Outdoors Girl: Sandy Point is in the bag - Maryland parks and outdoors: Life in Maryland’s great outdoors by Candy Thomson

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July 12, 2010

Sandy Point is in the bag

Before noon today at Sandy Point State Park, I bagged No. 19 in my goal to visit all 24 parks in seven days as part of the state's Park Quest adventure.

The Cizek family of Marriottsville — mom Karen and sons Ben, 5, and Jake, 7— are doing their first.

We all move at different speeds.

"Our goal is a Quest every other day," says Karen. "It's something fun to do with the kids and it's free."

The Sandy Point Quest, I might add, is breezy, short and easy. And with Department of Natural Resources summer intern Christine Runion as my human GPS unit ("recalculating"), I can't miss.

Thanks to Ranger Dorna Cooper for the company and Ranger Rob Jones for the precise directions.

Off to Tuckahoe and a paddling Quest before the thunderstorms move in.

Park Quest 24/7 tracker

Karen Cizek and sons Ben (left) and Jake.

Posted by Candus Thomson at 12:13 PM | Permalink
Categories: Park Quest 2010

About Candus Thomson

In a world of paper vs. plastic and candy mint vs. breath mint, my early memories involved a debate about the merits of freshwater vs. saltwater.

On the one hand, a great uncle’s fishing cabin on the Susquehanna River beckoned, but so did family gatherings on the Jersey Shore.

The correct answer, thankfully, was, “both.”

As The Sun’s outdoors writer for more than a decade, I’ve fished across Maryland in one day, hiked the width of the state in one hour, camped overnight in the median of I-95 to experience the wildlife between the fast lanes and chased mountain bikers in a 24-hour marathon race.

Those are some of the highlights. I’ve also fallen in a raging Gunpowder River during a trout survey (photo available upon request), had a shark spill its guts on my clothes and been stuck in a sub-freezing Vermont wilderness with men armed with flintlocks and hatchets, shuffling along on ancient wooden snowshoes.

And, in my travels I’ve met lots of you, who share a love of the outdoors and the good times and mishaps that go along with it.

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