Everyone had a little harder time getting up this morning, yet still managed to get on the road at 6:00 am.

Still following U.S. Hwy 90. I was driving the van (as I usually do starting out in the morning) so I was able to stop at a McDonald's on the way out of town to be able to send the Day 7 message. Whew!!

The terrain was moderatey rolling hills, with about 4-5 serious hills. Heat, hills, and humidity are the enemies of bicycle tourists, and we had all three!!

Crossed a long bridge to Chattahoochee and stopped at the Post Office to send some gifts to my grandsons Jett (almost 5) and Cael (just turned 3). When I walked in, I noticed the clock on the wall said 9:04 a.m. Asked the clerk, and he confirmed that the time changes as you cross over the bridge, so we just "lost" an hour. Like in certain parts of Indiana, they refer to the time as "fast time" and "slow time."

Lots of pine trees lining the road. Hwy 90 runs just a stone's throw from Georgia here. Saw signs for a correctional facility and the Jim Woodruff Dam. The road continues to be smooth, with a good bike lane over 98% of the time. Still seeing armadillo roadkill along the road, with a few snakes thrown in for good measure.

Sherri and Mary Ann were riding very fast, and we had trouble keeping up with them, even with our "leap frog" system.

Got to Tallahassee about 1:00 pm. We are staying in the Methodist Campus Ministry building on the campus of Florida State University. After we rested and showered, 5 of us decided we wanted to go see the Florida State Capitol building. First we toured around in the "old" state capitol building which was completed in 1902. We really liked the old capitol better than the new one. It sort of reminded me of a Key West style of architecture, and there were red and white striped exterior window coverings.

Florida was the 27th state admitted to the Union in 1845. It was admitted as a "slave" state." It was the 3rd state to secede from the Union at the start of the Civil War. Andrew Jackson was the first territorial governor of Florida.

Florida became much more of a diverse state in the 60's when Cubans left Cuba, not wanting to live in the communist country under Fidel Castro.

There was in interesting display about Anne Menger, a female editorial cartoonist from the Miami Daily News. Her career spanned from 1933 - 1956. We took the elevator up to the 22nd floor. The new capitol building is one of four tower capitols in the US (Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Florida). No one in our group liked the architecture much; the inside was drab compared to the State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

Afterwards, we ate at a restaurant called Pitaria, specializng in Greek and Mediterranen cuisine. Food was pretty good, and pretty reasonably priced.

Came back to the building where we're staying, and I have spent about 2 1/2 hours on the keyboard getting caught up on the Daily Messages.

I only rode 14.25 miles in 1:39. Only found one penny of road change. Sherri and Mary Ann each rode the whole way, 68 miles. Up to 788.9 total miles on the route.

Got to get some sleep because of the time change.

With love from the road, in Tallahassee,
Marie