Day 1

So today is the first day of my trip and so far it's been pretty surreal.  Right now I'm in a McDonald's typing this and it feels really awkward.  I had to ask the lady working if they had WiFi  she said yes.  Then I asked if I have to by food to get the password, but to my surprise there isn't even a password. I felt bad though so I bought a 4 piece nugget.  They were only a dollar so why the hell not.

My first destination today was Van Buren State Park in Ohio.  It wasn't that good of a park. It was too small and crowded for my liking.  I lived next to a state park though so my standards are a little high too.  It's basically a smaller, crappier version of Alum creek state park (The one I lived next to).  Anyways, I went hiking around the small lake there and it only took about 45 Minutes to go all the way around.  Most of the trail was wooded with sections that went up to the water.  It was a typical Midwestern park with a patch of trees surrounding a lake.  There was a pretty big campgrounds and some small picnic areas and fishing accesses. Pretty standard really.  

Later on I hiked on a horse trail in a different area and I went of the trail for a few minutes to see the stream that was nearby.  As I was walking through the dense riparian vegetation (which contained a crap load of stinging nettle, ticks and mosquitoes) I almost stepped on the cutest animal I've ever seen.

I got so close I was literally petting it.  It had some of the softest, cleanest prettiest fur I've ever seen.  I actually did a crocodile hunter-style video of me giving facts about the situation, but for some reason I can't upload it.  I'll keep trying though and put it up here asap.

So for the first day of my trip, petting a baby deer has made it pretty awesome.  I doubt every day will be this cool, but who knows.  What an adventure!