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2022 Fall Picnic

2022 SLAGA Christmas Party

Bellefontaine CITO November 2022

Cachemas 2022 Bonus Day

SLAGA at GeoWoodstock 2023

2024 SLAGA Spring Picnic

2025 New Year's Day Hike, Fort Bellefontaine

Cachetur 101 Class - March 2025

2025 Winter Potluck

2025 Spring Picnic

2025 Spring Picnic

2025 GigaStock in Morgantown WV

2025 GeoWoodstock, Morgantown, WV

SLAGA at Ted Drewes 2025

2025 Christmas Event

2026 NYD Hike

Crazy Beards!

2026 Winter Potluck

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CONGRATULATIONS

John Layman, vorlon40,on your SLAGA Adventure Awaits Monthly Challenge win and $10 Gift Card prize! 

vorlon40
On 3/20/24, John marched his way to find four of his five geocaches, each with a different difficulty rating, after having attended some D1 events earlier in the month.  He found the four on the same day, in the same area, that all fit the challenge.  Speaking of a challenge, John stated "I love challenges [and] solving puzzles, although I'm not always good at it.  I try to seek out challenge caches that I qualify for or can work towards."  He's currently working on completing his fourth FIZZY and his second JASMER!  And some of his other geocaching ventures include focusing on completing series of caches like 'Hidden Creatures' and 'Legends of the Sword.' 

 As for his March Adventure Awaits qualifying caches, John, of course, chose a few 'challenging' caches: 

 

GCAK97T:  D1 Event:  Tuesday Penguin Event

GC3NTV6:  D4 Unknown: Top Ten Christmas Songs - TTCS

GC2M6X7:  D3.5 Unknown: The Two Flutes Tree - TFT

GCA3TOA:  D3 Traditional:  Spanning the River

GCAB7G4:  D2.5 Traditional:  Duck

 

John started geocaching in January of 2015 after he and his wife, Cindy, had exhausted their hunt for all the St. Louis 250th birthday celebration cakes in 2014.  They were looking for something else to do together to explore the area.  Since he'd taken a geocaching class and used a Garmin eTrex GPS, finding some hole punchers hidden in the area, John thought that this outdoor 'game' might be the next fun adventure. So he signed up for a geocaching account under vorlon40 and "found his first cache close to home with a Garmin Nuvi car GPS, but quickly switched to using Cindy’s smartphone, since he didn’t have one at that time.  [He] eventually got [his] own smartphone and a GPS." As stated in his SLAGA officer profile also, John mentioned "one of my favorite cache adventures was a 5/5 which involved solving a two stage cypher and then hiking a 6.5 mile, two stage multi up the ski slopes of Copper Mountain, CO from 10,000 to 12,000 feet."

 

Since that beginning, John has found nearly 7100 caches, has hidden (some adopted) 50 caches, has acquired a love for challenging caches, and has already cached in 37 states to date.  It's obvious he thoroughly enjoys epic adventures which include his SLAGA area group accomplishments of finding 'The Architect' and 'Mysterious Treasure,' both D5/T5s. These geocaching achievements and goals all point to John being an avid and well-rounded geocacher, who enjoys caching thrills and looks forward to his next adventure. Does Adventure Await you too?

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Java1369 (Nikki) leaped, or as you'll find out-maybe rolled, into action this February and was rewarded by becoming our next Adventure Awaits winner.  Logging all of her qualifying caches on Leap Day itself means she just snuck into the running for the drawing. Nikki was halfway through her caching day when she remembered that there was a monthly challenge, and looked over the caches she'd done and realized that she qualified.  "It was a good time, and next time I will come at it with more planning." Her challenge geocaches (four different sizes with one event) are:

GC8AQPZ (Regular) Regular Ol' Cache

GC842DF (Large) Swamp's Edge

GCA465M (Small) Dial P for Penguin

GCAJ10E (Other- Event) Leap Day Lunch

To date, Nikki has found 775 caches. She started geocaching in September 2008, just before her second son was born, because she wanted a fun activity to do with her oldest.  Being the young muggle that he was, however, he was "utterly uninterested in treasure hunting and to this day prefers chucking rocks into lakes" instead.  So caching has become a solo activity for Nikki and besides giving her time in nature, away from the house, it has also brought her to places she would not have otherwise gone.  Although she had almost a 3 year slump at one point, this Leap year Nikki is trying to get as many caches as she can.  She said, "originally I wanted one a day, but after a couple of 'off' days, now I'm aiming for 1000 by the end of the year." 

Besides her geocaching hobby, Nikki keeps plenty busy as a school bus driver, a wife and mother.  But if that's not enough, her extensive list of arts and crafts keep her occupied, as well as her really awesome hobby of roller derby.  Yes!  You read that right.  Nikki skates for the Confluence Crush roller derby on the B Team.  Her derby name is Java Sparkles, because it was her kids' favorite choice from a provided list.  And her derby number is 1369, which she claims is because she is a particulary unlucky person.  So now you know why her geoname is Java1369.  But Nikki...with this February Adventure Awaits win, I think your luck has changed.

Adv Awaits Feb 24 Hava1369 helmet 

 
 

 

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Adventure Awaits Jan 24 3nina Millie and hubby 

Congratulations to 3nina, Millie Nagel, on her January 2024 SLAGA Adventure Awaits Monthly Challenge win and $10 Gift Card prize!  During the frigid month of January, Millie braved the elements and found her five geocaches, each from a different CO (Cache Owner) with one being an event.  Millie participates in the Adventure Awaits challenges because they are fun and force her to choose exciting geocaches for her submittals.  Being from Red Bud, IL, it's a bit of a drive for her to get to some of the events, but she enjoys meeting, chatting and putting faces to geonames of other cachers once there. The event for her January adventure was one of her favorite events – SLAGA Winter Potluck. She said, "There are so many people to talk to and it seems like there is not enough time. I like volunteering at this and other events when possible."  Millie's entries for January are: 

GC5HX50   CO: St Louis Game Jam,  Wherigo,   Meet Me in 1904

GCA49MT  CO: Crazy_Kid13,  Traditional,  There's a hole in the bucket!

GCA9AJC  CO: Java1369,  Traditional,  Guess What?

GCAFEV4  CO: ABagbyGSSI,  Traditional,  Girl Scout Silver

GCAG053  CO: L Frank and Denmother,  Event,  SLAGA Winter Potluck & Cabin Fever - 2024

When asked how she got started, Millie mentioned, "My high school classmate 6dancer, Denise, got me started geocaching in January 2009, but I was not immediately hooked. It actually took a few years to appreciate the places and things I saw while caching. Once I retired in 2020, it was full steam ahead! No matter where we go, the geocaching app is always open and I am searching the area."  These days, 3nina leaves behind her muggle husband once or twice a week to go caching with 6dancer.  She currently has found over 3700 geocaches. 
 
As for a fun or memorable geocaching experience, Millie replied that, " I must be a slow learner (because) it seems 6dancer talks me into things that we should not be doing. One time she had me driving on a walking trail, she kept saying it looks like a road to me!"  And recently, they were caching in National City - Brooklyn, Illinois area, which she describes as a BAD area. While caching, a policeman pulled up. Millie shared their experience. "We told him what we were doing and he seemed to know what it was. He proceeded to tell us we were on private property, which the owner has trespassers arrested, plus this is the area that dead bodies are dumped! He was nice and kept an eye on us until we were out of the area. All in a normal day caching!"
 
Bet you SLAGA geocachers didn't realize that 3nina was so adventurous.  Millie, more adventures await you, so have a blast, stay safe, and report back if you ever do find a body while caching.  Inquiring minds will want to know!    

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Here are the final standings of the SLAGA Travel Bug Race! Congrats to Hobit Taz, bluedaisy, & MrsSpongy! Thank you to all who participated!

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...AND THE WINNER IS...STEVENDEDE
 
Win Nov 23 Stevendede
 
Congratulations to Steve Jacobs on his November SLAGA Adventure Awaits Monthly Challenge win and $10 Gift Card prize for finding and submitting five different types of geocaches and one event cache.  His November 2023 geocaching entries, listed below, were chosen because they were each favorites of the month for him.  When asked why Steve decided to take part in the November challenge, he said it was "because cootie-man pestered me" to participate, "but I think it's great that SLAGA is trying something new."
 

GCA1FPG. Rapunzel Traditional

GC6FXDF  Lewis and Clark Expedition. Letterbox

GC7KT9P  1150 AD. - Tour Through Time. Wherigo

GCACYW6  Pop-A-Squat Port-A-Pot Challenge. Mystery

*GCAEF3M  Geocaching International Film Festival SLAGA Style. Event *

Steve started geocaching in 2011 with his 12 year old daughter, who cached with him for several years. His wife DeDe is a muggle, but has always let him grab a geocache or two during their travels together, so Steve has cached fairly steadily over these past 12 years. As a matter of fact, there were only 21 days between his first and second geocaches, and amazingly that is still the longest slump in his geocaching history.  Steve retired this past April, so he definitely has more time to dedicate to geocaching and his other hobbies now, including collecting and repairing vintage pocket watches and travel.
 
It's a good thing travel is a hobby of Steve's, because his favorite caching experiences involve traveliing and letting geocaches bring him to places that he wouldn't have experienced otherwise.  In September of 2023, Steve and DeDe traveled through Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany.  Some of the best sights they visited  were ones where Steve targeted a geocache.  During their trip, Steve actually enjoyed a day in Wachtendonk, Germany with another geocacher from Frankfort, whom he had met at an event in Creve Coeur, MO.  The caching duo accomplished two multis that took 4 hours each.  Steve commented that he never could have done those without a native German-speaking cacher.  Now that's an example of international geocaching fun and friends. 
 
Steve is most proud of having geocached in every county on the Isle of Great Britain, with the exception of Cornwall.  According to Project-GC (quite a fun fact), Steve has cached in more counties in the UK than any other American geocacher.  Steve has hidden 30 geocaches to enhance this fun game and has found an astonishing 16,056 caches as of this posting.  He has now won the November SLAGA Adventure Awaits challenge.  Only Steve knows what is next on his geocaching bucket list.  The Adventure Awaits! 
 

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Here are the current standings in the SLAGA Travel Bug Race:

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  1. SLAGA 2023 Travel Bug Race October Update
  2. ADVENTURE AWAITS - October Challenge LIVE!
  3. ADVENTURE AWAITS - A New Monthly Challenge
  4. SLAGA 2023 Travel Bug Race September Update
  5. SLAGA Featured on Geocache Adventures
  6. SLAGA 2023 Travel Bug Race Update
  7. "GeoBirding"
  8. Santa Cachemas Steps Down from His Sleigh
  9. Cachemas 2022 Hall of Fame
  10. SLAGA Sticker

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