"Down the Rabbit Hole" . . My Day Off

Well, hello there! And how is your morning?
Me? I woke worried . .. smh . . . have to stop that!
And so . .? I said a few prayers, gave concerns to God and diverted that wasted worry-energy to cleaning the house . . . a load into my cute little washer and a few dishes washed . . . 
I also spent some time looking at the  Google map of the I and M Canal Trail from the Joliet Ironworks site to Legacy Paintball Park . . Matt and I like to explore the Ironworks site and associated trails.  . . recently I've noticed increased vehicle traffic on the little road along the trail.  . I thought the road was for railroad employees only  . . . I am wondering . . . we have walked back to the area where the map shows the road ends, we just didn't pay attention to the road itself or anything off trail . . . over the winter we decided to begin our hikes and exploration at Legacy Paintball Park and work our way south towards Joliet Ironworks. .  from this end I also noticed a lot of traffic on a road that, according to the map, goes nowhere . . . ooooo! A mystery!! There are a lot of trails in the area of the paintball park as that is part of Lockport Forest Preserve . . . I know there are also REALLY kool old buildings back in there as I took my Grandma (Ruth Rowley) for a drive back there in 1996.  . we saw a lot of men fishing in the ponds and some buildings I'd love to explore  . . . hmmm .  . . sounds like Matt and I have a lot of hikes ahead of us this summer!! 

Beyond exploring that, this morning I was thinking about hiking the Purple Trail in Pilcher Park and, although we may visit it, I think we need to move on . . . we need to finish the Wauponsee Glacial Trail (hopefully this summer) as that exploration as lingered on far to long . . . we had intended to finish that hike then do an overnight camp out at the Kankakee River  . . . this trail being completely explored is imperative, as well as the celebratory camp out. . . . this trail, running from Washington St in Joliet to the south bank of the Kankakee River, I believe (if my old brain recalls correctly) that this trail is 18.8 total miles of very interesting scenery, passing homes, farms, Joliet racetrack and lots of beautiful woods and creeks!! 

 Last fall we began exploring the I and M Canal Trail from Brandon Rd. heading west. . . that exploration is barely begun and was quite interesting . . . I'd wondered for years what was behind the buildings on the north side of Rt 6 . . we are beginning to find out . . . 

And, as we hike and explore, we notice wild edibles along the way . . wild edibles are another topic we began to study years ago . . we've gained a lot of good knowledge and some havrvesting/cooking experience . . . we also noticed the marked improvement in our overall health when eating from foraging . . . something to note as GMOs take over our grocery shelves and even the vegetable seeds available to plant . . 

We will definitely have many pictures to post and a far better working knowledge of the interconnected trails system here by the end of summer this year. . . 
I am also still very interested, maybe/actually way more interested, in how the "homeless" survive . . I think there are some tips and techniques only they know that I need to know. No, I am not intending to become homeless deliberately, however, like most, I am always one (1) paycheck away from that possibility . . . I like to find ways to live cheaply and Love camping, feel like the homeless have all the pertinent knowledge for living that peaceful life close to the earth and closer to God . . . rather than chase more money and more things they live simply . . . I know there are homeless still camped out in the area  . . . Matt and I are always on the lookout for their campsites . . .  he likes to blog about their plight . .  we enjoy sharing our bounty with them  . .  at one point we noticed several spots along the Desplains River near Ruby Street . . tiny tarp covered dwellings built into the riverbank . .  then these all disappeared . . . I've wondered where the inhabitants went and why? Seems like a peaceful setting and a nice life (if you can keep warm come winter!) . . .
If you had to live outdoors in your area year-round, would you know how to be comfortable? Where to find food to forage?
If you had to bug-out on foot right now, do you know your local trails well? Going how many different directions?
Might be a good time to look into sturdy shoes, binoculars and water bottles for our coming/continued adventures!!!