The quest at Tuckahoe State Park is a paddle along a creek that shares its name with the park.

By canoe, you can sneak up on painted turtles ranging in size from a dinner plate to a saucer for an espresso cup.

My paddling partner, Dave Davis, who retired once from the Maryland Park Service after 30 years only to return, steers a smooth course.

We meet up with the Morton family of Columbia — Questers on their sixth park. In a tiny flotilla of canoes and kayaks, they are exploring the tiny coves and looking for answers to the worksheet questions.

The only thing to disrupt the scene are voracious deer flies that are meaner than a junkyard dog.

I kill at least a dozen of them, some before and some, sadly, after they've chewed my flesh.

"Take as many as you like," says Davis, ever the genial host.

Apparently, there's no bag limit.

Bring bug spray and use it, fellow Questers.

Tuckahoe gives me 20 parks toward my goal of visiting all 24 parks on the Maryland Park Quest in seven days. One more stop today and it's just down the road a piece.

Park Quest 24/7 tracker

Kendall Morton and two of his children, Luke, 5, and Lydia, 7.