I awoke this morning to the aroma of campfire at the lakeside cabin of Bob & Barbara-- the couple who treated me to great dental work at their clinic in Athens.

No lakeside cabin visit is complete without a visit to the lake itself, right..? Arriving after dark last night kept me from making the most of the opportunity till this morning

Less than an hour into today's walk, in which I was joined by Beverly Barnett and her son Brad, we arrived to downtown Hartwell, a setting of the novel "The Color Purple."

Cris, a local shopowner, warmly greeted me upon arriving to Hartwell's town square. Cris spent days fashioning the scarecrows in her storefront. Scores of well-decorated scarecrows of all types are to be found all over Hartwell this month. I've never in my life seen anything like it, and absolutely love it! This pair was host Barbara's favorite!

Look closely-- can you read this scarecrow's "words of wisdom"..?? =P

Host Bob Fogg displays what came straight to him in the street, in the wind, as he was awaiting our delegation of walkers to arrive. KARMA!!

Renee (center) not only treated ALL walkers to a free buffet lunch at her New York Pizza restaurant, she also arranged a place for me to stay for the night. Thanks so much, Renee!! Autumn (right), has ensured that my stuff will be carried several miles forward for me tomorrow. (WOW!!)

Brad Barnett joined me for the remainder of my Georgia miles today. Morgan, his girlfriend, joined us for nearly a mile as well, despite recently having come off foot surgery. Cool peeps!!

At the lake and dam which separates Georgia and South Carolina, five of us walked the final 1.5 miles together. Daniel (white shirt) just met us all there and joined us for the final stretch-- great guy!!

Could there be a more beautiful way to conclude Georgia on foot??

After a mile of walking atop the earthen dam, we had to take a side path down to the main Hwy 29, our only way across the river to South Carolina.

Back on Hwy 29. South Carolina, here we come!

Making it past the "Welcome to Georgia" sign, we approach the fast, narrow bridge across the Savannah River.

From above the drought-stricken Savannah River, our late afternoon view of the dam ~

Almost there!!

Ms. Beverly, Road Angel #1 (BY FAR) of this past week of Georgia, joins me for the welcome-to-South-Carolina pic. Beverly has in fact been one of the very brightest of all road angels across the 4,000 miles!!