Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization

Rufnredy is “aholic” - he’s a cache-aholic, he’s a pizza-aholic, and mostly he’s a friend-aholic…and he’d like his friends to join him in celebrating his birthday.  GC1V4X9 is an event cache, and will be held at Ci Ci’s on 21 July 09.  You can find all the particulars on the cache page, click the blue Post Title to be redirected.

Ruf’s as healthy as an Ox, but he’s been known to do some really foolish things while hiking in the woods - if his luck changes for the worse…well, he just may not be around to celebrate next year, so come on out and wish him a happy birthday before it’s too late.  The event is also a great way for old friends to catch up, make some new friends…and for the newer members of NoVAGO to put some faces to names.  Good Food, Good Times, Good Fun — see you there!

“Wedding Bells” (Are breaking up that old gang of mine) by the 4 Aces.  Ok, so most of you aren’t old enough to remember that song.  That said, here’s a chance to take part in a wedding.  The TeamObbie1 “Flash Mob” wedding is Sunday, May 31st 2009.  It’s a regular celebratory trifecta: Attend a unique wedding; partake in a Flash Mob; Attend a geocaching event.  For complete details please goto the cache event page here - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC1MPYN&Submit6=Go  Please remember to pay particular attention to the “logging requirements”, reception to follow at the Temporary Road Picnic Pavilion (walking distance).  Come join friends, family, and your fellow NoVAGO’ers in wishing Dave and Lori a lifetime of wedded happiness.

One of the items on the agenda for the May 17th 2009, NoVAGO “Spring has Sprung” Event (GC1QBV1) is the announcement of the 2008 NoVAGO Geocache Award Winners.  In order for that to happen, the voting results have to be tallied, so the deadline for submitting your vote(s) is established as midnight, Sunday, May 10th 2009.  That means this coming weekend will be your last chance to visit those nominated caches.  Please show your appreciation for all the enjoyment you get out of geocaching by participating in the voting process.

Voting for those fantastic caches vying for your recognition is going very slowly, I realize that many of you would like to complete more of the caches on the list before casting your votes.  Please do so, but by the same token…don’t wait too long.  Although a cut-off date for voting has not yet been determined…I expect it may be within the next month.  The list of caches is in the News & Announcements Forum, or you can click here http://www.novago.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1287

Also, a little advance notice…the date of 17 May 2009 was selected for the NoVAGO Spring Event, and it will be held at the Edwards Landing Pavilion in Leesburg.  Please mark your calendars and plan to attend - the Cache Event page will be published very soon.  Great people, great food, and a great time is guaranteed.

Who the heck are CVGA and MGS?  What’s the most popular GPS receiver?  Where can a “newbie” ask questions?  What’s CAM?  How do I project a Waypoint?  Who’s in the Cacher Spotlight?  What does YAPIDKA mean?  When is Team Obbie1 getting married?  Can I write a review on a favorite cache?  Who owns a Delorme PN-40?  How can I find someone to cache with?  How do I volunteer to help NoVAGO grow?  Where can I get some technical advice?  How many NoVAGO members are there?  What’s the Maryland Municipal League (MML) Series?  Who’s in charge(sic), and why?  Are there any geocaching games/competitions?  Can I get help placing my first cache?  What’s GeoWoodstock, and when/where is it?  How can I find out about upcoming NoVAGO events?  What’s the NoVAGO Cache Rescue Mission all about?  How old is NoVAGO? — ok, you get the idea.

When it comes to NoVAGO and geocaching, do you know all the answers?  I know I certaily don’t, but there’s a readily available resource than can sure shed light on an awful lot of geocaching subjects, it contains a wealth of valuable information, and I’m bettting you’ll find lots of answers there.  I’m talking about the NoVAGO Forums (see “Discussion Forums” on the blue bar above).  By golly, if you don’t find the answer you’re looking for…why, you get to ask a question!!  Whatever your past experience with on-line forums, Bulletin Boards, or Newsgroups has been…I think you’ll find the NoVAGO Forums to be refreshing.  There’s no “nit picking”, no arguing, no fussing…just a great exchange of information over a wide range of topics.  The sad thing is…I get the feeling that less than 10 to 15 percent of our membership ever get past this Home Page to read those forums.  Go ahead, check them out…I think you’ll be surprised, and you don’t have to participate…you can “lurk” - at least you’ll be a better informed lurker.

Yahoo, it’s recognition time!!! Time to recognize those caches, and cachers who have made geocaching in the NoVAGO area a rewarding experience. The NoVAGO 2008 Cache Awards Program is now accepting nominations in the following categories:

1. Best Theme/Series
2. Best Kids’ Cache
3. Best Location
4. Best Hike
5. Best History-Related Cache
6. Best Multi-Stage
7. Best Mystery/Puzzle
8. Best Cache (or Series) Outside NoVa
9. Most Creative Cache
10. Most Challenging-to-Find Cache
11. Best Picture in 2008 posted to a cache log
12. Best Log in 2008 on a Cache
13. Cache of Year
14. Rookie of the Year (any cacher that found their first cache after August 1st, 2007)
15. Cacher of the Year

Nominations will close on 15 March, and actual voting will commence on or about 16 March. Please refer to this topic in the NoVAGO News & Announcements Forum for full particulars. Everyone plays this game their own way, and you no doubt enjoy it or you wouldn’t be a NoVAGO member…please take the time to make some category nominations to recognize the efforts of those who make this pastime so enjoyable.

Don’t forget to attend the 2009 NoVAGO Meet and Greet/Sit and Eat this Sunday, February 15 at George Mason Library on Little River Turnpike in Annandale.   Meet the new officers and board, find out the direction of NoVAGO in the upcoming year and see how you can enhance your caching experience!

Also, cache pages for new caches will be provided.  There are 5+ ALLH (A Little Local History) caches, all within Annandale.

I think most everything is done with the new website, as far as the layout, though a few tweaks might need to be added here and there. You’ll notice the front page redesign as well, including recent forum topics, links to geocaching related sites, and upcoming events. Across the top is a menu to take you to the forums, contact us info, and the NoVAGO shop. In blue you’ll see links to popular posts on the front page news area.  When you’re in the forums, the logo at the top takes you back to the main page of the site.

In the forums, because I’ve made various tweaks here and there, if you log in and it automatically logs you out, clear your browser cookies for “novago.org” Old cookies may keep you from staying logged in but since most of the settings are already done, this shouldn’t be a problem any longer (I had the same issue with the MGS site when it was converted)

If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email at robert at novago dot org. Oh, and a Twitter account was setup for NoVAGO if you use Twitter. It will automatically update when front page posts are added, so feel free to follow.

Thanks!

robert

Hello!

Welcome to the “new” NoVAGO.  It’s a work in progress, sorry for the mess.

The forums are still available by clicking the discussion forums link across the top of the page.

If you have any questions, please email robert at novago.org

-robert

Do you like to meet interesting, like minded, friendly people? How about good food…do you like good food? Then GC1KZYG “Over the Hump - Once Again” is an Event you should really enjoy. It takes place on 11 Feb 09, starting at 6:30PM at the Fuddruckers in Annandale. (Thanks to D&C for reviving this one).

Now…if you do not like people or food, but you do like books…then take a gander at GC1KR68 “Well Would You Look At That?”. It’’s a month long 2-28 Feb 09 Geocaching Display, constructed by NetworkCacher for NoVAGO, in the Kings Park Library, Fairfax County, Burke, VA. This one will do much to educate the public about geocaching, and will also increase awareness of the pastime as legitimate recreational activity. What a fantastic idea!!