Mistletoe State Park, Appling, Georgia
When the water in the skin was gone, she (Hagar) put the boy (Ishmael) under one of the bushes…sat down and sobbed…(because) “I cannot watch the boy die.”…God heard…and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven… “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying…raise the boy up…for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water…God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer…his mother got a wife for him from Egypt. ~ Genesis 21:15-21 What a testament to God’s great love and care and promise keeping! Even to those we feel may be undeserving. Even when we don’t understand why God would make and keep this promise when He already knows the hardship this nation of Islam will cause His chosen people. Maybe it was because He knows that without adversity, we would have little reason to turn to Him. We would be filled with pride – just as in the days of Noah, and then the Tower of Babel days. And without turning to Him, how would we ever recognize His rescue of us? Praise be to our God Who ordains the world as He deems best!
We actually went out hiking twice today.
In the morning, we completed all but one of the rest of the trails in the Park. It was an out and back to the beach, and covered about six miles total. It was also a bit difficult to follow because the signs at the intersections weren’t always clear, but we made it with minimal issues.
Pine tree pollen to be exact. It’s really bad here.
Good thing neither of us are particularly allergic!
I took a vertical panoramic picture to try to capture an entire pine tree.
Worked pretty good!
And Blaine gives it perspective. : )
Isn’t that weird?!? You’d think it would fall off, wouldn’t you?
No one else was around, but there’s a building here, so we think it opens for concessions in the summer.
They’re made by Doily Spiders.
Pretty cool web/nest they make – – for a spider. . . .
No wonder they were making such a splash!
Once we returned home, we built a fire and had burgers (again! 😊), and we actually just sat around the fire and relaxed. That’s not always easy for us to manage.
Burned real nice!
There was still one more trail we wanted to check out the “Erosion Gulley”. If you’ve been following our adventures for a while, you may remember our visit to the amazing Providence Canyon State Park, Georgia in 2019. The one with the deep and multi-hued (mostly orange and white) canyons that were caused from poor farming practices back in the early 1900s.
Anyway, they have a similar situation going on in this park as well, stemming from the same era. Only it’s not anywhere near as beautiful or incredible. 😊
Still. It was a nice (and cushy) walk for us. And we still learned something new! Did you know that tree roots exposed over time can grow bark for protection? At least the pine trees here do! Pretty incredible!
It was super cushy to walk on.
We stepped over and headed back to the Jeep and home.
That’s it for today. Tomorrow we move ever closer to Ohio!