Silver for Team-Ducky

Team-Ducky’s 500th ducky, created by both UU Jester and Chef Ducky.

Playing Volleyball?

Inspired by the Summer Olympics and the traditional metal for 500.

Diving?

“Silver Medal for Team-Ducky” was placed in “Dogs at Delaney” by UU Jester on August, 11, 2012.

Congratulations to “Nemo’s Posse” for finding the ducky and taking home the silver!

 

“Quack Quack the Ewok” was created by UU Jester on August 10, 2012.

He was placed in the final of the Whereigo Cache, “Star Wars – Battle of Endor”  located in Northborough, Massachusetts.

Wicket the Ewok

 

Brooks BBQ Chicken is famous in the Oneonta area….

Created by Craig for the Skeeter’s Veiw cache when Team-Ducky stopped at the adjacent BBQ joint for lunch on their way back to the Ducky Pond on July 22, 2012.

The front of the ducky shows a familiar icon from Brooks House of  BBQ back home in Oneonta.  A man with a hatchet chasing a chicken.

Truth be told, while Cheryl and Craig do like Brooks BBQ chicken, we don’t think it is as fabulous as hype would indicate.

However, the experience we had in PA at the BBQ joint by this cache paled in every way compared to Brooks…

“Better BBQ 205 miles —–>”

If you are in the ares of the Ducky Pond, you might try Brooks.  Or you might try our favorite place, Rubbin’ Butts BBQ.

Congratulations to Yellow Ruby for finding the Better BBQ ducky.

Created by…we don’t know who.. at the Geocachers Near & Afar Meet n Greet on July 19, 2012.  We broke out the blank duckies and the marker box and let everyone have a go at ducky decorating.  At the end of the night, this one was left behind, unclaimed.  We left it in the Blue Star cache on our way back to the Ducky Pond on July 21, 2012.  It appears to have flown the coop and is now MIA in addition to being Anonymous.

Peace, Love, and Cupcakes!

Created by Cheryl in honor of and inspired by Nora of C_Clan while at the Geocachers Near & Afar event on July 19, 2012.

 

The Cutest Ducky poses with The Cutest Cacher

Cheryl made the ducky while sitting right next to Nora and Nora never noticed the resemblance until the ducky was finished.

GeoFroggy from Blackburg, VA

Created by Craig and Cheryl as a prize for the Geocachers Near & Afar event we hosted in Radford, VA, on July 19, 2012.

C_Clan from Los Alamos, NM

When cachers signed in for the event, UU Jester polled them for their home location and added it to the ducky.

Team-Ducky from Oneonta, NY; Paganmen from Radford, VA; EmilyJen from ?, MD; Bethany in Wonderland from Rockville, MD. (Might have those two confused.)

GeoFroggy won the ducky, so Chef Ducky personalized the ducky for her before we gave it to her.

Inspired by the SUUSI 2012 artwork.

Created by Craig in celebration of the geocaching seminars Team-Ducky led at SUSSI 2012.

The “Look To This Day” ducky was left in the “Creeping in the Bushes” cache on the Radford University campus on July 16th, 2012.

Congratulations to EmilyJen on finding and snagging the “Look To This Day” ducky on July 17, 2012.

Created by Craig for Strike King on July 14, 2012.

Inspired by the cache name and description.  Not sure what villain the Super Striker might be fighting now.

(I was going to add a clip highlighting The Bowler from the movie, Mystery Men, but I couldn’t find one that fit here easily.)

Created by Craig as a tribute to an art project by former colleague, Tanya Mikulas.

Tanya took photos of the devastation and the new life after the tornadoes wiped out her community.  She then started a Kickstarter project to raise funds to turn the photos into a art exhibition and a book.  Cheryl and Craig supported the project.

The name of her photo website is Scale Photography and the name of the photo book she is publishing is “Blown Away.”

Subject, Perspective, Dimension, Focus

Craig decided to honor Tanya’s artwork, creativity, and perseverance by turning this ducky into a traveler.

Forest Lake, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.A.

The ducky was released in the “Creeping In The Bushes” cache on July 16th, while attending SUUSI at the Radford University.

The “Blown Away” ducky’s mission is to “wing its way to locations of hope, redemption, and rebuilding in order to highlight and collect examples of BEAUTY and BRAVERY in the midst of Destruction and Desolation.

 

Created by Craig for the “All About the Town series:  False Pond” cache on July 10, 2012.

While UU Jester was playing hooky, they didn’t actually take a nap under a tree or go fishing.

The lure of all of these FTFs was greater than the pull of work… but eventually we had to call it quits and head in to the office.

Congrats to Team-ARKville for grabbing the lazy ducky.

In which, Spirit tries to take UU Jester for a ride.

Created by Craig for the “All About the town series: Sure is a Big Rock!” cache on July 10th, 2012.

 

Let’s go down into this steep ravine!

As we were looking for the cache, Spirit decided to dive down a nearby steep ravine.

“Red Alert! All Hands! Red Alert! Deploy Grappling Hook! Prepare for Crash!”

Fortunately, UU Jester was able to grab a nearby tree before Spirit dragged them both down the ravine.  From that vantage point, the cache was easy to spot and the FTF was theirs.  Not sure who grabbed the ducky…

 

Created by Craig for the “All About the town series: That’s about it!” on July 10, 2012.

The mosquitos were fierce in the area and Spirit and UU Jester were trying hard to to avoid being lunch.  We deployed our newest ducky, Mosquito Bait, to try and negotiate a truce.

The truce was rejected, so we grabbed the FTF on the cache and hightailed it out of there.   Hope Mosquito Bait does a better job for Team-ARKville, who grabbed the ducky on July 15, 2012.

A collaborative ducky created by Cheryl, Craig, and the Amanda (of MoJo06) for “Where’s Kathy?!” cache on July 7, 2012.

Recognizing real electrical wires/equipment is a good skill to have as a geocacher.  Sparky is our electrical test ducky.  Sparky says, “Electricity is dangerous, kids.  Be careful when looking for those geocaches.”

 

Created by Craig for “A Dinosaur Train at the Berkshire Geobash: Giganotos” on July 7, 2012.

There are a series of Dinosaur Train caches all over the country inspired by the children’s television series of the same name.  This is the first one we’ve encountered.

Ducky Dinosaurs are fun to make… probably because they have common ancestors.  We’re not sure who took the Gi-Duck-A-Saurus home…

…hope they had a big car.

 

Created by Craig as the event ducky for the Berkshire Geobash (1st one!) on July 7, 2012.

There first time hosting an event and they managed to make it a MEGA (over 500 people attended.)

We popped in for the event, entered the raffle (one a small prize), got our picture taken with Signal, and then left on an epic geocaching adventure with our friends MoJo06.

The front of the ducky was inspired by this graphic from the Berkshire Geobash t-shirts (which we didn’t get… darn.)

Since we couldn’t enter the ducky in the raffle and we didn’t know any of the organizers, we gave the ducky to MoJo06 for being our caching companions for the day.

 

First to Find Prize for Team-Ducky’s “Fowlin’ in Love” cache.

Created by Craig as the FTF prize for Team-Ducky’s “Folwin’ in Love” cache on June 22, 2012.

First to Find – TeamGAWK

FTF honors go to TeamGAWK— though they missed the ducky, so it is still waiting at the Ducky Pond for them claim their prize.

 

“Say the secret word and win $100!”

Created by Craig for the local geocaching event, “Ahhh, the summer is here…let’s enjoy it.”

The ducky was perched high in a tree above the event and was awarded to the first person that looked up and said the secret word.  (“I see a ducky.”

Congratulations to Luckless, our intrepid, eagle-eye birder.

Luckless spotted it before the event had even fully started.  (She was looking up to see what birds she could see.)

1,000th Cache! ——-2nd ASPGB ——–1st CITO——- 2 Lackeys

Created by Craig to celebrate the conclusion of Team-Ducky’s Allegany State Park Geobash VII Adventure.

0 Prizes —– 4 days —– 3 Events —– 12 regular caches —– 17 custom signature duckies

Left in the last cache we found in the park during this trip, ASP Covered Bridge 3, on May 20, 2012.

0 Ticks —- 5 Night Caches —- 1 DNF —- 24+ Travelers Discovered —- 3 Deer —-2 New Friends

So far, no one has claimed our Tally-Quacker.

Lots of Fun!

Created by Craig for the ASP CITO on May 20, 2012.

Team-Ducky’s first CITO (Cache In Trash Out) event.  Gave the ducky to an event organizer.

Created by Craig for a night cache some time ago.  Cosmos has been living in the cache bag for over a year.

Left in the Night Owl Cache on May 19, 2012 as part of the Allegany State Park Geobash VII.

Had a great time night caching with MoJo06.

Spirit, the Team-Ducky Doggy, enjoys Night Caches!

Created by Craig for the PBNC cache (Peanut Boy Night Cache) at the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII on May 19, 2012.

The Cache Hunter symbol from Alleganey State Park Geobash VII

Penny, the T-D Ducky, works at the Cheesecake Quackery, of course.

Created by Cheryl and Craig for the Big Bang Theory – Penny cache at the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII on May 19th, 2012.

Penny, the T-D Ducky, got off shift at the Cheesecake Quackery and was whisked away by GO Geiger on May 20th, 2012.

Signed by Groundspeak lackey, Moun10Bike.

Created by Craig and Cheryl for the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

Signed by Groundspeak lackey, PClavier.

The Groundspeak Lackeys, Moun10Bike and PClavier, were coming to ASPGB VII, so we prepared this ducky for them…. then we  went looking for them.

We found them hanging out in the vendor tent and they kindly agreed to sign our ducky (and gave us some swag to boot.)

As cool as the ducky was with the Lacky signatures, we had to release it into the wild at the Stone Summit cache on May 19, 2012.

Created by Craig and Cheryl for the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

It was Craig’s first attempt at a deer ducky in honor of this year’s ASPGB mascot, Bambi.

Team-Ducky, a Tail of True Love!

Cheryl added the personal touch before we left it at one of our favorite caches, “I’m Falling For You,” on May 19, 2012

Icon for the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII

Created by Craig for the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

ASPGB VII

Left in the 101 Dalmatians #79 night cache on May 18, 2012.

Reptile? Wolf?

Created by Craig for the night caches at the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

Owl?

Dropped in the night cache, “101 Dalmatians #74“, on May 18, 2012.

Spider?

The cache owners have put out 113 different 1o1 Dalmatians caches in the area.  If you find and list the 100 dalmatian puppies, you can find the hidden cache and win a special coin.

Bug?

A glow in the dark “Cache Hunters” logo from ASPGB VII. (cameo: Amber of MoJo06)

Created by Craig for Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

Joe and Amber (sort of) of MoJo06 (cameo: Amber of MoJo06)

Finished th ducky and dropped it in the night cache, 101 Dalmatians #75, on May 18, 2012.

(cameo: Amber of MoJo06)

We met this wonderfully fun caching couple, MoJo06, earlier in the day and then invited them to go night caching with us.  This was their first Night Cache.

(cameo: Amber of MoJo 06)

It seemed appropriate that we memorialize this achievement on the ducky– and that they snarf the ducky from the cache.

Inspired by Raj from Big Bang Theory

Created by Craig and Cheryl for the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

Raj from Big Bang Theory (image from spoilertv.co.uk)

Created specifically for and left in the “Big Bang Theory – Rajesh” cache on May 18th, 2012.

Dr. Rajesh Koothrappali is an astrophysicist.

For the Geobash, they put out a series of caches based on The Big Bang Theory.

Raj suffers from “Selective Mutism” and is unable to speak to pretty girls except under the influence of alcohol.

Hundreds of people visited the cache, but we’re not sure if anyone adopted Rajcache Ducky.

We suspect he was found by a pretty cacher of the female persuasion and is unable to let us know where he is.

Raj is now the proud owner of a very masculine puppy.

We’re not worried, though.  Raj has a puppy to keep him company.

Created by Craig for the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

Bambi, the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII mascot

Craig (and Spirit, the Team-Ducky Doggy) hiked through the pines to leave this ducky in the Marilla Brook cache on May 18, 2012.

While the hike wasn’t in the park proper, it was one of the nicer hikes of our weekend adventure.

…is not Gold?

Created by Craig and Cheryl for the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

Craig (and Spirit, the Team-Ducky Doggy) dropped this ducky in KacheKat’s Grand, a golden ammo can celebrating her 1,oooth cache milestone.

What? You’ve never seen a Chicken showing off her thighs?

Created by Craig and Cheryl for Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

Bambi, the ASPGB VII mascot, has nice legs, too.

We left “Nice Legs!” in the “Chicken Legs III” cache,  a nice hike down a steep hill that left our legs feeling a bit wobbly.

UU Jester is checking out Chef Ducky….

The nearby Earthcache, Thunder Rocks II, was well worth the stop and this cache was worth the hike.

Chef Ducky has nice gams…!

Congratulations to MountainBikerGal for finding “Nice Legs.”

Bambi, the ASPGB VII mascot, holds Team-Ducky’s 1,000 cache.

Created by Craig and Cheryl for the Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

The ducky celebrates Team-Ducky’s 1,000th find.

We entered D468 “The Missing Mascot” and D469 “Team-Ducky Finds 1,000 at ASPGB VII” into the event raffle.

We haven’t heard yet who won the ducky nest.

The mascot / icon from Alleganey State Park Geobash VI.

Created by Craig and Cheryl, originally for Alleganey State Park Geobash VI.

Target symbol from Alleganey State Park Geobash VII.

We never made it to that Geobash, so we saved it for the next year’s event– and added the new icon.

We made this one of two event duckies for Alleganey State Park GeoBash VII, our 1,000th smiley!

We placed both of the event duckies in a special “Ducky Nest” with some other prizes and donated them to the event raffle.

D468 and D469 posing before entering the raffle.

The winner of the “Ducky Nest” in the raffle hasn’t let us know yet.

(Image from EnchantedMountains.com)

This little chipmunk was the mascot from the Alleganey State Park Geobash VI.

Created by Craig for Alleganey State Park Geobash VI.

Unfortunately, Team-Ducky never made it to the Geobash last year, so the chipmunk has hanging out at the Ducky-Pond.

We promised to get it to the park before the next geobash and we just made it.

A Little Chipmunk Late finally arrived at the ASPGB event, the ASPBGB VI Bonfire Meet-n-Greet.  We gave the event ducky to StigLoc, one of the event organizers on May 18, 2012.

Bambi, the ASPGB VII mascot, checks out a nearby favorite eatery.

Created by Cheryl and Craig for our Alleganey State Park Geobash VII adventure.

Left in Brain Freeze on May 19th, 2012.

Stopped by this popular summer drive-in and found the cache hidden in the back yard.

Congratulations to Run_21 for finding this ducky!

Created by Craig for the Olympic Odyssey: ATHENA cache on May 11, 2012.

Glaucus was the name of Athena’s owl.  (Glaucus is the Greek word for owl….original, yes?)

Created by Craig for the Olympic Odyssey: HADES cache on May 11, 2012.

Charon ferried dead souls (and the occasional live interloper) across the river Styx into the realm of Hades.

Charon (artist unknown, from sickchirpse.com)

Not sure how lost cachers will cross the nearby stream now since TeamGAWK took Charon home with them…

Hephaestus, the Ducksmith God

Created by Craig  for Olympic Odyssey: HEPHAESTUS  cache on May 11, 2012.

Like his Greek/Roman counterpoint, Hephaestus the Ducksmith has a crippled limb.

Congratulations to LCSM for adding Hephaestus to her ducky pantheon.

Poseiducky, Lord of the Seven Sea(bird)s

Created by Craig for the Olympic Odyssey: POSEIDON cache on May 11, 2012.

Inspired by the wonderfully themed cache and the water-rich surroundings.

“Poseidon” by grafix from comicvine.com

LCSM rescued Poseidon from his dry “prison” shortly after he was placed there.

Created by Craig for Stumpy’s Boulder Cache on April 24th, 2012.

Spirit and I scared away two deer and a wild turkey from the cache site when we first arrived.

Photo from AllAboutBirds.Org

The early ducky (and doggy) gets the FTF…

Team-Ducky's 104th FTF.

Early FTF Bird was nabbed by another early bird, GPSbarb.

Created by Craig for Where the Wind Blew on April 17th, 2012.

The cache was supposedly guarded by ogres near the property line (and there were a lot of trees pushed over by the brutes.)

103rd FTF for Team-Ducky!

So it seemed fitting to put a ducky ogre into service to distract it long enough for us to get the cache.

POLLYphemus, the Cyclops Ducky

Created by Craig for the 1-Won-1 Cache on April 16, 2012.

POLLYphemus has terrible peripheral vision....

This was Team-Ducky’s 102nd First-to-Find.

Polyphemus, cyclops son of Poseidon and Thoosa.

The cache was placed by some local caching pals, teamGAWK, who leave GAWKeyes as their signature item.

TeamGAWK logo

This was one of their first caches and it seemed appropriate to honor them with a one-eyed ducky.

“One Eye Love” by Heywood Banks, recorded on the Bob and Tom Show.

Eternal Hope: Peace and Love Around the World

Created by Craig for the Eternal Hope cache on April 16, 2012.

FIRST-TO-FIND #101

This was Team-Ducky’s 101st First-to-Find and our 2nd Terrain 5 cache.  Many thanks to GPSbarb for making it possible and for making it so much fun.

UU Jester poses with Eternal Hope and GPSbarb's canoe.

FIRST TO FIND for Team-Ducky & GPSbarb!

Created by Craig for the Smoke in the Water cache on April 16, 2012.

UU Jester was in the front of the canoe-- barely.

This was Team-Ducky’s 100th First-To-Find!

GPSbarb provided the canoe and did all the hard work...

It was also Team-Ducky’s first LEVEL 5 TERRAIN cache.  (Every cache is rated on a scale of 1-5 in Difficulty and Terrain.  Terrain 5 means you need special equipment to get to the cache… like a canoe.)

Fortunately, GPSbarb has a canoe-- and is a great friend to ducks.

It was a great day for a canoe trip across this hidden lake in the woods!

A wonderful view and a fun cache.

GPSbarb, fittingly enough, snarfed Any Terrain For An FTF ducky.   (She more than earned it.)

Spirit points out the cache!

Created by Craig for Picture This… on April 9, 2012, while geocaching and FTF hunting with Tundra Wolf and his pack.  It was a long distance drive in the quest for an FTF, but we managed to get it.  (FTF #97 for Team-Ducky!)

Tundra Wolf and UU Jester sneak up on the FTF.

Congratulations to GPSbarb for finding the ducky and adding it to her collection.

R.I.P. Plucky Ducky XXIV 4-9-12

Created by Craig for the Cobleskill Cemetery Cache on April 9, 2012.

"Plucky was looking for a view to die for..."

Tundra Wolf was kind enough to monitor Spirit while the ducky was made.

"...found it and now he lives no more."

The view from the cache site was spectacular!

 

Spirit, Luna, and Jewel waiting not-so-patiently.

Created by Craig for Deep Center Field on April 9, 2012.

While there were no balls available at this baseball themed cache, there were plenty of other things in the cache for the doggies to play with.

Tundra Wolf snarfed the ducky after Luna grabbed it first.

Beware! There may be a swag muggler about...

Created by Craig for the Baden-Powell, Treasures: Adventuring Crews cache on March 28, 2012.  The cache was easily found, but it was once again empty of swag.

Best keep you eyes open for anyone suspicious...

 

Created by Craig for the cache, “London Calling!!! (will you answer?)“, on March 17th, 2012.  UU Jester was headed southwest for a workshop for the UUTRM and stopped by this cache for a quick break.  London and calling make him think of a police call box… which can only mean one thing….

The 11th Doctor (fond of fishfingers and custard, fez hats, and bow ties.)

Ducktor dropped by the “cache” box and is waiting for the chameleon circuit to be fixed.

Created by Craig for Land of the Twins on March 8, 2012 while in the area for a Board retreat for the UU Trauma Response Ministry Team.

Cameo: Flying_Rev and Gingersnap (of Gingersnap&Greybeard.)

Trauma Ducky Deployed appears to be on assignment now with mixwithh20.