Vidal called me from the Newark airport.  He made it through customs and was waiting for his connection to Norfolk, VA.  He remarked about how clean and new everything was. I drove to the airport to meet him and the first place I took him was to my kitchen for food. It was not in Vidal's nature to be waited on, so it was awkward for him not be serving me my lunch! 

As soon as we were finished eating, Vidal hopped up to carry in the dishes to the sink. I tried to explain that we had a dishwashing machine, but he washed the dishes by hand in the sink anyway. With plenty of daylight left, we went straight to the beach.  It was early March and chilly, but off came his shoes and the chance to touch the water of the Atlantic Ocean. We explored the oceanfront area by car and went to the school where I work to meet some of the staff.

Then back to the house for a big dinner with my family and a friend who hiked the Inca Trail with me. My teenage son was visiting his girfriend in Denmark, so Vidal slept in my son's room.  I knew that Vidal would never ask for anything,  so I placed a basket of bottled water, granola bars and fresh fruit in his room. Not surprisingly, he never touched it.

I was sitting on the sofa drinking my morning coffee, when Vidal woke up and walked into the room and asked if he could see the water heater. I took him to the workshop area of the house and explained in simple terms how it worked. He wanted to know if hot water was available all the time.  I assured him that it was, unless there was a prolonged power failure. The next day I had planned a party at my house to give my local friends a chance to meet Vidal and talk about travel, culture or anything else.  One of my hiking pals brought a special celebratory cake decorated with an Incan head, styled after the design on an Incan pillow cover I provided to the bakery.

The rest of the week we worked on the computer each evening, creating documents, pamphlets and photos to showcase Adios Adventure Travel at the Adventure Travel Expo in Washington DC. Vidal paid $3000 to be an exhibitor and this was his chance to go face to face with consumers interested in travel.  Neither of us had never done anything like this and it was on my recommendation that he decided to participate.  The expense was great for such a small company.  I just had a feeling that everything would work out, but honestly, I was going on instincts and nothing else. One of the women who had hiked the Inca Trail with me, lived in DC and offered us a free place to stay.  She and another woman from our hiking trek would join us in the booth at the Expo. Being at the Expo would be an adventure for all of us.