Tuesday, Nov 20 --- Day 18

Tonight I report to you from Phoenix, Arizona. Thanks to all who've helped us along the way and to make the journey for justice 2007 a success!

An update on Tiel: As you know, Tiel was arrested Sunday after climbing the main gate and landing on the soil of Ft. Benning. She was taken into custody by military police, charged with trespassing, and released later Sunday evening. She was received by friends and flew back to Los Angeles on Monday. She suffered only minor scrapes and bruises after surmounting the trip-strand barb-wire fence. The video of her crossing will be up soon... As soon as I have a spare minute I'll edit and put it up.

The rest of the Caravan is in good shape, if not a bit sore (and tired) from long hours in the van. Since Sunday, Carlos, Frankie, and I have driven over 1900 miles... One thousand of them today. We logged 15 hours in the van today - From Austin to Phoenix - and I think that's enough to make anybody crazy. We've been well received by friends in Arizona, however, and are in good spirits.

Yesterday (Monday), we travelled from New Orleans to Austin. A section of the I-10 near Lafayette had been destroyed over the weekend by a natural gas explosion, so we had to take a 60-mile detour to get back on track. Once in Austin, our group was interviewed by the local community radio station about our journey, the weekend in Columbus, and the role of the SOA in US foreign policy. 91.7 KOOP fm's "Bringing Light into Darkness" program, hosted by Pedro Gatos, broadcast our discussion to the Austin region. I will try to get a copy of that conversation for the blog... I'll let you know. KOOP.org is the website for the station, though at this time it isn't possible to listen to past shows.

Tomorrow we will again visit Fr. Louie Vitale in prison at El Centro, California. For more on Fr. Louie, see http://journeyforjustice2007.blogspot.com/2007/11/remembering-fr.html and also
http://journeyforjustice2007.blogspot.com/2007/11/letter-from-fr-louie-and-fr-steve.html.

One more thing: Since we began keeping track just 7 days ago, this blog has been viewed over 300 times by more than 200 people from around the country... and the world. Thank you for being part of our journey!