Cache Across Maryland 2019

The 16th annual Cache Across Maryland (CAM) kicked off on March 16, 2019. Ten CAM caches were hidden all over Maryland, and the coordinates were posted on the Maryland Geocaching Society's Forums at 8:00 a.m. Four kick-off events were held in different sections of Maryland where the event hosts uploaded the CAM caches, as well as Bonus caches, onto attendees' GPSr's. If a participant finds all ten CAM caches and records the symbol in each cache, they can find out what the coordinates to the CAM Picnic, being held on May 4, where they will be awarded a certificate of completion and a trackable geocoin. Participants have six weeks to find all ten caches, and still be eligible to attend the picnic; the caches will be published on Geocaching.com the day of the picnic.
Tom and I decided to try it this year, and we invited my parents, DragonSoldier45 and DragonLadyHue, to join us. After attending the Kick-Off event, the four of us joined three other cachers, formulated a plan and went out to the caches in Patapsco Valley State Park, the American Chestnut Land Trust and Beverly-Triton Beach Park. The next day, the four of us traveled to the Eastern shore for the caches in Fort Smallwood Park, Wye Island and along the Algonquin Cross-Country Trail. This past week, I had some PTO that I had to use before I lost it at the end of March, so Tom and I took a day and grabbed the two CAM caches in our area, at the Steppingstone Farm Museum and in Susquehanna State Park, and today, we travelled to Western Maryland for the final two caches in Green Ridge State Forest and Emmitsburg.
It was a lot of driving, especially doing it the way we did - Tom wanted to knock it out as soon as possible, so that it wouldn't be hanging over our heads. Mom and Dad planned to visit every other weekend until the picnic, so that we could finish it up, but they got the two in Western Maryland on their way home the first weekend, leaving the two near us to finish up, which they can easily finish the next time they visit. If Tom wasn't in a hurry to get it done, I think that I would have liked to do CAM the way a lot of people that we met are doing it - going to one CAM location a day and caching around the area. Doing it that way and only on weekends would have you finished up before the picnic. Regardless, I enjoyed it. We got to visit some nice destinations, met some interesting people and got to experience "America in Miniature."
If you are in or around Maryland, you have five more weeks left to complete CAM before the picnic, download the .gpx files from the Forums!