As always, we'll start with an interesting summary of our weekly adventures and this time it's not going to disappoint as it comes with exciting news! As the title suggests, decisions have been, without a shadow of a doubt, the big thing this week. From deciding what to order from menus to deciding what Netflix series to watch all the way to deciding something as important as the when to end our journey and start the next chapter of our lives in Spain. Earlier than expected! Am I hearing "Oohs" and "Ahhs"? Well, with mixed feelings that we've tried to listen to; transforming from sadness, for nearing the end, to happiness, for what we have been able to experience and the thought of a brand new start. I imagine that's got your interests going, so it's time to get into it! I think it's only right to explain how this all started...

Once upon a time, Rob and Ruth arrived in Mexico with the idea of taking a short break/quarantine and to begin to experience, bit by bit, all that this rich culture has to offer. So that's what they did, until, due to an abundance of free time coinciding with the halfway point in our journey, Ruth decided to check out the Spanish labour market. In reality, it started with an innocent search result that quickly caught her attention. Before her very eyes appeared a job opportunity she simply couldn't ignore. So it was, buoyed on by her loved ones, she sent over her application which was followed by the surprise some days later of being invited to an job interview. All nervous and doubtful, she encouraged herself to put all her efforts into this opportunity and make the most of it. The interviewers must have picked up on all this too as after a few weeks of nervous waiting, actually while atop the volcano Ceboruco, a offer for a job in Valencia materialised! Although received with much joy, the question of when it would start cast its shadow, since our objective was to continue the adventure until March 2021. However, and not without arduous attempts to push it back, Ruth accepted with a start date of 1^st December 2020. This left Rob somewhat at a loss as to what to do, carry on alone or jump on the bandwagon back home. After much worrying, it all clicked into place and incentivised by the imminent coming of Brexit and the need to get his paperwork in order, finally he decided to join in on the new adventure back home with his travel companion.

As you might imagine, Monday began under a cheerless cloud, since we had already decided on Ruth's return to Spain but Rob was still immersed in a sea of doubt. We tried to be as productive as possible under the circumstances and it didn't go all that badly. We managed to translate a blog entry and record a couple of podcast episodes that we had pending. We also found ourselves in a not so interesting town, as the main road blast straight through the middle with plenty of traffic. Even still, we were staying at an incredibly cheap place in the very centre so we could take a stroll around and grab a bite to eat at lunch time easy enough. We found a stall selling food straight away, with the guys there welcoming us happily, and tucked into the delicious feast they prepared us. We then walked back to the room, but not before making a stop to buy dinner and beers, and ended up seeing this down to a good old episode of "El Chapo" on Netflix.

We arose as fresh as daisies and filed out onto the road once more towards the next destination, a lovely city called Zamora. Here some new Warm Showers hosts were waiting for us, Daniela and Octavio. On arrival we were greeted by a beautiful Gothic church that, with its huge towers, nearly caressed the heavens and right there is where we licked away at some ice creams while marvelling at this glorious work of art. Now with sugar levels re-established, we headed toward the home of Daniela and Octavio, and what a surprise! For some reason I thought the couple were going to be much older but turned out to be the same age as us. Although it doesn't make much difference at the end of the day, I'd built this image in my mind and it was a massive shock! What a lovely night we spent together, Daniela took us to her favourite places where we had the pleasure of eating chopped up boiled potatoes smothered in delicious home made sauces and a type of churro called "Guayabo" (or something like that) for desert. She loved to minimise her impact on the environment so we took along an assortment of Tupperware to avoid creating any waste, thank goodness there are people so conscious of these issues around! Octavio had to work late so it wasn't till well into the evening that he arrived home, we spent a long while chatting about all sorts and before we knew it, it was 2 am and we were sat around the dinning room table having a cup of fruit tea before finally calling it a night. Thanks so much for your amazing company guys!

It was a tough awakening, although we were relaxed and happy since Rob had finally taken the decision to come back with me to Spain. While the amazing Daniela cooked up some Mexican scrambled eggs, he made this official by calling back home and (I hope) giving his parents a nice surprise with new of being home for Christmas. After having breakfast with Daniela and Silvia, the lady who helped out around the house, we steadily got ready to depart. Back on the road there was a natural park called Cumécuaro that had at its heart one of the prettiest lakes... Actually, although people had bigged this up a LOT, it far exceeded our expectations! A turquoise blue lake surrounded by mangrove type trees with their roots leaping out of and diving back into its waters, making it such a magical place. When we were on our way here, we briefly bumped into another cycle tourist going the other way and found out it was possible to camp there. We didn't hesitate for a second! What a peaceful night we had surrounded by chirping birds, geese and nature.

We started the day to the first rays of sunlight and took a walk around the lake before getting on our way. Today we had a big hill to take on but it turned out to be enjoyable as the road made its way through small towns and forests with nature on full display. When we had nearly made it up, we stumbled across a place that sold lunch. So we stopped and had a local Guadalajara beer with some "tostadas de camarón" (prawns on a toasted taco) and at the same time got to know some of the guys in town who turned out to be very impressed with our journey. They even wanted to take a bunch of photos with us to remember the moment! One of them worked in the avocado fields that were abundant in the area and gave Rob a tour to explain the different types and harvests, even gifting us an example of each type which we'd be carrying with us for a while till they ripened... They wanted us to stay for some more beers but we decided it was best to get on our way. With the remaining way downhill it took us less than half an hour to get to our hotel for the night. When we showed up the lady at reception seemed like she was on another planet, but we let it pass at first. But when we went to the room she'd given us we realised it was completely unmade... Although she then gave us the one next door it was a bit of a fiasco as this one had the boiler pump basically inside the room and the noise was infuriating! But as we're not so picky we didn't complain and simply enjoyed sleeping in a good old bed between four walls. Now pretty relaxed we crossed the street to eat some tacos which we sweetened up by following it with a traditional seasonal desert, pan de muertos which is basically a delicious sugar coated sponge. Mmmm

We made the most of having a bakery opposite the hotel and I went to buy a selection of freshly made sweet stuff for breakfast. And quite the selection it was! At least eight different pastries with the total price coming in at under two quid. We were missing having a nice savoury breakfast but sometimes it's easier just to go sugar, particularly since the disappearance of our camping stove... After an easy ride we made it to the next town along, Quiroga, with its plaza being watched over by giant decorated skeletons, becoming in the day of the dead celebrations that were just around the corner, and its bustling streets lined with people and market stalls of all kinds. We got to the hotel (the most European standard looking hotel so far) and chilled out, once again getting on with blog stuff, washing clothes and resting. We went out to have lunch and stopped in the first place we came across, supposedly "economic food" (but really just a standard restaurant type affair), and indulged in some delightful nosh. We popped to the shops on the way back to get dinner and spent the rest of the day resting up.

It was nearly Día de los Muertos, and this was why we'd been doing such short days. A few weeks beforehand someone had recommended that we spend the day in this area, to which end we had planned our days accordingly. This Friday we were in no rush to get up and I even popped down to the reception to ask if I could use the hotel kitchen, which they gave me the green light to do. So after the scrambled eggs and coffee I'd cooked up we hit to road to Tzintzantzun, a town that lives a very special tradition over these days of celebration. The townsfolk decorate their families graves with orange marigolds, which are to help guide souls so they can return to the land of the living where their loved ones are waiting. Also waiting for them are a bunch of treats like their favourite food, drinks and music so that when they come back during the night of the 1^st they can have a great time altogether! For those who aren't familiar, the Pixar film "Coco" is based specifically on the traditions of this small town, as they are slightly different throughout Mexico. We arrived and strolled around the beautiful graveyard and the pretty streets before climbing up to some ruins that presided over the area, built by the empire of the Purhépecha, as we'd heard it was possible to camp. Once we got there it wasn't quite what we expected and so we discarded the idea... So what do you reckon we did next? That's right, head to the local mezcal bar and let fate decide the solution of where to sleep that night... And it turned out to be the perfect idea, while we were trying out the tasty mezcales we asked about for a place to stay when no one less than the mayor himself walked through the door and in a heartbeat invited us to stay with him! At first we were not sure and didn't know whether to accept but he insisted so much that we had little other choice; although in the end it was a great plan. It turned out to be his parent's house, his Dad had also been mayor, which had a massive garden with all sorts of creature comforts where we could put up the tent and enjoy an evening with the family. "Tomando" as they say, meaning getting pissed up, and laughing none stop. We all got quite tipsy (some more than others...) and ended up drinking a mixture of mezcal, whisky, beer and who knows what else. A massive rain shower put and end to proceedings (thank goodness we were under shelter!) and with a purely liquid dinner in our tummies, since the entire town had closed down early due to the restrictions from the pandemic. We ate what we could muster (popcorn) from our panniers and got some rest, what a day of surprises!

We awoke with a decent hangover (or "cruda" as they say round here). Arsenio (the brother of Irepani the mayor), Mishelle (his girlfriend) and her family, who were also visiting, came to say good morning and invite us to breakfast. So we set of, the seven musketeers, crammed in their Mercedes on each other's laps to fill up on soups, "charales" (a traditional small fried fish), meat balls, stuffed chillis and coffee "de olla" (sweet black coffee with cinnamon). On the way back to the town we even stocked up on beers for the short journey home! We spent the day boozing by their swimming pool, chilling out and taking a dip. Later we all headed off with the Dad (also called Arsenio) and his "boyfriends" Jorge and Benjamin to check out the Day of the Dead festivities. We walked amongst the altars that people made up in their homes for their deceased loved ones all the way to the cemetery, where the orange flowers, hanging fruits and lit candles stole the show; perfectly performing their job of soul guiding. Some graves had their own band of mariachis tooting and banging away! With all this going on we were responsibly drinking a "michelada" behind our face masks that the family had given us at dinner. Arsenio Jr. and crew went out later on that night but Rob and I stayed in listening to Arsenio Sr. tell us his life story and enjoying the generosity of this family that had chosen to share this special day with us. When the youths came back later that night, loaded with a few drinks, they rather predictably tried to shake us out of the tent to join the party "Levantense, vamos a tomar!" but we were out of gas...

A so we bring a close to a week of mixed emotions, being witness to the calm after the storm. And this is how we now feel. Happy and appreciative for all that we've been living and the lovely people we continue to meet along the way.