I started caching a few years ago.  The wife thought it was a stupid waste of time so she stayed home.  After I had found around ten I told her how much fun it was and suggested she try it once.  I would live to regret my indiscretion.  Now all she wants to do is go caching.  To give you an example I relate the following story:

We had been cooped up for a few days because of relentless rain.  It got to the point the wife could stand it no longer.  I finally succumbed to her pleading and off we went.  We should not have been out on a day like this.  The rain had been falling off and on most of the day.
 
I found a place on the map where there were some caches close to the road.  After we arrived in the area we found a few caches but not without getting very wet.  There was one more we wanted to try before we headed home.  By now the rain had decided we were too dry and wanted to correct this by really soaking anything stupid enough to be outside.  The wipers were going full blast but were losing the battle. We had a hard time seeing as we approached GZ.  I found a spot to pull over on Northland Dr. but I was still one hundred feet from the cache.

Me:  "I guess that does it."

Wife:  "You're not going to get it?"

Me:  "Are you kidding?  It's a monsoon out there.  Why don‘t you get it?"

Wife:  "With my arthritis?  Why is it you only think of yourself.  I can't believe you would let a little rain stop you.  We drove all this way and now you only have to walk a few feet.  Its not as though you're made of sugar and will melt.  Don't be such a baby and go get it."

Me:  "All right, all right, where's the umbrella?"

Wife:  "I didn't bring it.  It is so windy it wouldn't be any help."

Me:  "Good thinking.  I guess my spring jacket and hat will give me all the protection I need."

Wife:  "Quit crying and go.  The rain is letting up so stop whining."

I had to admit the rain had gone from a  monsoon to only a downpour.  I got out of the car and started across the gully to the trail.  I had to walk carefully, choosing high spots to try to stay out of the swamp that had developed.  Of course I did not choose wisely and the water filled my shoes.  I got to the cache and naturally walked past it.  The rain had been watching to see if I would be silly enough to leave the safety of the car.  I could almost hear it chuckle as it unleashed its fury.  After sliding around in the mud for a while I made the find.  I raced back to the car.  My jacket and hat were soaked so I thought I had better throw them in the back of the Vibe.  Unfortunately the wife had seen a suspicious-looking car go by so naturally she locked the doors.  My beating on the widows to get her attention only frightened her more.  She explained later that it was raining so hard she wasn't sure it was me and she wasn‘t about to open the doors to a raving madman.  When she finally did recognize me it was a terrible inconvenience for the her to unlock the doors because, after all, she was doing her nails.

Wife:  "Did you find it?

Me:  "That's it were going home."

Wife:  "Sometimes you're not much fun."

She was quiet on the way home until we drove past the multi we had found earlier.  I knew I had to say something to smooth things over or it was going to be a long night.  

Me:  "That was a good find you made on the third stage of the multi."

The rest of the way home I listened to her explaining how she had  been able to figure out where it was hidden.  When she finished she said...

Wife:  "Wasn't that fun?"

By nanncyan

The wife and I have been geocaching about three years now.  We enjoy the exercise and great scenery.  We are surprised by the parks that we never knew exsisted right in our own back yard.  We live in Comstock Park Michigan.  We are fortunate to have thousands of caches within a short drive.  We are recently retired and plan to cache around the country.  Who knows maybe we will be in Washington next July for GW VIII!  Our goal is to keep geocaching fun.  I hope our stories relate that to others.

Marvin Altena