June in Slaga-Land brought unseasonably warm weather especially during the second half of the month where temperatures were above 90*F nearly everyday. But this did not deter Treasure Isle, Susan Adams, from getting outdoors and geocaching with friends. Her efforts won her the Adventure Awaits Challenge for the month!
(Photo from a road trip last summer 2024 with JanS03 and jasjaq)
Susan has been participating in the Monthly Challenge incentive since it's inception in October 2023. Since she enjoys and finds numerous 'challenge' caches, Susan considers Adventure Awaits another type of challenge. She mentioned her qualifying F-A-T-H-E-R geocaches in reply, when asked why she chose the particular caches this month. "I found two of the caches, Fire Truck (GCB0XDM) and Hope (GC3X36X), on a day trip with swelgus and JanS03 to initially find a cache there with a D/T rating that I needed to complete my second fizzy grid. But these two caches were in the area and I knew they would help me qualify for Adventure Awaits. I found the 'A' cache, Abandoned (GCAA35H), in Barnhart because it was celebrating its second birthday, and I've been doing birthday caches for several years now. Trek to the Top of the Hill (GCB7QRN) cache was a new puzzle cache for which I was fortunate enough to be the first to find. And I try to make the events at Bobby's Place, because it's fairly close to home and I can get there quickly, so my event cache was SW STL Happy Hour - Hello June Edition (GCB7CEB). I usually only stay briefly, but it gives me the opportunity to catch up a bit with many caching friends."
Susan began geocaching while on a family vacation in Berlin, Germany in 2012. Her caching sister, kusunflower, invited her to join in a cache hunt near their hotel, then obviously had to explain the game of geocaching to Susan. And guess who made the find? As it often goes, the first-time cacher spotted the container. So now Susan was encouraged to sign up and choose a geocaching name. That's when Treasure Isle was 'born.' But Susan wasn't sold on the game yet and was a faily desultory cacher finding four or five caches a year, as she only cached when she was with her sister who lives in Virginia. But in 2019, after retiring from her pediatric practice, the HQ Mystery of the Museum game posted and it piqued her interest. After that...she was hooked!
Since that transitional phase in her geocaching history, Susan has found over 7000 caches, has completed a double Fizzy grid and a triple 366-day Calendar grid, mostly because she enjoys finding 'birthday caches.' Currently she has found 1134 birthdays on 366 days of the year. Her Jasmer grid is well within reach too, as she only needs a September 2000 cache to qualify. (How's that for a suggested geotrip incentive, Susan?) As mentioned, Susan also loves challenge caches and delights in working puzzles. She's cached in 37 United States already, as well as in 11 other countries. And for those that enjoy caching streaks, Susan accomplished an impressive 500-day find streak between May '23 and Sept. '24!
When asked about any memorable geocachng experience, Susan shared that, "Definitely the scariest experience while geocaching occurred last fall. I was driving down IL-3 and slowing down to go into a nature area when a truck behind me plowed into the back of my car at full speed. There were skid marks for about 10 feet, so I'm sure he was on his phone or paying no attention to the road for some other reason. My car took out a guardrail and was totaled, but my passenger and I were able to walk away essentially unscathed." The SLAGA family is awfully happy to hear that Susan and friend were unharmed.
