Returning to the beginning, where it all started six months ago, but we return with a whole bunch of stories and completely overcome by the generosity with which we've been received during all this time. After a few intense weeks we can finally begin to relax since our next destination, and time off, is imminent.

We got up all energised, knowing we were on the final push, the end of the U.S. leg getting dangerously close. So we decided to set ourselves a challenging target, driven in part by the lack of camping options along the way. Soon after starting to cycle we stopped in a McDonald's for a coffee and to make use of the Wi-Fi which was followed by a beautiful route that bordered the cool, cloudy coastline, where we helped Hannah Jo look for sea glass on the beach. A grand way to start the day! Although it sounds great having the road follow the coast, and for sure the views were spectacular, at what cost!? I would liken it to a form of medieval torture as the road consisted of innumerable climbs and descents, kind of like the profile of a wave, but incredibly steep... I would say that during this section alone if you add up all the climbs it would be like reaching the summit of Everest! This made our day so much more difficult that night caught up with us when we were still 30km from where we had hoped to reach... Like any good team we devised a contingency plan to minimise the risks of cycling the roads at night and, after various near misses, decided to stop on the side of the road every time a car went by. With our nerves at breaking point we managed to make some significant progress, much more than normal, as well as meeting some playful characters on the way... I was heading up the train, followed by Hannah Jo with Rob as tail end Charlie when, suddenly, I could make out an blackish animal frozen in the headlights. Honestly I was unable to identify what it was even when we were right next to it. It turned out to be a skunk. So understand my naivety because the closest I'd been to one before was while watching Bambi! The poor thing also thought we were trying to attack it and so it was running down the middle of the road with its tail totally erect. Our reaction was to follow it slowly hoping it would clear off to the side of the road but all of a sudden it turned around and I thought it was going to skunk us. Fortunately it didn't though and it finally got out of our way a little and to somewhere safer. So, very much on edge, we got to the campsite which supposedly accepted hiker/bikers however the area was closed. So we headed to the normal camping area and found a reserved spot with no one in it and put up the tents to one side. Hoping that the people who had it booked wouldn't show up in the night...

We awoke to no sign of new neighbours, so no reason to make up excuses, and, of course, we saved a night of camping spend. Although we were unaware of how complicated it would be to find places to sleep over the coming days... But honestly it worried us only up to a certain point since we always end up finding somewhere. So we returned to the challenge of climbing and descending and at the top of one of these we bumped into a new friend, Craig! We chatted a little while, catching our breath and promised to meet up later at the campsite that he had planned to stay at. We were soon to part ways with Hannah Jo and so unanimously decided to throw a farewell party! Then you can imagine how pleased we were when, arriving at our destination early hoping to camp and then go shopping for ingredients for pizza and booze, we were told that it was closed to cyclists due to Covid 19... Our happiness turned to emptiness. So we sulked into town to visit the tourist information centre for some help and after half an hour discussing with the guy there about what to do, he said he'd call one of his superiors (as he worked with the park service also) to get us permission to go back and camp in the place we'd just been turned away from. To our surprise, it worked! Without loosing a second we popped into the supermarket to fill up the panniers with party material and return to the campsite. On arrival we found Craig and also a couple of sisters who were doing the same route as us. None of them with any idea what we'd gone through to get permission to camp there. With energy levels maxed out, we popped open the wine and start cooking our camping specialities, Spanish omelette and pizza! Sharing and enjoying the moment between all of us.

Almost without realising it we had reached our last day of cycling in the USA, which was cut a little short by the forest fires surrounding us and a small injury. With motivation running out we launched ourselves into yet more insufferable climbing and descending. Hannah Jo's knee started to fall apart, causing her to slacken her pace. This combined with our imminent arrival at an area of forest fires and accompanying smoke made us decide to look for bus options towards San Francisco. In the end we found out that we couldn't all fit in the same bus with the bikes so Rob and I got on the first one and would wait in the town of San Rafael for Hannah Jo, just to the north of San Francisco. On arrival we headed for a park where we got comfortable on a picnic bench and cooked up our dinner. While Rob was going to a fountain to fill up the water I had the pleasure of meeting Cynthia, a lady who walked her rescue dogs round the park in the late afternoon, and conversation ensued. After a while she was offering her nearby house to us for the night and eventually we succumbed to the offer since we didn't really have a good alternative plan. This turned into the best decision we could have made as it was super interesting spending time with her and her friend, Budd, who she was looking after as he had trouble with his eyesight. We spent the night sharing stories together after a really appreciated shower and sleeping in a comfortable bed.

We got up without knowing how the day was going to pan out, but it was much, much better than we could have imagined. The marvellous Cynthia cooked up a super breakfast that we scoffed in the garden, followed by a trip to the local farmer's market, where she treated us to a selection of treats, Indian style yogurts and even a roast chicken to take away for lunch! But her generosity didn't stop there as she offered to take us to the Golden Gate bridge via a sightseeing detour to enjoy the views across the bay. We enjoyed this enormously as it was a really magical place! But finally, and with a heavy heart, we said goodbye to our hosts and crossed over the bridge on the bikes. Not before negotiating a couple of staircases to cross to the other side, mustering up all our strength to manhandle the fully loaded bicycles. Soon after we were on the San Francisco side looking for a spot with nice views to devour the chicken Cynthia had provided us with. Then, to our surprise, along pedals Craig! So we all headed off into town to see Fisherman's Wharf and its resident seals before catching the ferry over to Oakland where we had our train booked from early in the morning the next day. On arrival Rob and I went to pick up a couple of bike boxes to be able to pack them on the plane in the coming days. This was a bit of an epic journey that, thanks to Rob's balancing skills, we managed to complete successfully... To get to this shop we had to pass through a tunnel under the bay which had a very narrow pavement, hardly enough to walk, which we somehow managed to cross in both directions. With and without the boxes. Kindly, just after, Craig invited us to dinner and beer where night came around pretty quick and so we ended up sharing Craig's hotel room... With more beer and laughs that brought a close to another one of the trip's best days.

Thanks to Craig's generosity, we found ourselves very close to the train station in the morning, so we had a quick shower and, after a emotional goodbye to Hannah Jo, headed towards our very final destination here. Everything was going smoothly, we got on the train and spent the whole day in and out of sleep, recovering from the night before. 12 hours later we made it to Los Angeles where we finally crossed the halfway point of the journey. My friend Alice, the niece of my "au pair mum" en Bristol who I had not seen for a decade, met us there. While Rob dismantled the bikes into boxes we caught up on a decade lost, which was really exciting! Then we boarded the last bus to the airport where we would spend a troubled night until we had prepared and checked in everything first thing in the morning.

With our bodies feeling a little weird after so much travelling and on-off sleep, we found ourselves in the queue to board the plane. It was then that we realised we needed some nourishment, since we would not be able to eat until we arrived at our casita late in the night. So I headed to a food place not far away and waited for the order to be prepared when Rob, all panicked, showed up with the news that the plane was about to close its doors... I resisted initially but had no choice but to leave the order behind since it was either hamburger or Mexico. And we were literally the last to board... But hungry and $20 poorer. After a short flight to Baja California Sur we found out that the bus we'd planned to take had no space for our bikes, so we had no other viable option but to hire a car. And after negotiating with various companies one made an offer than was hard to believe, but we ended up accepting. After taking a lift to the actual rental office we discovered, rather predictably, that the price was more than we'd been promised. But worn out and with little other choice we went for it anyway and started our car journey to the next town of La Paz, about 3 hours away. The way was strewn with cattle wondering happily in the middle of the road so we had to be on the ball. Once we had made it to our rented home, hungry as hell, we approached a small stall we could make out on the corner of the street. But we realised we had still not taken out any cash and they obviously weren't taking card payments, it basically being someone's home. After explaining our situation they kindly agreed to make us some sandwiches and give us some milk and we'd pay them back in the morning. While this was going on we had the pleasure of meeting some of the local dogs that had fun names like: Lobo (Wolf), Chocolate, and Chorizo!

We officially find ourselves at the start of our holiday from our holiday. We're going to take a couple of weeks to rest and get on with various bits and bobs that have been put on hold. But fear not, at the end of this we will make a summary of our first impressions of Mexico which at the moment are all happiness, positivity and colour. Lots of colours!