I had the same worry after a long hike in Missouri, I found one crawling on my sock. Now I always check ankles, waistline, armpits, and behind the knees right after
I woke one morning and saw little (1/8-1/4") red spots on my feet to my right mid-thigh. That's when I remembered hearing somewhere that ticks arrived here. I stripped the bed down sprayed all with Black Flag spider killer--including the mattress and frame, floor--anything and everything. Took a week to ten days to heal those spots, but none since and I check now...