Shawnee Forest

Due for some time in the wild we headed for the woods.  When we realizes our good friend was running 100 miles just a few hours off the route, we chose the forest near his course,  Thanks to the Friend Finder app we surprised him at the 47 mile marker and were able to join his crew for dinner.

We pulled into the Shawnee Forest in Southern Illinois after dark, so when we awoke we were delighted to find a quiet fall campground.  We enjoyed days with more relaxed schedule, doing things like making applesauce, chopping wood and riding bikes.

We have done a lot of camping, and find that we are all really our best selves when we are out of the city.  We seem to settle into a simple life quite easily.  The kids spend hours gathering wood, carving wood, and tending a fire.

It had been years since I have biked off road.  Years.  It is one of the things I had hoped to do as we travelled.  It felt great to follow Jackson on his first single-track experience.  He was excited to try a new thing and led with confidence.

We noticed that all the other campers were in complete camouflage, and found out that bow season had begun the previous week.  We were glad to be heading out before gun season opened.  The ranger said it would sound like a gun range.  

It was incredible how many we saw in grocery stores and gas stations over the following couple days in Kentucky and Tennessee wearing full camouflage.  Apparently everyone hunts.  And beer comes in safety orange.