We Live in A Forest

While we don't necessarily live in the heart of the forest, I've been studying maps and trails lately and am amazed how close our home is to one of our country's largest urban forest reserves. Forest Park spans approximately 5,100 acres (5 miles long by 1 mile wide)--and it's basically our backyard! If you look at any of the pictures we've take of the St. Johns Bridge, you'll see a giant hill with tons of trees in the background. That's a part of the state park.
This picture shows just how close we are to the many hiking trail heads:

Our home is by the little red circle. The closest trail head is about a quarter mile from us, just across the bridge. Unfortunately, we still have not hiked the trail (shame on us!). However, it's in the near-future plans.
As I was doing more research about Forest Park, I stumbled upon a (true) story about a man and his 12-year old daughter living in the park for over 4 years before being discovered by a jogger and subsequently forced to abandon their camp. The father home-schooled his daughter using encyclopedias. Apparently she tested above grade-level! They grew a lot of their own food and went to town every few weeks for groceries and to collect his disability checks (crossing the St. Johns Bridge in the process). Fascinating stuff, huh?! Anyway, a fiction writer has written a book about it called My Abandonment. I am definitely adding this to my summer reading list and can't wait to explore the giant forest that is our backyard... Any other suggestions for summer reading? Some of Nick's cousins are hooked on The Hunger Games series-- I might have to borrow those.