The campsite worked out fine, but compared to a hotel it was 1/6 the cost and 1/6 the experience. The most inconvenient aspect was the one-minute walk to the bathroom and having to get properly dressed for the journey. It is easy to take for granted the convenience of having a bathroom inside your living quarters so close to where you are sleeping.

We woke up early and ate oatmeal and canned peaches, allowing us to leave early. We were on the trail just before 8. It was nice to have used one of their tents: not only because it was so much bigger and more sturdy than ours, but we didn’t have to pack a wet tent….

Today’s ride was 90 miles with about 1500+ feet of elevation gain. Climbing is especially hard with our bike. That, combined with a long section of obstacles in the form of very big downed trees in our path, slowed us quite a bit today. We arrived at our destination 11 hours after setting off, exhausted.

The weather was pretty good, raining lightly all morning. Whenever we’d stop and put on our rain gear it would stop. We played that game multiple times. Overall it was much better for me (Pete) than the hot sun.

We have an Airbnb tonight in a town called Digoin, and it is outstanding. We’ve both drunk more than a liter of juice and sparking water. It’s amazing how much we can drink after a long ride…. We made simple soups from the grocery store for dinner (and Natalie sure a whole fresh tomato and green beans), as it was all we felt like eating.

Tomorrow is planned to be 20 miles shorter.

We might add more to this tomorrow, but for now we need some sleep.