April 12 of 12: Quacky's Day

I decided to try something a little different for this month's 12 of 12. This time, I'm documenting the first day in the life of a Travel Bug named "Quacky." I originally wanted a blue chick for the concept which hit me Saturday morning, but after hitting a few stores on the drive to Akron we came across this yellow ducky pacifier holder. After removing the ribbon to hold the pacifier, we have a great travel bug with its own clip to attach him to a nearby branch or container edge to allow photos. Finally I had a subject and theme: a day in the life of a Geocaching Travel Bug. So while we spent our Easter Sunday with family in Akron, then Geocaching our way home to Metro Detroit, I captured the day of our young friend on his first geocaching journey. Next weekend he'll find his way into a Geocache and hopefully collect may new stories and photos as other Geocacher move him around the world.


Starting the Day
7:18AM: Quacky and I slept in a little later than usual today (it is a Sunday after all) then hit the hotel's breakfast buffet. Sadly the only thing that appealed to him was the cereal (a sugary mess -- I tried it), so I grabbed him that, and I had my yogurt, sausage, waffles, and of course the coffee. I usually have a breakfast bar so this was a big meal for me. For Quacky, it was his first breakfast away from home.


Checking for Cache
7:26AM: Quacky was anxious to try for his first Geocache. While he was finishing his cereal, I pulled out the GPS and checked for any nearby caches we might want to try for while waiting for Firefly03 to rise. To my surprise there was a cache just off the hotel grounds!


Quacky's First Cache
7:39AM: We were on the hunt for Quacky's first cache and the GPS wasn't taking us to where my geosense was guiding me. I followed my geosense. Quacky's first LPC (Lamp Post Cache).


Brush Your Bill/Teeth
7:48AM: Following that sugary breakfast I wanted to brush my teeth again, and suggested Quacky brush his bill too. Firefly was still asleep of course, so there's plenty of time to sit around.


Keeping Track of Money
7:58AM: While Firefly03 slept, I had Quacky help me with entering and scanning the receipts from the first half of the trip. I'd brought the portable scanner with me, and it took us only a minute, maybe two, to get them all scanned in. Then we hand shredded them (well, I, not we -- Quacky couldn't get a good grip) and dumped them in the hotel trash. Why isn't there a paper recycling bin here?


Leaving the Hotel for Cache #2
9:31AM: Firefly03 had risen and hit was time to head to her parents' home. On the way though were three more geocaches which Quacky and I were anxious to find. What a perfect day for geocaching!


Out For a Walk
12:47PM: Following another breakfast of pancakes at Firefly03's parents' home, the five of us (Firefly03, her parents, Quacky, and I) hit the Olde Muskingum Trail for a long walk and some more geocaching. Quacky and I always ended up out front which gives us the option to stop for some photos once in awhile.


Leaving a Present
1:06PM: Quacky and I found this geocache quickly. While Firefly03 took care of the logging, Quacky dropped a gold gift box into the cache for the next person who finds it to keep.


Another Find
2:40PM: It was a long walk along the Olde Muskingum Trail before we found the next geocache. This one wasn't as large as the ammo can we found about an hour ago, but it was still big enough to hold some swag. So Quacky drove in to see if there was anything interesting to trade.


Filling Up
5:41PM: We're on our way back home follow our visit with Firefly03's parents but needed to fill the tank. We enjoyed the chance to get out and stretch. It's not much fun sitting in the car after a long walk.


The Last Cache and a New Friend
7:42PM: Our last cache of the day was in Monroe, just back inside the Michigan borders. In this one Quacky found a freind in a travel big called Little Ducky. They hit it off and the two came back home with us. They left another gold gift box for the next person to find the cache.


Setting Up the Travel Bug Dog Tag
9:29PM: Just home from the trip and the first thing Quacky had us do was set-up his Travel Bug Dog Tag. We'll have to finish it up later, but after checking out Yellow Ducky's tag, he wanted his right away.