Table of Contents

Cover Page

An Interview with DeViDe

Solving Mystery/Puzzle Caches

An Interview with SnappyTurtles

Don't Miss the Dixie Train & Caboose

A Few Words from A Couple of the Totally Insane

Regular Features

Chuckles

Credits

Back Issues of the UTAG Magazine

The SnappyTurtles are Wil Adams, his wife Melea, his son Will and his daughter Megan. They live in St. George, Utah and have only been geocaching since November 2005. One look at their website and it becomes obvious that there are some creative juices flowing through their veins.

UM: How did you select your caching name and how do you pronounce it?
Since our last name is Adams we like to have some fun with the Addams family theme song. Plus we like turtles and we live in turtle country.

UM: What do/did you do for a living?
Massage Therapist

UM: Are co-workers aware that you geocache?
Yes, and whenever I don't have an appointment and leave for a break they ask me if I'm going to do that geocaching stuff.

UM: Do they participate?
There is one person in the salon that caches. In fact, her family and my family started at the same time.

UM: How and when did you get started geocaching?
When I worked for a resort spa in the area, the guests would talk about going out and treasure hunting with a GPS. Sounded fun but never looked into it. About a year later in my own practice a client (call2teachfamily) started telling me about this new game she started playing. It sounded a lot like what I had heard in the past. Every time this client would come in she would tell me more about it and said if I ever got a GPS she'll take me out and show me how to use it and find some caches. So I ordered one off of Ebay and the Snappy kids and I went out November 13th, 2005, and the rest is history. Geocaching has become a big part of our relaxation and recreational life.

UM: What do you like best about geocaching?
Wow, the whole thing: finds, FTF, hiding, the feedback on finds, finding new places, learning history, the views, the people, the excitement, the thrill, being with friends and family, and on and on. Each day of geocaching brings a wonderful joy to my life, I would have to say that is what I like best.

UM: How often do you get out searching for new geocaches?
A lot of the time, as soon as they come out and within a 10 mile radius, beyond that we take our time. We usually average about 18 days out of the month cachin'.

UM: Who usually goes geocaching with you, or do you often go alone?
It just depends what is happening. If a FTF comes out and there's no one to go with me (early in the morning or late at night) I will go alone. But most of the time I will take my wife and daughter. Every once in awhile my son will join in. I will have to admit I really like it when it is just my wife and I, and we make it a geo-date.

UM: What is your most memorable geocaching experience?
I would have to say when we when out to "Bigfoot was Here!" When we first moved to St. George six years ago we went out to this location to check out the petroglyphs. So 5 1/2 years later we knew where we were going. The drive out there was fun in the Jeep, only a 2x4 though. And on our way out, there were other caches to grab. As we neared the area the road started turning into a soft sandy mush in areas. I didn't like the feel of it as we drove through patches of sand it sucked up the speed of the vehicle. As we came around the final bend the entire road was engulfed in this sandy mess for about a couple hundred yards. As I drove through it I thought I was going to get stuck and off to the side of the road looked like firmer ground. As I turned off I realized I made a mistake and the ground became even softer, and sucking up the Jeep even more. Forcing my way through it I saw a hard dirt road ahead and to my left and turned towards it. To my surprise a small ditch (more like a large inverted speed bump) laid between me and the road. Not being about to slam on the brakes, let's just say if I was watching it on TV, it would have been one of those commercial where you see the Jeep flying through the air and sand going everywhere. Whew, but we made it to the cache. The Jeep was fine and so were we. The adventure didn't end there. I didn't want to go back the same way and there were two other roads to take so we followed one of them. Oops wrong road, ended up getting stuck and high centered going over one ditch for awhile, then driving on a bit more only to find out that the road ended. After going back we ended up taking the same road out and went on cachin' for the rest of the day. I look back on it now and think of how much fun we had that day.

UM: What types of caches do you prefer to go for, and why?
We like them all, but we really like virtuals with history. As for the kids they like the caches with trading items. And you know as an adult we always think that caches always collect a bunch of geo-junk. But my daughter loves that stuff.

UM: Do you have an all-time favorite?
#4 Privet Drive, in San Diego. My wife is a big Harry Potter fan and the whole ambience of this cache made it special.

UM: What makes a cache a "good" cache?
(1) Container: creativity, and doing something I haven't seen before. (2) Location: Taking us places we would have never have gone. (3) Theme: Fun, playful, and creative. Not necessarily all at the same time.

UM: Do you have any special purpose/theme to caches you've placed?
Themes and games, the one that gets visited the most is the Legacy Car Wash, that has a car wash theme. Some of my favorites are: The Journey to Ahhz series, A barrel of Laughs, On the Cover of a Magazine, DEAL or NO DEAL, and The Amazing Race. I think the one that is most popular among other cachers is Treasure Chest Hunt, even though it doesn't fit into a theme or game catagory.

UM: Do you own any travel bugs?
Yes, I bought four tags.

UM: Where are they and how have they done toward accomplishing their goals?
My first was Sammy the celebration bear. It took forever to get him moving. I didn't realize how long people held onto TB's. Sammy is currently in Canada. The next was this funny, furry ball with a face and it vibrated and made noise, named Fuzzy. It traveled to two caches before it disappeared. My third I found a Ninja Turtle in a cache and I themed it as a Snappy Ninja Turtles. It traveled to about four caches when I found out that someone ripped the tags off and took the turtle. The four tags I gave away as a FTF gift. But I do like tracking the geocoins more, for me they seem to move faster and I have them racing each other and it seems to get the cachers more involved in the mission of the coin.

UM: Have you done much caching outside of Utah?
A bit.

UM: Where?
Well, since we live in St. George we are only a hop, skip and a jump away from AZ and NV. We recently went to CA as well.

UM: How is caching different in other areas?
At home you get to know the style of hiding the cachers do, so you know what to look for. It is fun to go other places, but it always nice to come home to your friends and their caches.

UM: What is the farthest you've traveled strictly to find a cache or travel bug?
Jat311andElf placed a White Jeep in the last container in the Journey to Ahhz. It's about a two to two and a half hour round trip from my home, depends on how many other caches I go to on the way. Went there got the tracking numbers, took some pictures and left it for the next person to make the journey.

UM: What features would your "perfect" caching vehicle have?
I would have to say an Xterra with bonus features of a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. So when a lake, a mighty river, mountain, or a subdivision get in my way I could float on it or fly over it. Otherwise my Xterra 4X4 works just fine.

UM: Have you had any animal encounters in your geocaching?
Just recently a herd of sheep blocked us from getting to a cache for a while.

UM: Have you met many other cachers while hunting for a cache?
Every once in awhile we'll bump into someone. We find it interesting though that most of the cachers we do meet are from out of town.

UM: Have you ever had to explain what you were doing to a member of law enforcement? Or to vigilant neighbors? Or to inquisitive muggles?
Law enforcement. We like to look for caches at night, especially if it is a first to find. I was alone on this one and was searching a park. Which I didn't know closed after 10 pm. I saw the officer drive into the parking lot and came around and parked his car next to mine. I needed a stronger flashlight so a started walking towards him (he was by my truck). And explained what I was doing and I asked if I was disturbing anyone. He was just doing his rounds then he stated that it sounded like a fun church activity and as he left he reminded me of the park hours (at no time did I tell him it was a church activity)?????

UM: How do you prepare for a day of geocaching?
We used to print out all the papers and go down the list. Now, once in awhile we make a list. But more often than not we just download a bunch in an area and pick and choose as we go. And we don't print off paper much anymore, unless it's virtuals.

UM: Are you paperless?
We are in the process of going paperless. It will be so nice to be able to have the hint on those that are a little harder to find, to cut down on the DNF's.

UM: Do you have any geocaching tips/tricks that help you be more effective?
What I have told my daughter--and now she finds most of them--is to look for areas where the weeds are all smashed down, and things that look out of place.

UM: Do you have any pets?
Fish and one gecko.

UM: What is your favorite TV show? And why?
Snappy Dad: Criminal Minds/CSI. Mom's is the Amazing Race. Son Will's is the Family Guy. Daughter Megan's is Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

UM: What is your favorite movie or type of movie? And why?
Action. Too many to narrow down.

UM: What is your favorite book or author? And why?
Harry Potter's series, all around family book.

UM: What is your favorite board game or party game?
Mine - Balderdash or Stratego, Wife - Clue or Boggle, Daughter - Battleship, Son - Twister

UM: Do you have a favorite quote or pearl of wisdom?
Seize the Day or Give a gift of happiness... Share a smile.

UM: Do you have any other hobbies or interests that compete with your time spent geocaching?
Even though I'm not an "artist" I love to create artsy things, there are so many things to play with out there. But it drives my wife nuts. One great thing about geocaching is that I get to be as creative as I can be when making a cache and I'm doing two hobbies at once.