and reflection. I wonder when did churches become a sort of catch all community center? Is it in the growth and expansion of our United States of America when settlements were far apart and the church served as a place to gather, not just for worship, but also to connect with far away neighbors? I don’t have an answer.

As for the place I’m in right now physically and spiritually, I feel a real sense of peace and a connection to the sacred. I pray you do too.

A protest near my hotel. Soon the Italians may catch up to the French and win the trifecta of complaining, protesting, and going on strike.

Don’t ask. I have no idea how one would get one’s car out.

No matter what is going on around me in Rome there is still an Aperol Spritz to look forward to. 🥰

Buon Cammino

May 13

The Way of St. Francis

May 13, 2026

Monterotondo to Monte Sacro

Miles walked 1.71

I found this unpublished post from Italy today. It’s tardy, sorry 😣

While Monterotondo was a beautiful city with lots of shops, restaurants, and a charming cathedral, Monte Sacro, which is an actual outskirt of Rome, seems more industrial. My hotel looks nice from the outside, but the rest of the street…not so much.

Today would have been an absolutely miserable day to walk. It’s raining. Not a drizzle, not a deluge, just raining 🌧️ substantially.

This is the worst of the street and still most of the businesses are covered in graffiti. Even stores that look like they carry nice merchandise have graffiti covering every bare inch.

I did go out for a cappuccino earlier and there is a restaurant close that I will try for dinner tonight. However for now I’m sequestered in my hotel room just staying dry.

Buon (damp) Cammino

CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS

The Way of St. Francis

May 12, 2026

Monte Libretti to Monterotondo

Miles walked 3.78

It’s another day that I’m taking a taxi. Since deciding that I cannot finish this Camino I am still seeing the beauty and grandeur of this country and learning about myself. Today is about cleanliness.

Since I arrived way too early at my hotel I asked if there was a laundromat near by. Why yes! Only .3 miles away. So I changed my clothes (because I spilled yogurt and oil on my pants yesterday) and gathered my laundry.

If you’ve travelled to Europe you might have noticed the water is very hard which means the shampoo doesn’t get sudsy. Well I found a barber shop around the corner and the young man gave me the best shampooing I’ve had in three weeks.

Then let’s talk about the showers I’ve encountered along the way. Mostly they are square with folding doors that meet at the corner. They’re general not bigger than 2.5 by 2.5 feet and some as small as 2 by 2. Don’t even think about bending over to shave your legs! But my shower today felt huge.

Then a stop for lunch.

Cacio Pepe and a half carafe of wine. Cacio Pepe is pasta with cheese and pepper. The cheese was so strong that I could smell it without sticking my nose in the plate. Rounded off with an espresso and it was a perfect lunch outdoors in the square.

A view of the church from my lunch spot.

The old gate leading up to the square with the church.

Saw a young girls wearing the same shoes as me. Does that make me Italian chic? Probably not but I do like these shoes.

And rounding off the day with an Aperol Spritz and a dish of olives.

I had so much to eat today that I skipped dinner.

Buon Cammino

20 YEARS AGO

July 15, 2026

So you can tell I’ve been off on my posts from Italy. They are actually all written but not posted yet. I needed to recover emotionally and physically from the walk. Plus I had a reverse shoulder replacement 6 weeks ago that recuperating from.

However something happened 20 years ago yesterday that I had to write a short post about.

Yesterday was Bastille Day in France and 20 years ago I was in Paris with my middle daughter. My cousin got us tickets to watch the military parade down the Champs Elysees and in the evening we were at a champagne reception on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower watching the fireworks set to Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

It was indeed magical to celebrate Independence Day in my other familial country.

And for the World Cup I say…

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!

May 11 – YESTERDAY WAS THE LAST DAY OF MY WALKING CAMINO

The Way of St. Francis

May 11, 2026

From Nerola to Monte Libretti

Miles walked

Today is the first day of the rest of my other camino. I am settled in my B&B. I already walked in the neighborhood and found a bar (yes, I said “bar”) where I had a cappuccino and a croissant.

Without the worry of how I am going to complete this journey, (may I say “this alternative journey?) I feel much better. Maybe knowing where one needs to go can be an important part of the journey.

However I’m still experiencing camino moments. On my way back from breakfast I stopped in a little market to pick up some snacks. At the register a woman was trying to pay with a 5 euro note and some kind of paper. The cashier told her sadly, no. So I stepped up and said I’ll pay for it. I don’t usually like to talk about things that I do like this. I tell you this because I experienced grace toward me. The woman looked at me and said, “Grazie!” And I realized that I had been thanking people this whole journey for all the grace given to me and this was the first time I could say, “Prego” (you’re welcome).

If I had been walking I would have missed this moment.

Buon Cammino

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

The Way of St. Francis

May 10, 2026

Toffia to Nerola

Miles walked 11.64

Today is a watershed day. I’ll explain at the end.

My morning did not start out well. My little apartment had a washing machine (yay!) so I was able to do laundry. This is a real treat when one has been washing things out in the sink for several days. La signora even brought out a drying rack for me (another treat). So I washed and hung my clothes out. Before bed I brought in the dry stuff and left the damp stuff out.

Last night it rained 🌧️ 😢 and my clothes were sopping wet. I dried them the best I could and debated whether to walk today. It’s Sunday so no busses.

Well I decided to suck it up and rub some dirt on it. I set off…in the wrong direction.

I added two miles onto my day before I got back on track. Nonetheless I felt good, ready to conquer this day.

I had a three mile constant up hill. It was tough and yet I made it. Then came a good stretch of flat, great for recovery. Of course since it rained I came across a stretch of deep mud. In the mud I could see the prints of horse hooves. And you know where there are horse hooves there is horse 💩. I made it through to a large meadow studded with rocks.

And then came the descent.

Here I started a 2.7 mile descent. I know the path looks easy, but it is actually covered in loose rocks that are easy to slide on when the path gets a little steeper. The bigger stones just make your feet feel like they gone twelve rounds in the ring and lost.

At the bottom I looked up and saw a city on the hill and thought, “Surely not!” That turned out to be wrong. This was a much steeper climb (although shorter) along a series of trafficked switchbacks. About 1 km from my hotel, a time when I would normally be energized to be so close, I was completely wiped out.

The whole day was beyond challenging and even the amazing vistas were not enough to sustain me.

When I got to my room I made a decision. This was my watershed moment. It’s time to stop. I know that physically I can walk a 200 mile journey and 200 miles through the Appenine Mountains is not in my capacity. I have given this my all and now it’s time to be done.

And I’m ok. I know I did my best. It wasn’t what I hoped for and I know that there may still be another camino in my future. Just not this one.

It’s been a Buon Cammino!