Let me start by pointing out that I re-numbered the posts/pictures a little. I had ignored that we had a rest day on Day 7 and was counting biking days instead. I think that will get more complicated as time goes forward and we have more rest days so I now have included them in the count. As you will note there are no pictures or posts for Day 7 which was our rest day.

Today was a nice day with low winds and temperature in the low 70s. The ride started out stressful with a high traffic/poor shoulder/fast road but we managed to ride the 15 miles without incident. I was excited when we started on the road as it had a wide shoulder in the beginning and ran parallel to the railroad tracks so the road was flat. Both the shoulder and railroad tracks disappeared a few miles in and then the traffic was more of an issue and the rolling hills began. Note that I did not walk a hill today - I made it up all of them! Thanks to Madeleine for the encouragement :) Marie was waiting for us at the turn on to the next road and there were sighs of relief from Madeleine and me when we saw her ahead. She is always a beacon of light for us! The next 20 miles were on a two lane road with limited shoulder but notably less traffic. We were able to take in the scenery which always makes for a better ride. We passed through Barnesville which was quaint and had beautiful houses and magnolia trees starting to bloom. We saw several fields full of beef cattle and several fields with horses. Over the last 3 days we have also noticed lots of wild daffodils which is a pretty sight. We did have one dog incident which turned out fine. A woman was outside her home with one dog on a leash and 4 loose. All 4 ran barking at Madeleine (and ignored me) who stopped and put her bike between her and the dogs. They stopped and the woman got them under control. We were a little worried as the cars were going 55 mph on the road but fortunately it was a quiet moment.

At the end of the ride, we drove forward to see the road conditions for tomorrow. We stopped in the town of Woodbury, population ~900, and were delighted to find the one block long town was full of antique stores and a delightful cafe. We had a wonderful lunch and we were charmed by our young waitress. Only one purchase today by Madeleine but they had big fun combing the stores. Madeleine bought a book called Sunny boy and his dog which every time she sees it will remind her of the dogs on the trip. We also stopped for ice cream on our way back to the hotel which is always fun.