Well, have you all seen the maps on GC.com?? They are pitiful especially the MapQuest Aerial product. Apparently GC.com users hit Google Maps >2M times daily, so Google started charging for the use and GC.com had to find other products. Likely the slow loading is a server problem (so they say), but if you are running FireFox and have Greasemonkey, there is a script that brings you the old maps for your use.
Open Firefox - select the Tools drop down box, click on Add-ons
If you already have Greasemonkey installed, in add-ons manager on the left side of the page there should be a little monkey that says User Scripts next to it. Click on that. In the big box to the right in the upper left hand corner there should be a link that says Get user scripts.
When that page comes up, there is a search box on the right hand side that says Script Search. In that box type in "Geocaching.com extra map layers" omitting the quotes. There is an explanation of the script and the install button.
Hope this is of use..