Quick notes

Here is an important countdown of dates you might be interested in

13 - Only 13 more days until the GCHR Picnic store closes!!!

Yes - hurry on by and place your orders for merchandise, meals, etc.

The store closes at Midnight July 31, 2017!!!

Click HERE for the link to the site

46 - Only 46 more days until the GCHR Picnic!!!

Remember, the picnic is being held at the Chesapeake City Park

this year which is just off of Greenbriar Dr in Chesapeake!!!

Click HERE for the picnic Facebook page

74 - Only 74 more days until the SNAP!!!-land

Geo-art is archived!!!

This has been scheduled and re-scheduled more than once.

Delayed time and time again when my in box fills up with

out-of-town requests so a big group can come complete the art.

Virginia's largest geo-art.

Click HERE for the SNAP!!!-land #001.

312 - Only 312 more days until GeoWoodstock 2018!!!

The registration site is already open and hotel rooms are going fast!!!

Click HERE for the GeoWoodstock 2018 page.

Another Thank you

Thanks to everyone who showed up for AACC #100 - we had a great crowd!!!

Our local GeoWoodstock Ambassador, Lynne, talked to us about all the

happenings and plans for next year's event and from what I saw

Everyone had a great time!!!

#4 - UPCOMING EVENTS:

Events in Hampton Roads

 Mark your calendars – hope to see you at some of these events!

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OFFICIAL EVENT – GC76Z9N 

Tuesday – July 18, 2017 – Norfolk, VA

Third Tuesday Burger & Beer (hot dogs)

The Barking Dog

6 till 8 PM

---

OFFICIAL EVENT – GC786TC 

Wednesday – July 19, 2017 – Newport News, VA

Burn 'n Brew Caching Crew (BBCC #2)

Tradition Brewery

6:45 till 9 PM

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OFFICIAL EVENT – GC77ZD1 

Saturday – July 22, 2017 – Virginia Beach, VA

Ezio10 Visits Virginia Beach

Kemps Landing Park

4 till 6 PM

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OFFICIAL EVENT – GC790T6 

Saturday – August 24, 2017 – Chesapeake, VA

AACC #101

Chesapeake City Park

4 till 6 PM

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OFFICIAL EVENT – GC6WWBC 

Saturday – September 2, 2017 – Chesapeake, VA

15th Annual Geocaching Hampton Roads Picnic

Chesapeake City Park

9 AM till 5 PM

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The Lost Treasure of Mary Hyde

Did everyone get their first souvenir in the new geocaching pirate treasure hunt.

You and your team of friends must earn a total of 30 coins

 between now and July 23rd to earn your second souvenir!!!

Souvenir #1

The Best Caches in Hampton Roads

On the right hand side of this blog there is a list of pages.

Among those pages are lists of the best caches

in each of the Hampton Roads cities/counties

as well as a list of others we recommend.

I try to update each of the pages at least twice a year.

The lists are based on the number of favorite points

each cache receives.

Feel free to check them out!!!

That's All for Now!

Till next time...

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

Suffolk Nana & Papa - - - or just plain ol' - - - -  SNAP!!!  

On Twitter at: @SNAPgeocaching

On Instagram at: snap_geocaching

SLOGGERS Outing #4 was GREAT!!! - and more info

SLOGGERS Outing #4

SLOGGERS Outing #4 was a great success!!!

  

A little over 3 miles walked, 15 caches on the list and

we added another two (for some) so 17 were found.

---------------------------------

We had a great time with the biggest turnout so far!!!

It was very humid and warm and the start of the day but when we were at our

13th cache on the list the wind picked up.

By cache # 15 there were jokes about being blown away!

17 finds for most of the group

We then made our way about 2 miles north and had a great lunch - WITH Outdoor seating

Hope y'all come out and join us for our 5th Outing in June!!!

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SNAP!!!-land

Virginia's Largest Geo-Art

The latest on the archiving of SNAP!!!-land is as follows:

Due to the high number of emails requesting a hold on the archiving

of the series we have decided to wait until after the GCHR 15th Annual Picnic.

Archiving of the series will now be towards the end of September. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPCOMING EVENTS - with some info

OFFICIAL EVENT – GC74BAV

Wednesday – May 24 – Chesapeake, VA

AACC - May 24, 2017 - #97

Chesapeake City Park

3:30 till 5:30 PM

OFFICIAL EVENT – GC75H78

Wednesday – June 7 – Newport News, VA

Burn 'n Brew Caching Crew (BBCC #1)

Traditional Brewery

6:45 till 8:00 PM

OFFICIAL EVENT – GC75VJ7

Thursday – June 8 – Chesapeake, VA

AACC - June 8, 2017 - #98

Chesapeake City Park

4 till 6 PM

OFFICIAL EVENT – GC6WWBC

Saturday – September 2, 2017 – Chesapeake, VA

15th Annual Geocaching Hampton Roads Picnic

Chesapeake City Park

This is our BIG event each year

come on out and meet geocachers from across the globe!

9 AM till 5 PM

 Till next time...

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

Suffolk Nana & Papa - - - or just plain ol' - - - -  SNAP!!!  

On Twitter at: @SNAPgeocaching

On Instagram at: snap_geocaching

Last Weekend your Mission Was.... and other news

So last weekend, if you had the inside scoop, and if you accepted the mission, you found a Multi-cache and received your new souvenir.

A couple of weeks ago, the mission was to find a cache with 10 or more favorite points.  If you did, you received this souvenir.

Starting this Friday, August 19 premium members will start receiving their next coded message.  Once solved, they will know what the next souvenir to be awarded will be and what they must do to qualify for that souvenir.  Stay tuned - more information to follow.

PICNIC NEWS !!!

Mark your calendars – the date for the next GCHR Picnic is fast approaching.

I will be there and hope to run into all of you - please do not hesitate to come up and say HI!

-----------------------------------

Friday – September 2 – Newport News, VA

GC6NACQ – Friday Night Meet and Greet

Denbigh Community Center

6:30 till 8:30 PM

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Saturday – 9/3 – Newport News, VA

GC644HX - 14th Annual GCHR Picnic – MEGA EVENT

Newport News Park

 ALL DAY EVENT!

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Sunday – September 4 – Newport News, VA

GC6P99T – Sunday Morning Farewell

Belgian Waffle and Steak House

8 – 9AM

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Blog Updates

On the right hand side of this page is a list of links to other pages.  Most have been updated with information you might find useful if you are coming to the picnic.

Hopefully these pages will help.

Among the list are:

• 14th ANNUAL GCHR PICNIC Information
• 2016 Winners of the “Coveted" SNAP!!! Cache of the Day Award
• Top Geoaches in Newport News Virginia
• Top Caches in James City County
• Top Caches in York County Virginia
• Top Caches in Poquoson Virginia
• Top Caches in Hampton Virginia
• Top Caches in Gloucester County Virginia
• Top Caches in Williamsburg, Virginia
• Top Caches in Norfolk Virginia
• Top Caches in Virginia Beach
• Top caches in Chesapeake Virginia
• Top Caches in Isle of Wight County Virginia
• Best Caches in Suffolk
• Geo-Art in Virginia
• Other Cache Recomendations in the Greater Hampton Roads Area
• 
  

Till next time!!!

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

Suffolk Nana & Papa - - - or just plain ol' - - - -  SNAP!!!  

Logs, Updates and Last weeks finds

LOGS

 If you ever want to bring a really big smile to my face - - - all you really have to do is write a unique or even humorous log on one of our caches!!!

Here are 3 different logs we received last week:

Found It

TFTC

Got It

As a cache owner who has over 170 active caches, I rely on logs to let me know if there is a problem with any of our caches.  That being said, I really enjoy reading logs which have some meat in them.  Let us know how your day went.  Are there any geocaches you did that day that you recommend (favorite points)?  Did you find a particular interesting location?  Or, do you have a interesting or funny thing that happened to you that day?

I know there are other cache owners who love reading interesting and amusing logs as much as we do!!  Also, if we are really stuck on a particular cache, we will read recent logs to see if they contain anything that could help us out! 

Don't be afraid to log a DNF - there is information that can be learned from them also.

UPDATES

When you are on the home page for this blog, look to the right side - listed there are some pages you can get to by clicking.  The 2nd page listed is "14th ANNUAL GCHR PICNIC Information ".  If you go to that page you will see a list of other pages available.  I have been working on updating each of those pages.  Please feel free to check them out and let us know if there is anything else you are interested in.

LAST WEEK'S GEOCACHING FINDS

Spent a few days doing maintenance on some of our caches and even grabbed a cache while out there: 

 GC3D89X - Cross Breeze - wish I had done this one in the winter time!

On Thursday (5/19) the rain decided to take a break for most of the day so alara and I teamed up once again and headed to North Carolina for some country caching! (in alphabetical order)

GC5WBCC - 3 Red Diamonds - quick P&G.

GC5WF0J - 3 Red Diamonds #2 - another quick P&G.

GC5NPKC - 67 NC CWGT Blount Bridgers House - love this historical series.

GC45RGJ - Army Men Rock - another quick P&G.

GC2YHY1 - Astoria Road's Forgotten Cemetery - we love cemeteries and it was sad to see this place in such a state of disrepair - awarded a favorite point because of the history here.

GC56Z39 - First Ladies:  Ida McKinley - another quick P&G.

GC4TYB9 - MagicRodes:  Windsor's First - I had DNF'd this one years ago and was very delighted to make the find quickly!!!

GC6FZGY - Martin County Geocaching Trail #10

GC6FZD9 - Martin County Geocaching Trail #5

GC6FZDM - Martin County Geocaching Trail #6

GC6FZE3 - Martin County Geocaching Trail #7 - we finished up this great series put out by the County.  Loved the series and we have already received an e-mail from the county stating our prize package is on the way.  A very simple series, once you make the first find and know what you are looking for.  My only comment would be that the coordinates are not always accurate so, once you know what you are looking for, expand your search area until you make the find.  I went back and gave all 10 geocaches in the series each their own favorite point mainly because 1) I love it when local officials (city, county, state) take advantage of the tourism they can bring in with geocaching and 2) there is history in this series!

GCWJQ0 - Moratoc Park - took us 4 tries here over many years but, armed with a good hint, we made the find!

GC11Z21 - Road to Nowhere - quick P&G - watch out for the ANTS!!!

GC1HM75 - Road to Nowhere #2 - another quick P&G

GC5XAHJ - Ruby Wednesday - not where we expected it - quick P&G

GC3CGX6 - The Odors of Astoria - laughed when we realized what the name was referring to!

GC1HKE8 - We're gonna need a bigger cache... - another favorite point awarded, this time for the pun.

GC46JZF - Wings of Hope 19 - this one gave us problems - it should have been a quick P&G.

Only 5 counties and one city left - gonna work on this soon!!!

Till next time!!!

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

Suffolk Nana & Papa - - - or just plain ol' - - - -  SNAP!!!  

Best Geocaches near the upcoming picnic

With the 12th Annual GCHR Picnic fast approaching I know plenty of people will be heading this way to not only participate in yet another great MEGA-event put on by GCHR (Geocaching Hampton Roads), but also to grab some great caches that we have here in the area.

So in an effort to make things easy on ya'll - here is a list of some of the best caches in the area:

Favorite Caches on the Peninsula

Based on percentage of favorite points

(Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson, York County, Williamsburg and Gloucester)

96% - GC55KEH – Don’t Let This Birdhouse Send You to the Nut House – A fairly new cache with an amazing 96% favorite rating.  A short drive south of the park will put you in the vicinity of this amazing cache.

90% - GC44NEP – The Colonial Treasure – a tour of local history awaits you at this cache.  An amazing 90% favorite point rating.  The start of this puzzle/multi-cache is in the heart of colonial Williamsburg but the tour provided by this cache will take you to various historic places around the peninsula.  Be prepared to spend at least half a day (minimum) completing this cache.

82% - GC4Z16X – Hanging Out in the Woods – this unique cache is a short drive from Newport News Park.  Can be completed in less than an hour.

81% - GC1YBHP – The Rune Stones of Harwood’s Mill – a complex puzzle cache that more than likely will take you more than a day to complete.  Located very close to Newport News Park.

68% - GC4GN2M – Limberakis Gerakaris– This tough puzzle cache features and amazingly scenic walk to get to the final.  The start of this puzzle/multi-cache almost an hour drive south of Newport News Park but is still on the peninsula.

68% - GC42D4J – Saga of Thorvald Erikson – A well thought our puzzle/multi-cache that will take you on a tour of the grounds around the Mariner’s Museum (Noland Park).  This cache can be completed in a few hours.

67% - GC34RA8 – Raiders of the Lost Ark – one of four Indiana Jones themed caches located near Newport News Park.  This cache can easily be completed in an hour or two.

59% - GC3A5X2 – The Last Crusade – Another of the four Indiana Jones themed caches located in or near the park.  This multi-cache starts very close to the mega-event. 

54% - GC52EER – VTCC#21: Final– this cache is the final of the Virginia Tech geo-art located just south of Newport News Park.  If you have done your homework and prepared, the entire geo-art can be completed easily in less than a few hours.

48% - GC3TQ28 – Larry’s Handiwork – a rather unique cache located just off the hiking/biking trail in Newport News Park.  This cache can easily be completed in an hour or two.

45% - GC44HME – The Signs of U.S. Route 17 South, Grafton, VA – a unique puzzle cache located a short drive away from Newport News Park.  This simple puzzle cache can easily be completed in less than one hour.

45% - GC29RNC - Camp Patrick Henry – A nice puzzle cache located just south of Newport News Park.  This could be a fast find if you know what you are doing!

43% - GC42B9M – Hysterical – a rather unique cache located at the back of a local business.  This cache is along route 17 across a toll bridge in Gloucester County.

43% - GC3VJRV – Huntington Heights – A unique cache that should be a park n grab.  This cache is located south of Newport News Park.

40% - GC51B0N – Sometimes you feel like a nut – a unique cache that shouldn’t take too long to find.  This cache is just a short drive from Newport News Park.

40% - GC1RH2Z – MiNd GaMeS – A very good puzzle cache located a short distance from the park. 

GC42NJJ - The 11 Annual GCHR Picnic

August 31^st, 2013 was a great day for geocachers from all parts of the world in Hampton Roads Virginia.

Photo by: Cheryl LaClair

 The day started out with a small breakfast Meet ‘n Greet near the camping area of Newport News Park.  “Muffin a Go-Go II” featured muffins of all types for geocachers who wanted to rise early and get a head start on the fun filled day.  Well over 100 geocachers of all ages attended this event put on by the group “Adventure Stones Society: Girls Gone Wild for Geocaching.”

The big event at the south end of the park was just setting up for what would end up being well over 600 geocachers from all points on the globe.  At approximately 10AM the fun started and boy was it a blast!

The 11^th Annual GCHR (Geocaching Hampton Roads) Picnic was a fantastic event that featured Face Painting, a Bubble Station, and all sorts of games.  Some of the games for geocachers of all ages were:  The Ammo Can toss, Geo-Survivor (a 3-stage multi for 3 person teams), Pole Cache (tossing a cache closest to the pole) and of course the ever popular GeoBingo.

The picnic also featured some speakers.  Lackey Amy from Groundspeak, Reviewers Monkeybrad and Dogwood_Reviewer hosted a question and answer session that all could participate in.  There was also a Meet the Author/Book Signing with the author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Geocaching”, Brad Simmons.   Two local cachers, Al & Tani Cornelius, hosted a Nature’s hazards talk with plenty of participation.  My oldest son and I manned a tent where local geocaches could be loaded into GPS devices but our main focus was questions and answers concerning GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife).

Geo-Survivor Winners

Along with the 3200 caches within a 50 mile radius of the park, Newport News Park contains over 40 geocaches.  Additionally Groundspeak was generous enough to let the folks in Hampton Roads be one of the first in the world to experience 5 new Lab Caches.  Lab Caches were spread around the park for the day of the event only.  Those attending were allowed to hunt for these caches and I heard nothing but good reviews on these caches.

The picnic also featured several vendors that showed up to add their wares and give the opportunity for all to shop or just browse for new and different geocaching items.  Among the vendors in attendance were Walkin Mania, Cool Geocaching Swag, Simple Laugh/GeoProvisions and Space Coast Geocaching Store.

All day long I heard nothing but positive feedback from those that attended. 

A big thank you goes out to not only all the “Purple Shirts” who were the volunteers that pulled off yet another FANTASTIC!!! GCHR picnic but also to all those unnoticed ones.  The unnoticed ones include the spouses and children of the volunteers who pitched in just because they wanted to.  The unnoticed ones also include those others that pitched in without a “Purple Shirt” who pitched in and helped just because they saw something that needed to be done.  But most of all, a tremendous job was done by both Cheryl LaClair and Ann Walters whose leadership, without which, this event never would have happened.

Some of the "Purple Shirts" with Lackey Amy

Big thanks goes out to the sponsors of this year’s event which includes: Groundspeak, TOM Creative Group, Space Coast Geocaching Store, Cool Geocaching Swag, The Simple Laugh, WalkinMania, Newport News Parks and Recreation, Chesapeake Emergency Physicians,  and Newport News Public Works

Q&A at the GSAK tent

I know I had a great time, spending the entire day with my oldest son, at an event celebrating a hobby that both of us enjoy!!!  Hope you had a great time also.  Hope to see everyone back here next year!!!

As Always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

SNAP!!! – Suffolk Nana & Papa

August 2013 - What a fantastic month!!!

August 1st - the first day of the Geocaching.com 31 days of August.  Attended an local afternoon AACC event.  our only find on the day but then again, it was a weekday!!!





August 2nd - Attended another afternoon AACC event and grabbed a nearby cache.  Those would have been our only two but we were lucky enough because of some much need cache maintenance to grab one more for a total of 3 caches.

August 3rd - 11 finds on a beautiful Saturday and we named GC41RZ1 - Mysterious Marsh as the winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!! Cache of the Day Award.

August 4th -  15 finds on a beautiful Sunday caching with alara.  We named GC4ERGE - Ivy Back as the winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!! Cache of the Day Award.

August 5th -  Back to work today and the only cache we earned was an quick AACC event.

August 6th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 7th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 8th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 9th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.  (I think I see a pattern here!)

August 10th -  NOT!!! a  work day but alas, the SNAP-mobile is getting a face lift so we use Papa's car and only get 6 finds!!!

August 11th -  Sunday - Teamed up with jtmlam59, checked on some newly adopted caches and then made a quick run up to Charles City.  16 finds total.

August 12th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 13th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

14th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 15th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 16th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 17th -  Saturday - only 8 finds today but they involved quite a lot of hiking so we recovered by attending a Gloucester Meet n Greet!!

August 18th -  Sunday - 7 finds today and loved the Meet n Greet down in Elizabeth City!!!  Bypassed Find #5300 today and named GC4HJYY - Hide a Key as the winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!! Cache of the Day Award!!!

August 19th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 20th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.






August 21th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 22th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

23th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 24th -  Time for a weekend geocaching trip.  Teamed up with jtmlam59 once again and made a run in and around Rocky Mount NC.  87 finds on the day and named GC3D61T - Am I still Lion? Is it under the LPC? as the winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!! Cache of the Day Award!!!

August 25th -  Finished up our weekend geocaching trip with 49 finds and surpassed the #5400 found mark.  Named GC41K12 - Pasturized - as the winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!! Cache of the Day Award!!!!

August 26th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.

August 27th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.  But this was a special event as today was SNAP's 35th wedding anniversary.  So the winner of the day for the best excuse as to why I was not at home was........ mbbaumann.  Congrats!!!

August 28th -  Another work day so one afternoon AACC event find and two finds on nearby caches!!!

August 29th -  Another work day so only one afternoon AACC event find.  This was the last of the AACC events and thanks to everyone that attended.

30th -  Friday night we attended the pre-event for the picnic.  Great crowd and just knew that the picnic was going to be great by the size of the crowd at the Friday event!!!

August 31st -  August 31 is my birthday and believe it our not GCHR is throwing me a great big party - they named it the 11th GCHR picnic but that was just so I wouldn't know about all the plans.  The turn out was fantastic and it is not every year when over 500 people sing you Happy Birthday!!!  There will be another blog specifically for the picnic but thanks to everyone who attended!!!

Till next time - Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!!

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa