Magnolia Springs State Park, Millen, GA

We arrived at Magnolia Springs State Park around mid-afternoon yesterday. There is no wi-fi, but we do have a pretty good cell phone signal, so yay!

We had reservations here, but they were not site-specific, meaning we had to stop in at the visitor center to register officially. They also gave us a partial refund because of our, um, advanced years. We'd read about the park before making our reservations. What we knew is that the park is known for its crystal clear springs flowing 7 million gallons per day. A boardwalk spans the cool water, and we're hoping to see alligators, turtles and other wildlife near the springs. A small lake is available for fishing. There are also paddle boat and canoe rentals here.

During the Civil War, this site was called Camp Lawton and served as “the world’s largest prison.” Today, little remains of the prison stockade; however, the earthen breastworks which guarded it can still be seen. In 2010, Georgia Southern University archeology teams uncovered the stockade wall and numerous personal articles from soldiers. Their discovery has been heralded as one of the most significant finds in recent history. Artifacts are currently on display at the university and at the Camp Lawton museum located here at the park, and so we'll probably check that out.

As we walked up to the visitor center, we found this sign:

Also, this monument.

Just outside the door was this tree covered in Spanish Moss. We've seen Spanish Moss adorning trees everywhere in the south. This was the first one with enough to show up in a picture.

Also inside, I saw this t-shirt that gave me a chuckle. The marshmallows glow in the dark. It was tempting...I might still go back for it.

We have water and electricity here at our campsite, and it is lovely. The kitties could see right away that this was a place they were going to like.

I always set the catio at the door so that Mike can hang it on the outside wall as he finishes getting us hooked up. Sadie could barely wait for that and she sat inside while it was still inside the RV.

Nothing would do until we got Smitty out for a walk.

And he seems to be getting his land legs under him because he walked, and walked, and walked.

He walked way far away from the trailer and down by the lake.

He would have taken off on one of the hiking boardwalks, but Mike noticed the "Alligators Present" sign and decided it was a bad idea to go walking across with bait on a leash. He curtailed their water-side hike and brought the two of them up closer to the trailer. As a point of interest, the sign also said that American Alligators are not aggressive, nor are they fast on land. However, they can climb trees. (I swear I am not making this up.) It caused Mike to take a look overhead when he read that.

As for me...I had such an urging to bake a pecan pie for two. I'd been looking days earlier for something to bake for our Christmas dinner dessert. I have something else in mind, but in my wanderings, I found this recipe on a new-to-me blog called In the Kitchen with Kath. Just now I read a little more about her, and she lives in Seattle. Geez! We're practically neighbors!

So anyway...I found several recipes for a pecan pie for two, but I liked this one because it uses only natural sweeteners in the form of honey and maple syrup. We're so limited for space in the RV kitchen cupboards, I really didn't want to add a partially used bottle of corn syrup. And I'd never baked a pecan pie of any size before, so what did I know about how this combination would perform. Happily, I'm here to tell you that it was delicious! ("Was" being the operative word in that sentence, because we've devoured it already.)

The recipe includes a pie crust recipe, but in the RV, I'm keeping it simple by using Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts. Also, in my baking adventures I used the heels of some used loaves of bread to make up some croutons. In my packing before leaving home, I made sure to include a small bottle of Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle and one of garlic powder, and I've been making these croutons on the road. They're so tasty, but mainly, I'm just happy for a way to use the heels of my bread. I didn't take a picture this time around, but here are some I baked a while back.

You can read how to do it on the Penzey's website right here. I simply spray them with no stick and then sprinkle them with sandwich sprinkle and garlic powder before baking. I don't even bother with the turning part. You have to decide how crispy you like them, but I let mine bake about 10 minutes before taking them out. Yummy.

So we're camped here for the next three nights. There are plenty of hiking trails, and there's another state park just down the road. We'll probably head down there to take a look and see what's up while we're here. I'm also hoping for a sewing day while we're here. You might have noticed we've slowed our pace significantly. We're well south now...almost as far as we can go without leaving the country...and so we'll be doing a lot more moseying as we go. The most important thing on our minds right now is having a place for Christmas, and we have that whole weekend reserved near Savannah. In between, there is plenty of relaxation on tap.

We got sad news yesterday morning that our dear friend and neighbor had passed away suddenly from a heart attack, and that has been weighing on our minds. She was in her 80's and she'd been in poor health for some time. We had them over for dinner before we left on this trip, worried we might not see her again. She's the same neighbor who picked our plums for jam. The plums seemed always to ripen after we left, and she was happy to get them and always shared a jar of jam with us. We're sure going to miss her. Rest in Peace, dearest Betty.