What I am trying to figure out how to do is to keep the mount in park when I make the initial connection to APCC so that I first have to unpark it to get it to start tracking.
That I can't help you with. I think it's app-dependent. SkyX doesn't unpark the mount until I tell it to. ACP, OTOH, unparks the mount when it connects. I think AP Jog also unparks the mount when first connected.