March 22, 2022 Travel to Magnolia Springs State Park in Georgia

We left our beautiful spot in the forest, dumped the tanks, and headed north on US301:

Into Georgia:

Tall trees followed us all the way north – I cannot get enough of their height:

We arrived at Magnolia Springs State Park.  This is our site – another beautiful place.

Spring is here:

Yes, we had another great campfire:

There are 26 RV sites in a square type configuration.  Very nice.

The lake behind us:

We will be here for two nights and hope to do some exploring tomorrow.  However, they are calling for rain and severe storms so we will be watching closer.  We did find the shelter if needed.

Stay tuned and enjoy today.

 

Stats:

Routes Traveled:

Florida: Pavilion Road; US301

Georgia: US301; US25; Magnolia Springs Road

Miles Traveled:  200 Miles

 

March 21st, 2022 Nature Trail at Cary State Forest

Today, we had to move from site 4 to site 5.  Here is what is interesting.  When I first made the reservations, there was only one day available on each site.  So a few days after I made the reservation, I went back in to check and lo and behold, site 4 was open for a week.  Interesting!  We could have stayed at an extra cost but we just felt it was easier to move.  Plus we were blessed that the person on site 5 left around 9AM.

Our new site – still beautiful:

 

 

Love the tall trees:

After we settled in, Andy went for his bike ride.  After finishing what I needed to do, I headed out to the nature trail.

Andy coming back from his bike ride:

The start of the nature trail:

The start of the wetlands/swamp:

 

 

 

 

Some of the areas had red water.  I think it was from the pine needles and pine cones:

Water everywhere:

At the end of the first boardwalk, I am now in the forest:

A few puddles on the trail:

Love the palms:

 

And then this almost ended my walk.  But looking around, I found a path that came out right by the big tree. 

Had to jump a couple of puddles here before I made it to the second boardwalk.  Found out that my sneakers do not leak – LOL!

 

Lots of old growth trees:

 

Cypress Swamp:

This was something new to me:

And here is a Cypress Knee:

Did not see a Wood Duck but there were a number of nesting boxes.

  Wood Duck Nesting Box:

The trail followed a couple of forest roads:

Lots of yellow flowers – hope you can see them:

The sun was hitting this yellow flower just right and if you look real close, it is glowing:

OH! Those beautiful pine trees:

 

I did not know whether I was going to publish this picture or not.  When I came around the corner, all I could see were “sparkles” on the water.  It was breathtaking.  I hung out here for a while just enjoying the sun’s reflection off the swamp.  The picture just did not capture that sparkle.

Love those pines:

Bluebird Nesting Box:

The trail was beautiful and it was nice to see the different ecosystems within the 2 mile walk.

When I got back, look who was waiting for me (with Andy, of course.):

We ended the evening with another great campfire.

Tomorrow we continue our trek north so stay tuned and enjoy today.