Back Packing in Shawnee National Forest Illinois

Jed and I have wanted to go backpacking ever since Jed got a new backpack for graduation last year. We finally had some time off and decided to take advantage of it. We decided to go with some of our best friends the Fassmanns. They live in Indianapolis so we wanted to find a location in the middle. Exactly four hours from both of us is Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. In our four hour drive we covered five states; Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois. Jed planned out a three day route. It was a little ambitious but would  be fun. In total, had we done the whole thing, it would have been a 40 mile trip. As it was Maren was pregnant, and Jed and I had been really sick just days before so we only went about 25 miles. It was still really fun though.
The first day we went the longest. We had a slow start and stopped a lot but we were all newbie hikers. Looking back we would have packed very differently but that was because of our lack of experience. We had way to much food and clothes. Had we not had so much of that our packs would have been significantly lighter. We also didn't have the money to buy the ultra light backpacking gear, but that will come with time.
Zoey came with us and she was amazing. By the end of each day though she was so exhausted. We originally wanted her to sleep outside the tent but she was freaking out and so we let her in. As it turned out it was for the better. She was away from the ticks (and I probably picked off about 100 by the end of the three days), and she was so tired she just slept at the bottom of the tent. She loved being outside and climbing on the rock formations and running up and down the trail. She is a fantastic adventure buddy. We also all agreed that Zoey made us all feel a little bit safer.
The first night we camped by a small stream. It was really pretty. That night a coyote came into our camp sight and it was really scary. What was even scarier was that I had gone out of the tent to go to the bathroom and felt like something was watching me. I shined my flashlight into the forest and saw nothing, I got back in the tent and as soon as I zipped it up the coyote started howling not ten feet from our tent. Jed and I were terrified. Zoey got up but didn't make a noise. She just stood stiffly over us and then when she thought the threat was no more she relaxed and went back to bed. It wasn't so easy for Jed and I. We both were so worked up it took us awhile to calm down.
The second day we were delayed getting started because it was raining so hard. After the rain calmed down we had to decide how far we were going. This is when we decided our too heavy of packs, pregnancy, and sickness was going to cut our trip shorter than we expected. We still had a great time and camped a another beautiful spot. This time it was an overlook.
The next day we headed back to the cars. It was a really great time spent with really fun friends. Zoey was so tired that when we got home she slept for almost 24 hours.