With my work conference over it was, technically, time to return home. A fan of spontaneity and armed with the travel school knowledge I attained in 1990, I thought it might be fun to take my colleague, tres cero siete host, and carpool buddy, Irish Girl, to some of the nearby attractions before heading out of town.
When we initially decided to carpool I asked her what time she needed to be home. “Six or seven,” was her reply. As we started visiting canyons I requested clarification, “When you said you needed to be home by six or seven did you mean six or seven tomorrow morning?” “No,” she replied and added, “tonight.” “Damn. I’m really in no rush to get back. And this isn’t because I have a hard time with goodbyes. I have a hard time with hellos upon my return,” I informed him.
She, showing compassion, adjusted her return time, “I just need to be home some time tonight.” With this new deadline we were able to do so much more. We visited a state park, shopped, and took exits to cities we had only heard about. In these places, I loved saying hello.
Approximately 11 hours after we were scheduled to make our four-hour drive home, we arrived at each of our respective homes; not yet ready for goodbye, but definitely ready to say hello to our beds. “Until next time,” I told her. “Tres cero siete!” was her reply and, for those not ready to say goodbye, is code for “Hello!”