Geocaching 101 Class in Winchester, September 23, 2023

Want to learn more about geocaching? Join NoVAGO at the Handley Regional Library in Winchester on Saturday, September 23, 2023. There will be a “Geocaching 101” presentation at 11am hosted by NoVAGO’s president, Gina Thompson. The presentation will also be an official geocaching event (GCACYZZ) so be sure to sign the log book! There will be a scavenger hunt inside the library to get you in the mood. Local geocachers will be on hand from 10am-4:30pm 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. To go to directly to the event page, CLICK HERE. … Continue reading →

2023 NoVAGO Spring Picnic

On Saturday, May 6th 2023 from 10am-3pm, NoVAGO held their annual Spring Picnic.  This year the location was at the quite spacious James S. Long Regional Park in Haymarket VA.  The park was beautiful and the pavilion was HUGE. Plenty of room with tables to sit at and stage the massive buffet of munchies. Cherokee3 was our lucky host this year and did an amazing job monitoring the cache page and updating the schedule, food list and parking situation. We got quite lucky with the weather today which can be challenging in Northern VA.  Sunny, a little breezy with light clouds and temperature in the 70’s. Several board members arrived early and started prepping for fellow geocachers to arrive.  Some guests arrived early and started pitching in to help or chatting about.  With the charcoal lit, welcome corner ready with name tags, pens & the log book open, the event … Continue reading →

SAVE THE DATE! NoVAGO Spring Picnic & Awards

Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization invites you to join our spring picnic. In addition to eating burgers, hot dogs, and potluck sides, there will lots of opportunities to meet nice folks and trade geocaching stories. The award winners for the 2022 Best of NoVAGO will be announced at the picnic as well.  Where: James S. Long Regional Park, 4603 James Madison Highway, Haymarket, VA 20169 When: Saturday, May 6, 2022, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm Please RSVP on the Event Page. … Continue reading →

GeoWoodstock XIX – 2023 (GC89GMX)

GeoWoodstock XIX – 2023 (GC89GMX) is scheduled for May 27th 2023 (Memorial Day weekend) in Owensboro, Kentucky. That’s between Louisville and Evansville on the Ohio River and is 700+ miles driving from our area.  The Event posting says: “GeoWoodstock has been the paramount Mega Event of the year in North America. Come and celebrate as we build a new chapter with rich history in the land of Bar-B-Que, Bourbon, and Bluegrass Music in Owensboro, Kentucky, just 1 hour from where it all began in 2003.” More information is available on GeoWoodstock XIX 2023 – Geocaching Owensboro Kentucky although the registration isn’t open yet and most of the detailed activities haven’t yet been loaded. However there are links to various hotels in the area, and rooms are still available at not too exorbitant rates. Unfortunately there is no camping available at the event but there are sites that may have space about 15 … Continue reading →

Meet the New Board & Thank the Volunteers

Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization is pleased to announce the 2023 board of officers and directors. PRESIDENT – ThompsonKickers VICE PRESIDENT – TheWanderesss SECRETARY – TrexM8s TREASURER – freddiecrs PUPLIC RELATIONS – hrothroc DIRECTORS – DePhogration, CherokeeThree, Pfenix, TheColdedge Every year, we host an event to let you meet our new officers (most of them will be there.) We also use this gathering to thank our outgoing board members, as well as volunteers who have helped make NoVAGO great in the previous year. If you’ve hosted an event in the Northern Virginia area in 2022, we thank you. Special thanks to Nothereeither, Effstop, Zippyfinn, Serrabou, Rufnredy, Awesnap, and most of the people listed above who are staying on from last year. 2022 Thanks! Event (GCA2WX8) January 22, 2023, 2:00-4:00 pm Santini’s New York Style Deli3980 Corsair CtChantilly, VA 20151 … Continue reading →

NoVAGO’s 2022 Fall Picnic

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 →

SAVE THE DATE! NoVAGO Fall Picnic & Silent Auction

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 →

2022 Annual Series Kicks Off – School Starting Soon

NoVAGO Kicks off 2022 Annual Series with Two Events Students Start Registering for Classes NoVAGO University is this year’s theme for our friendly, team oriented, geocaching games. Teams started forming as early as 9:30am on Sunday, August 14th at a kick-off event in Sterling, VA. A second event was held later in the day in Lorton. Geocachers who attended the events were asked if they wanted to join one of three Greek houses to make college life a bit more fun for the next several months. Choices were PAF, DNF, and GPS. Some noted that there wasn’t a team FTF, which would have been their first choice. While others felt that that DNF might stand for ‘Driver, Navigator, and Finder’ which sounds like a great choice, too. House DNF. Photo by Red KnightAdditional team mates will be added by the registration office after the events. Those who couldn’t attend will … Continue reading →

NoVAGO-U

Northern Virginia Geocaching Organizing Announces its 2022 Fall Series: NoVAGO-University Join a team! Find geocaches! Compete in fun contests to earn points for your team. Members might remember our club’s Survivor series, or our more recent pandemic boredom busting Olympics. The newest games are a college themed challenges, where members compete to earn point for their Greek house (toga’s may or may not be optional.) Two Kick-off Events, August 14, 2022 9:30-10:30 AM – Sterling (GC9THP1)   &   12:30-1:30 PM – Lorton (GC9WD00) The kick-off events will be an opportunity to meet potential team mates and pledge together on a first-come-first-serve basis for one of three houses. It’s also a great time to ask questions. Attendance is not required to participate. You may contact ZippyFinn or Serrabou if you would like to be added to a team at any time through November. If you are new to NoVAGO and would … Continue reading →

NoVAGO’s 2022 Spring Picnic

The 2022 spring picnic was held this last weekend on May Day (May 1st) at Mason District Park in Annandale. In addition to the event being a Community Celebration Event (extended due to the pandemic) it also gave attendees the Blue Switch Day souvenir. There was lots of excitement leading up to the day of the event. Some of the reasons our members were looking forward to the picnic: It’s close to home! Can’t wait to catch up with my caching buddies. Finally an event that’s NOT on a Saturday. To see if the weather might be even more incredible than the 2021 spring picnic (thankfully, it wasn’t.) Lot’s of food to eat (including tacos!) Feeling less anxious about COVID compared to last year.  First event with NoVAGO. (We had a couple new members join us. Welcome!) Did I win an award? (We announced awards for NoVAGO’s 2021 Best Caches) … Continue reading →