August 31st, 2013 was a great day for geocachers
from all parts of the world in Hampton Roads Virginia.
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| 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 11th 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).
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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
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