BINGO! We have a winner!

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Written by Terri Nealon

Published: July 31 2026

Last Updated: July 31 2026

Hits: 170

Bill Schwend wins another Adventure Awaits Challenge.  This "BINGO" based second quarter challenge took SWAseeker to nine different geocaches with terrain rating of 1.5 and at least one event.  Here is a list of his winning caches:

D1/T1.5  GCBMJ2E  NOT Sammy Hagar 3

D1.5/T1.5  GCBFRZT  High Road

D2/T1.5  GCB73T4  Frond Hill

D2.5/T1.5  GCBH4EZ  Reed the Sign

D3/T1.5  GCBM46Z  Heavy Metal

D3.5/T3.5  GCAY0NT  ROLLING FRUSTRATION

D4/T1.5  GC5J183  North Meets South Challenge

D4.5/T1.5  GCB97B5  Eagle Eye

D5/T1.5  GCBNXPA 10,000+/3 X Fizzy/200 X 5 Types - Challenge

EVENT: GCBKMAJ   2026 SLAGA Spring Picnic

Since his prior win in March 2025, Bill has found just over 9000 more geocaches, bringing his amazing total to 52,309!  This effort includes a streak of finding a cache for 2159 consecutive days and counting.   

If Bill's not out caching or travelling for work, he might be found surrounded by 400,000 ladies or more.  He still actively keeps bees, and harvests and sells their delicious honey.  

CONGRATULATIONS BILL ON ANOTHER CHALLENGE WIN!

Best of SLAGA 2026 - Half Way There

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Written by John Layman

Published: July 01 2026

Last Updated: July 19 2026

Hits: 273

Best of SLAGA, Favorite Caches Placed in the first half of 2026

Of the 198 new caches published in the 100 mile radius SLAGA territory in the first half of 2025, these are the top caches, as determined by % of favorite points awarded. There have been about 2 times as many caches published in the first half of 2026 as there were by this time last year. Way to go, you cache hiders!

As you can see though, we are missing some types. Let's have a banner 2nd half of 2026 for SLAGA land cache hides!

By cache type

By overall % of favorite points awarded

Congrats and thanks to the Cache Owners and everyone else who continues to create and support quality caches in the St. Louis area! Hiders!

SLAGA Springs into Picnicking Season

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Written by Terri Nealon

Published: May 03 2026

Last Updated: May 03 2026

Hits: 549

Spring has sprung and more than fifty geocachers took advantage of it! The SLAGA spring picnic was held on Saturday April 25, 2026 at Bolm-Schuhkraft park in beautiful Columbia, Illinois. The three lovely hosts were 3nina, 6dancer & NEgirl55 who planned a great day out. Three local reviewers graced us with their presence and support of SLAGA, and board members were also in attendance. Treasurer Vorlon40 collected fees and VP GeoKid12 sold merchandise and handed out a single 10K milestone award. VP Rouseabouts announced upcoming events and business, and Secretary TreasureIsle took mental notes for future meeting minutes.

As always, SLAGA members outdid themselves at the picnic with absolutely delicious salads, sides, and desserts to share. These accompanied the perfectly cooked brats, dogs and burgers by Turtleladi1020nhubbs! All in attendance enjoyed a feast and camaraderie under the large shelter in gorgeous 75°F.

A Trackable discovery/pickup board was on display at the picnic, and member HobbitTaz collected new racing trackables from cachers for the June to January travel bug race. If anyone still wants to join the race, contact him via GC.com message before May 15 to arrange a hand-off.  (For more Race information, see the article posted March 31.)

To add more excitement to the spring picnic, the hosts provided yard games adjacent to the shelter, including:  Ping-pong roll, Hillbilly golf, and a couple of cornhole/bean bag toss games. 

 NEgirl55 said, “We had two games with prizes. One was the ping pong roll in which HobbitTaz held the lead with 10 points until SWAseeker rolled his way to 15 points for the win. The other was Hillbilly golf which came down to a tie between hopeza and SWAseeker. In the championship round hopeza prevailed. Each of them won a $15 Schnucks gift card and a cache to be hidden in a place of their choosing.”

The spring SLAGA picnic was a ton of fun and a huge success thanks to the organizers, volunteers, board, and all the members in attendance. If you were unable to make this event, check the SLAGA calendar of events for future ones, including happy hours, CITO's, and other local events hosted by the many wonderful SLAGA members.  Thanks to all that attended and Congratulations to TerriBikes+ on her 10K milestone and award chair!  

Q1 2026 ‘Scrabble’ Challenge Winner

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Written by Terri Nealon

Published: April 07 2026

Last Updated: April 07 2026

Hits: 865

TerriBikes+ showed some “PIZZAZZ” in the 2026 first quarter adventure awaits 'scrabble' challenge. Having four Zs at 10 points each with the event Z doubled, added up to a whopping 55 point score to win her a $25 gift card to Paneras and this first quarter highlight. 

Terri commented: "I trekked, biked, and even hobbled in a foot boot, the last few weeks, for many miles and many smiles this first quarter to achieve my personal goal of gathering all 26 letters.  I wanted the chance to make any high scoring word I could.  But after hundreds of finds, with multiples of most letters, I realized I actually had four Zs!  It was an obvious choice then to pick the word I did, and soon realized I only used four of the 26 letters! 😁  It was luck really that I happened to already have planned trips to visit family and for other purposes where a Z cache awaited me.  Many thanks to the SLAGA board for coming up with such a fun and unique quarterly challenge. I'm looking forward to the next."

Not only did Terri achieve the adventure awaits win this first quarter, but also ended up finding her 10,000th geocache in March as well!  

Congratulations on this win, Terri, and keep caching your way to 25K as many more Adventures Await!  

Let the 2026 Travel Bug Race Begin…

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Written by Terri Nealon

Published: March 31 2026

Last Updated: March 31 2026

Hits: 669

The 2026 SLAGA Travel Bug Race Begins in May! Send your trackable into the wild and watch the adventure unfold.

TB Drop-off: SLAGA Spring Picnic – April 25, 2026 (GCBKMAJ)

Official Race Start: GeoWoodstock XXII – May 23, 2026 (GCB7GWH)

Race Finish Line: One week prior to the January 2027 SLAGA Potluck (TBD)

The starting line is back in sight as SLAGA kicks off a brand-new Travel Bug Race season. This annual favorite invites members to send their travel bugs and other trackables out into the world, watching as fellow geocachers help them journey from cache to cache.

How to Enter the Race

Race Core Categories

This year's race will use the same categories as last year.

In the event of a tie in any category, total miles shown on the TB’s page (minus any starting corrections) will be used as the tiebreaker.

Each participant may enter only one Travel Bug and may win only one category. If a participant places in multiple categories, the second-place TB becomes the category winner.

Racing Tips to Improve Your Chances

New to Travel Bugs?

A Travel Bug or trackable is a uniquely coded geocaching item owned by a player. Its tracking code allows its movement to be logged online each time it is picked up and placed in another cache, creating a shared adventure for everyone involved.

We encourage participants to prepare their trackables in advance and bring them to the designated SLAGA kickoff event for official entry. From there, the community takes over, moving the trackables along and adding stories to their travels.

Whether your travel bug crosses state lines or circles close to home, every log adds to the story. Throughout the season, updates and standings will be shared so everyone can follow the progress and cheer on their favorites.

So dust off those dog tags, prep your trackable, and get ready to race. Adventure, camaraderie, and plenty of logging await in this year’s SLAGA Travel Bug Race!

[Race Information provided by SLAGA member and Travel Bug manager, Mark Derr.]