Blog | Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization | Caching the Capital Region and Beyond

Spotlight Cache: Burke Lake Park

Posted on December 8, 2022 by Heather

#PretendToBeATimeTravelerDay (December 8) Today we’re going back in time to find the oldest cache in Virginia. Welcome to Burke Lake Park (GC175) — did you see how short that GC code is? This cache has been around since December 17th, 2000 – which makes it a favorite visit for those trying to fill in their Jasmer Challenge grid. There’s lots to love about this cache. It is a big ‘ol container. That makes it easier to find for beginners and means it has lots of room for SWAG items inside. It also isn’t too far from the parking and the trail, which means its an easy find on a day where long hikes aren’t possible. If you do want to go for a long hike, though, this is a beautiful park to do so. Burke Lake Park has lots of trails, disc golf, kayaking, picnicking, and more. At time of … Continue reading →

Voting Open for 2023 NoVAGO Officers

Posted on December 8, 2022 by Heather

VOTING OPEN FOR 2023 NoVAGO Officers Last month we asked our membership to nominate volunteers to fill the officer positions for the 2023 board. You can read that article with the job descriptions by CLICKING HERE. You can also find a link to our By-Laws here. [This post has been updated from a previous version, no longer on the site. If you voted before December 8th, your first vote was deleted and you may vote again in this new election.] The office of president is the only contested position this year. Please read a little about each candidate in the drop menu below before heading to the voting form. Christopher G. “Awesnap” Christopher G. “Awesnap” I have been a member of NoVAGO for 10 years. Any current or previous positions held in NoVAGO? Director (2014 & 2020) and Public Relations Officer (2016-2019 & 2021) When asked if I was interested … Continue reading →

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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Guest Author: Effstop (thanks for sharing some thoughts with us) We’ve reached the month of November and usually at this time of year I start to think about the things I’m grateful for. For starters, my family, friends, health, having a job, a roof over my head, food on the table and clothes to wear are some of the things I’m grateful for. The opportunities I’ve had this year is another thing I’m grateful for. The trips I’ve taken, getting to see family member and seeing some of my high school classmates are just some of the opportunities that I am grateful for this year. When it comes to geocaching the things I’m grateful for this year include the places I went, completing CAM (Cache Across Maryland), making my 5,000th find, my teammates in the NOVAGO U competition and above all, the ability to do this great hobby, … Continue reading →

Spotlight Cache: Kindness Rocks!

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Heather

#WorldKindnessDay (November 13) Today we’re celebrating #WorldKindness Day by spotlighting the most colorful cache location in Leesburg. Kindness Rocks! (GC9RXFB) by HyperactiveGirl, is not your typical location. In a quiet neighborhood near the Potomac River is a home decorated year-round with a message – you matter. The Kindness Rocks Project is a national grassroots movement to spread kindness to strangers, one painted rock at a time. Messages written on colorful rocks are meant to offer encouragement, inspiration, comfort and more to unsuspecting strangers who find them. One of the leaders of the Leesburg group, Margie Hunter, has taken a leap from painted rocks (there are lots of them at her house) to yarn bombed trees, butterflies and flowers on the fence, chalk messages along the sidewalk, wishing tree, and rainbows everywhere. There is even a little free library that would make Dr. Seuss proud, full of books donated by neighbors. Be … Continue reading →

Spotlight Cache: Turning Point Suffragist Memorial

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Heather

Spotlight Cache: Turning Point Suffragist Memorial #ElectionDay (November 8, 2022) #spotlightcache Today’s Spotlight Cache is Turning Point Suffragist Memorial (GC9CBRG) Women were not included in the U.S. Constitution until the 19th Amendment. Did you know that it took 72 years to pass and ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution? The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial is the first national memorial for the women who fought to win the right to vote. The memorial tell the stories and experiences of generations of these women so that future generations can better understand their sacrifices. It was because of their courage and determination that we had the one-day, largest expansion in voting rights in our country. The memorial is located on part of the historic prison grounds where the infamous Occoquan Workhouse was located. The memorial includes several bronze, life-size statues of suffrage leaders, replica White House fence and gates, 19 informational stations, and a … Continue reading →

Geocaching.com Drops Benchmarking

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Heather

Geocaching.com Drops Benchmarking Geocaching HQ made an announcement on October 17, 2022 that they will be dropping Benchmarking from the website. As part of their page updates, all logs will be removed. Owners who wish to save this information should do so as soon as possible. In addition, all challenge caches that require benchmark finds will be archived. Benchmark finds will stay in user statistics, so that others can know that you logged some before they were gone. The official announcement was hidden in the release notes within the forums. You can read it it here. Geocaching HQ is recommending that users who wish to continue logging benchmarks do so by moving to their sister site, Waymarking.com So, why the change? The code is old and will be too burdensome to update to make it work with the rest of the site. Honestly, it has been on borrowed time for … Continue reading →

Accepting Nominations for 2023 NoVAGO Officers

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Heather

NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN! All the events and activities you enjoy throughout the year are the result of a very dedicated team, also known as your board! Nominations for the 2023 slate of officers will be open for the month of November followed by voting in December! NoVAGO’s Officer Corps consists of these five positions: PresidentVice PresidentSecretaryTreasurerPublic Relations Read the descriptions below to see what is involved. You can find the official descriptions in the NoVAGO By-laws. Currently serving Officers are listed in our About NoVAGO section. Nominations will close on November 30, 2022, at which point any necessary ballots will be assembled and shared for voting in December (dates for voting TBD.) You may nominate yourself or someone you think will be awesome for one of these positions. If you are nominating someone else, we ask that you talk to that person beforehand, but our 2022 Nomination & Election Committee … Continue reading →

NoVAGO’s 2022 Fall Picnic

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Heather

The 2022 NoVAGO Fall Picnic & Auction was held last weekend on October 22, 2022 at Claude Moore Park in Sterling. It was a Community Celebration Event (extended due to the pandemic.) The weather was perfect for the event and a good time was had by all. Three new Adventure Labs popped in the park during the event: NOVAGO PAST – History of the Organization, by TrexM8s, a tribute to those before us. NOVAGO NOW, by ThompsonKickers, a wonderful introduction to the organization, playable all around its geographic range. NOVAGO FUTURE – Geocaching in the Space Age, by MrPsyduck, a fun, kid-friendly, fictional tour of the nearby museum grounds with future geocacher, Elroy Jetson in 2062. An easy puzzle cache, NOVAGO 2022 Fall Picnic Icebreaker, published in the park towards the end of the event. Those that completed the fun icebreaker activity got to skip the puzzle and find the cache … Continue reading →

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Getting Permissions to Place Caches: Be a Good Neighbor

Getting Permissions to Place Caches Be a Good Neighbor #NationalGoodNeighborDay (September 28) Did you know that one of the missions of the Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization is to promote local land use policies when placing their geocaches? Our local reviewers, YetAnotherReviewer and CardinalReviewer, help maintain a geocaching wiki page where you can find many of Virginia’s localities and their policies. Remember to always seek out permission when placing your caches. You can find that link here: https://wiki.groundspeak.com/display/GEO/Virginia

SAVE THE DATE! NoVAGO Fall Picnic & Silent Auction

Posted on September 23, 2022 by Heather

SAVE THE DATE! NoVAGO Fall Picnic & Silent Auction Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization invites you to join our fall picnic. In addition to eating burgers, hot dogs, and potluck sides, there will lots of opportunities to meet nice folks and trade geocaching stories. This is also the time for our annual silent auction. Where: Claude Moore Park – Pavilion 2, 21668 Heritage Farm Lane, Sterling, Virginia When: Saturday, October 22, 2022, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm Silent Auction: 12 -2:00 pm (payment and removal of items no later than 2:30pm, please) Please RSVP on the Event Page. Annual NoVAGO Silent Auction The silent auction is NoVAGO’s primary fundraiser event of the year. We ask member to bring items to contribute to the auction by the start of the auction at noon (12pm). Please be generous with your items. Don’t have anything to donate? Consider donating your time or expertise. In … Continue reading →