SO I MARRIED AN EXPLORER

Being married to a diver, explorer, and the Royal Canadian Geographic Society’s Explorer in Residence mightn’t be for everyone, but for Robert McClellan, the fear of losing your life partner is assuaged by trust and genuine respect

- Robert McClellan

My new girlfriend drives a plumber’s truck. That was my impression as Jill pulled up to meet me for our first date. Little did I know, a nondescript white cargo van was the vehicle of choice among instructors of the North Florida cave diving community. I casually leaned against my little red non-air conditioned, manually-shifting Toyota, trying with all my might to look like the coolest middle-aged, twice-divorced dude I told her to expect. She was unaware that I had driven furiously from my new job at the Lake City Veteran’s Hospital for the past hour, trying to find the entrance to Florida’s Ichetucknee State Park, where we had agreed to meet for an easy ‘get to know you’ walk. I was unaware that Ichetucknee has two entrances, and for several minutes I sat sweating, my heart sinking as I thought I had been stood up. Finally, I asked a passing park ranger if this was the north entrance. In a syrupy southern drawl, she said, “Oh darlin’, you’re at the south gate - the north entrance is about nine miles up the road!” That little Toyota was on its last legs, but I managed to coax the last bit of NASCAR out of her and sped up Highway 27 like Richard Petty’s lost Yankee cousin.

I got there just in the nick of time, never revealing that I almost missed our fateful first meeting because my sense of direction and navigation skills leave a lot to be desired. In true Canadian fashion, Jill smiled and apologized for being a few minutes late, as she had to stop for air fills along the way. Her first smile melted me, and as she led me down the twisty path to the breathtakingly beautiful Ichetucknee Blue Hole Spring, it seemed we had known each other for a lifetime.