Category Archives: General

General Announcements

NoVAGO Fall Auction

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Our annual auction is our main source of revenue to support our two picnics held in the spring and fall. We pay for rental of the pavilions we use as well as the food and extras that make the picnic fun. Income from our auction also pays for our organization’s website as well as educational support materials which we use for community outreach. We rely on our members to donate the items which end up on the auction tables. Please look around for a gently used items that you believe will interest another geocacher and consider donating. Some items donated in the past are: collections of pathtags/geocoins, walking sticks, geocaching.com premium membership, headlamps, books, hand-held GPS units, geocaching starter kit, unactivated travel bugs/car decal, and lots of geocaching containers. Sometimes our members donated non-tangibles, too. Gifts of time are welcome, too. How about auctioning yourself as a caching buddy for … Continue reading →

More new Souvenirs can be earned this month!

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More new Souvenirs can be earned this month!   Earn the International EarthCache Day 2024 souvenir by visiting any EarthCache and completing the logging requirements from Friday, October 11 through Sunday, October 13, 2024. Celebrate International EarthCache Day 2024! – Official Blog (geocaching.com) Earn a brand new Adventure Lab® souvenir to celebrate Adventure Day by completing any Adventure Lab Location from Friday, October 18 to Sunday, October 20. Save the date: Adventure Day is October 19 – Official Blog (geocaching.com) Attend or host any CITO Event September 1 through November 30 to earn your CITO 2024 Season 2 souvenir. Cache In Trash Out® (CITO) Season 2 has begun! – Official Blog (geocaching.com) Why not plan to attend the NoVAGO Fall Picnic & Annual Auction (GCAXQTF) on October 20 and you MAY be able to claim the Adventure Day Souvenir while having a fun time with your friends? And if you would … Continue reading →

Spotlight Cache: The Loaner

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#National Name Your Car Day (October 2, 2024) Going down the list of fun/bizarre holidays you will find that October 2, 2024 is National Name Your Car Day!  There are plenty of famous cars out there like Herbie, Christine, Eleanor, and the General Lee.  Studies have shown that when people name inanimate objects like cars, they assign almost human-like attributes to it, and feel more in control. There are a few car related geocaches in NoVAGO territory (Just ask Joey-Jo), but one stands out as having a name assigned to it in the cache title. That car is The Loaner (GC493RZ). Placed in 2013 by mobywv, it is a letterbox where you follow a map through the woods to a 1976 Mercury Bobcat Villager. I am sure that there is good story behind a very old wrecked car that is rusting away in the forest, and that every geocacher who … Continue reading →

Geocaching 101 Class in Winchester, September 28, 2024

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Want to learn more about geocaching? Join NoVAGO at the Handley Regional Library in Winchester on Saturday, September 28, 2024. There will be a “Geocaching 101” presentation at 12 noon hosted by NoVAGO’s president, Gina Thompson. There will be a scavenger hunt inside the library to get you in the mood. Local geocachers will be on hand from 11am-3pm to answer questions. All geocachers are invited to attend the event, whether this is your first “find” or you have thousands under your belt. We look forward to meeting you! Visit the Handley Regional Library website for more info. … Continue reading →

2024 Series, NOVACON, kicks off!

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On August 24th, 2024, NoVAGO kicked off its annual series at two well attended events. This year’s theme is convention fun, hence the name, NOVACON. After a teaser at the spring picnic, contestants picked up badges and found out what team they were randomly assigned to. Players had the opportunity to earn their first points in the game by attending in costume, bringing along a home-made prop, or by showing off their themed tats (fake or real.) The official 2024 NOVACON coin was debuted during the two events and were made available for sale. Purchase of the coins supports expenses of running the series. If you missed out on the chance, they will be at future NOVACON events. They are selling for $12 each and you may reserve one by sending a VENMO and getting in touch with the coordinators (contact below,) OR bring cash to the next official event. … Continue reading →

Geocaching HQ’s Announces Cosmic Quest Souvenir Challenge

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Geocaching HQ’s Announces Cosmic Quest Souvenir Challenge July 22 through September 1 Geocaching HQ starts it’s Cosmic Quest. July 22 – September 1, the entire geocaching community will be working together to earn a special souvenir. In addition to the community souvenir, players will get the chance to win two other souvenir on their own. Earn points by finding geocaches and Adventures, attending Events, receiving Favorite points on their owned geocaches, and activating trackables. More info at https://www.geocaching.com/ … Continue reading →

Spotlight Cache: NoVAGO U: Geology 101

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#NationalRockDay (July 13) Today we’re celebrating #NationalRockDay by spotlighting a wherigo cache from the 2022 NoVAGO annual series. Placed by kiisikwa, NoVAGO U: Geology 101 will take you on an adventure through different rock samples. You will be challenged on your knowledge before you can get the coordinates to where the cache is hidden. “I learned something at each of the stages. Thanks Dr for the lesson and placing this cache!” ~923Graham “This class rocks!” ~02Hooson “This was a unique wherigo experience. The lesson was enjoyable, and the geology examples where top notch.” ~Awesnap “This was a very enjoyable Wherigo! I not only learned something, but I admired how it was set up. I had never done a Wherigo where I had to find cache at each stage.” ~Team_Palazzo If you were making a geocache cocktail and threw in a little bit of multi-stage cache, a little earthcache, and a … Continue reading →

Geocaching 101, Alexandria, June 17th

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Geocaching 101, Alexandria, June 17th If you are just getting started with geocaching and want to learn more, please join us at the Martha Washington Library two weeks from today on June 17th. This Geocaching 101 class is perfect for beginners but open for all. It is also a geocache event, so you may log it as ‘attended’ when you come. The library’s page: https://librarycalendar.fairfaxcounty.gov/event/11900028 The geocache event page: https://coord.info/GCAR0C7 … Continue reading →

2024 Spring Picnic Recap

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NoVAGO Celebrates ‘Best of 2023’ with Spring Picnic NoVAGO announced winners of 2023 geocaching awards in Berryville, May 19, 2024 Members of the Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization gathered on Sunday, May 19th, 2024 at Chet Hobert Park in Berryville. As is our tradition, we announced winners of our geocaching awards, handed out some prizes, enjoyed a pot luck meal, did a little geocaching, and enjoyed the geocaching community we share. NoVAGO 2024 Spring Picnic and Awards Event. Any apprehensions that the late season date would lead to uncomfortable heat, were completely unfounded. In fact, the early reports of rain gave way to a warning of morning sprinkles that never materialized. Pop-up tents had been brought along for good measure, but remained untouched in our cars. The day started cloudy and mild, but warmed up with the sun just in time for some geocaching. Chet Hobert Park was a perfect host. … Continue reading →

Virtual Rewards 4.0

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Virtual Rewards 4.0 Virtual caches do not have a physical container and are designated on the Geocaching.com maps as ghosts.  mcgmaraudersNoVAGO feature article writerTrevor has over 12,000 geocache finds from all around the globe. He also owns more than 140 hides, mostly in the Northern Virginia area. His favorite virtual find is the Lion Gate in Mycenae, Greece (pictured) “There was very little shade and it was 107 deg F, but the Lion Gate, erected in 1250 BC, was most definitely my favorite.” Coordinates are given for an interesting or unique location, typically with a described object such as an art sculpture, historical landmark or a scenic lookout. Validation for finding a virtual cache generally requires emailing information to the cache owner, and/or to post a picture of yourself with your log.  From 2005 to 2017, the geocaching website no longer permitted the placement of new caches without a physical container, … Continue reading →