a.d. elliott - Take the Back Roads

Dear Henry, A few years ago, to celebrate the end of his US Army service (which included two deployments to Afghanistan), my oldest son decided he wanted to "drive across the country." Fish rode his motorcycle to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the pair rode their bikes from Fort Bragg to Savannah to see our middle son, who was stationed at Fort Stewart at the time. Then, the two rode to Denver, Colorado. A few months later, my oldest son and I would complete the cross-country trip by car from Denver, Colorado, to Redwoods National Park in California. The trip was odd for me. My  health  had just caused me to retire, and I wasn't feeling my best. For the first time, I wasn't "the adult" in the situation. The trip involved a couple of really grueling drives. The first was across the  Extra-Terrestrial Highway,  and the second was California Highway 36. They were also back-to-back drives. It was on Highway 36 that I ceased to be an adult and had to re...

Dear Henry, Years ago, I heard about the Camino de Santiago and was immediately drawn to the idea of a 500-mile pilgrimage across Spain. I can pinpoint many of the reasons that I want to do this. I was born in Spain, I love to journey, and I love to learn. But, honestly, I just "for no particular reason" really want to do it. Initially, I didn't think it was possible. However, after  the accident , it became difficult for me to wear a backpack at all, and for many years, I had placed the Camino de Santiago in the "Things I Have Lost" closet. Then I learned that a porter system was available, complete with bed and breakfast accommodations, and I realized that I could feasibly do the Camino. Of course, after pricing the Porter system, I realized that achieving the goal would take a few years. No matter, I need to work on my Spanish anyway. While planning to walk the Camino de Santiago, I began thinking about all the shrines in the US. I felt that while...