Day 12 - January 16

Today’s very important Foxy update but first our finish of the BR 135 -

Finishing the Brazil 135 ultramarathon requires everybody to dig deeper than they thought possible. John learned this firsthand and heroically battled numerous blisters, heat, humidity, rain, lack of sleep, mountains all of the elements to finish gloriously at 4:59 PM yesterday as a team with Caique, Alan, Amy and I. Upon crossing the finish line Mario is there to welcome everybody with hugs kisses, Covid style meaning lots of alcohol and masks, and an awards presentation that gives everybody on the team medals and finisher T-shirts. Tears are shed, smiles, pictures, everyone is happy and relieved that the pain and suffering is finally over.

The team got lucky again whereas there were no hotel rooms in the entire city now we learned that Jandira, the owner of Posada da Praca our favorite Posada in town on the plaza, just had a few cancellations and was kind enough to give us the rooms that she gives us every year. We showered and exhausted, decided to bring food in. After cleaning up, John went to the medic to treat his numerous blisters and everyone reconvened in the little breakfast area for pizza and beers as our celebration dinner.

After dinner, John was thinking of his just reward - ice cream which Alan converted to an açai, a local Brazilian favorite. Amy and I checked out due to exhaustion and the knowledge that our “race” wasn’t over. Foxy and I played a little back in the room and then I turned off the lights opened my balcony door for some fresh air and went to sleep.

If you are interested in how Foxy appeared in the plaza and getting out of my second floor room, listen to the guys describe this in the video below.

In the morning I woke to bad news about Foxy’s future… My long shot idea came up empty and now I’m resigned to the fact that it will be virtually impossible to bring him home with the current CDC ban on dog imports from Brazil. I am crushed. At breakfast as Amy and I get ready to go I am frantically thinking of possibilities because once we get on the trail there won’t be many options other than to leave him in the street. I ask Nivaldo who helped us a few years ago if he would like to stay with Foxy and he thought maybe but needed to check with his wife. And then Jandira, The Posada owner, comes over to say hello. She only speaks Portuguese and I clumsily talk to her about our trip on the Camino. I asked her if she likes animals and she said she loves and then the idea came to me… I explained that Foxy met us on the Camino and Jandura had also met Lucky once when we came through the first time and then again in 2020 when we visited again and she loved Lucky and the idea that street dogs could be more than just street dogs. I told her that I couldn’t take him home. In that moment of my imperfect communication, she understood without speaking and I, without hearing that she would take him in. We both began crying and then everyone around us knew what was happening - we had found Foxy a home, not any home but the perfect one as Jandira has a farm and two dogs. Most importantly, it was a gift to her. She invited us to come back next year and stay with her at the farm to visit Foxy and to bring him to the United States if we wanted. All of us gathered around Jandira as we brought Foxy to her and there wasn’t a dry eye. Yes there were tears of sadness to see him go but also those of happiness and joy that the risk this little stray dog took in following us for 200 miles broke the caste system that he had lived in. Street dogs are a nuisance to most, kicked and mistreated because no one wants them. But over the 7 days and miles of camaraderie Foxy broke through this wall with us and after being cleaned up, learned how to love affection with all of us and we could see him pushing for more - pushing his nose in your hand to pet him, nibbling on your hand to get you to pet him.

Amy and I are emotionally wiped out with the race completion and now losing foxy to a better place.

There are strong forces in play on the Camino, I can’t explain it but when we need something to happen and if we are patient enough, magic happens.

Amy and I marched like zombies toward Campos do Jordoa today with the goal of reaching the town - something we haven’t done in the 3x we have run the Camino. As we approached the final town of Luminosa before the biggest mountain climb of the journey, a storm blew in and covered the mountain in clouds, rain, thunder and lightening. After 3 years of perfect logistics, today we needed to change course. We decided to pull the plug on finishing today’s leg and bunk up in a posada in Luminos. A couple redid the wifes’ mother’s house into a beautiful posada and they agreed to serve us dinner at 5:30 and breakfast at 4am so we could make an early push. We have two days to make Aparecida and every minute will count now that we are behind.

All for know as its lights out -

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Cheers,

David..

My room is on the right side of that connecting roof with a balcony. This was the site of the breakouts were foxy went through the greats onto the roof and then jumped down

Jandira is the owner of Posada Praca and she offered to take in Foxy where she has a farm and two other dogs

Foxy on his way to his new home on Jandira’s farm

Leaving Paraisopolis for the most beautiful section of the Caminho

He stayed with us at the posada, we were told he was a priest and a politician but also a pilgrim on the Camino like us

Daniel served us at a bar in the middle of a small cowboy town nestled into the mountains. In 2020 when we came through his father was tending bar and served us it is now Daniel‘s turn to take over

Coming into the beautiful town of Luminosa