NOVAGO Winter Event

Last weekend I had a choice: attend the kayaker group planning meeting or go to the NOVAGO (geocaching) winter event with Ted. I'm starting to get a little wistful about Ted's imminent departure for college; there won't be too many more of these chances to do little outings together. So ... I opted for Ted and NOVAGO.

It was a cold February morning. We arrived at Burke Lake Park to find the event well underway. The funny thing is that everyone was crammed into a too small pavilion. It was like a rush hour subway train. I think people were huddled in there to get a little protection from the cold, not that a picnic shelter provides much in that regard.

Part of the event was a geocaching bike ride around the lake. My bike isn't capable of handling dirt trails, but fortunately we have a free el cheapo mountain bike which came free when we adopted our lizard Cooper (long story). So, after schmoozing with the cachers for a while Ted and I set out with some others. He and I had previously hiked the trail around Burke Lake and had found all the caches, but things change over time - there were a lot of new caches to be found. I had a blast bombing along the trail (I think I need to get a mountain bike). Unfortunately, not long into our ride Ted got a flat tire, bringing our caching run to an end. Thanks to a suggestion from one of our party, Ted didn't walk all the way back. Instead, he made for a nearby park exit and waited by the road while I rode back and got the car.

On the way home we stopped at the shopping center where I used to stop for a snack on my way to class when I was in the doctoral program at GMU. The bagel place where I used to stop is long gone, but another deli has taken its place. We had a nice lunch together - matzoh ball soup (a rarity in Virginia) for me, and a burger for Ted. We also stumbled upon a Boy Scout store in the same shopping center, which was heaven for Ted. A nice outing.