The Chase

My sister-in-law and I have a tradition of dining out once a week during the summer months. It began when I was teaching full time and summer was our opportunity to catch up with each other. We often adopted a theme for our summer escapades such as all ethnic restaurants or we selected eateries located in a certain area of the city. We have experienced hits and misses but without a doubt, all our choices have been an adventure. We lost a whole summer last year due to the wicked C-19. We are now vaxxed and ready to bust out of exile.

Our theme this summer is a stretch for us. We are not looking for brick and mortar establishments, rather, we are chasing the wheels. Food trucks to be precise. Although food trucks have been popular for quite some time in many regions, their trendiness is slowly gaining traction in our area. One truck serving tacos to the night crowd outside bars several years ago has grown to dozens of trucks roaming the streets, festivals and parking lots of our city. 

There is a learning curve with following food trucks. The biggest challenge is inherent in the nature of the beast. Trucks are mobile and finding their location on any given day is quite literally a moving target. Many of the food trucks in our area rely on Facebook postings. This can pose a bit of a hurdle for me as I long ago bailed out on this social media platform for a number of reasons. I am able to view Facebook postings without logging in but it comes with a maize of pop-ups and blocks and getting kicked off during longer sessions. Fortunately, I found a one-stop-shop FB group for many of our local trucks so that has become my guide for now. I am learning to check the postings frequently as they can change on a moment's notice. 

Our first food truck visit came about because I saw one on a street corner as I was running errands. Further research noted that this truck is somewhat stationary so it was an easy one to track down. Their specialty is Mexican cuisine so it was tacos for my sister-in-law and nachos for me. They had a couple of picnic tables with a canopy so our dining experience was comfortable and tasty. A good start to our food truck research.

We are learning a few things as we continue our chase. 

1) Carry a beverage of choice.--Often the drink options are limited so we tote our own water to accompany our meals. I do not like soda so I like to be prepared just in case.

2) Make a seating plan.--Many food trucks have few or no options for seating. I am not comfortable sitting on sidewalks or curbs. Eating in the car feels claustrophobic so that option is out. We now identify parks near the food truck and settle ourselves into a picnic shelter for our dining experience. We are discovering new parks in the process which makes it win-win.

3) Bring a roll of paper towels.--I am a messy eater and I often forget to pick up enough napkins to have respectable dining in the outdoors. We use the paper towels as placemats, napkins and clean up rags. 

We are early into our food truck chase but we are committed to experiencing as many as we can this summer. It is time to give back to the folks who fought hard to stay in business this past year and I am only too happy to get out of the kitchen on a hot day.

 

 

On Location

I am writing this post on location, Memorial Day weekend.  It is 49 degrees, breezy and cloudy. I would like to report I am near a crackling campfire with a beautiful lake view as I wait for a marshmallow to be toasted to the perfect golden hue for an ooey gooey smores bar. In reality, my freezing fingers are tapping away on my keyboard in my garage, waiting for the possible arrival of customers at our rummage sale, day three. My coffee mug continues to get icy cold and the coffee cake is long gone. It is difficult to write with mittens on so I do brief warm-ups in my coat pocket. My co-conspirators in this project are not available yet so it is just me and my computer until the action begins. 

I do not remember the last time we had a garage sale but I know it was many moons ago. The stars aligned this year and we decided to take the plunge again. My husband and I are in varying stages of retirement as are my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. The goal for all of us is to organize, downsize and generally distance ourselves from the stuff we no longer need. The I-might-need-this-someday items are ready to see their last days with us. Time for a sale.

So, a date was set. The garage was cleaned. Boxes of treasures were unpacked and priced. The cash box was dusted off. Neon poster paper was purchased. Signs were made. Display tables were assembled using sawhorses and old doors. Items were arranged to maximize their value. Coffee cups were refilled. And finally it was go-time, no turning back.

Many lessons can be learned from rummage sales. The first is that there is something for everyone. The once popular scrapbooks we had for sale remained in a dormant state until the second day of our sale. A sweet little girl immediately saw the two scrapbooks and picked them with a sense of loving purpose. When she asked her dad if she could have them, he agreed. I saw the girl's creative gears begin to spin and I have no doubt she will have hours of fun with them. 

Another lesson is that sentimental attachments can be stronger than the practical need to purge. My husband had a set of plastic horses from his youth. The horses had little snap-on saddles and different cowboys for the horses. He had hours of fun with them and just looking at them brought back a flood of good memories. Obviously, Trigger and Silver are no longer needed in our household so the wise thing to do was to add them to our display tables. With hesitation, he put a fairly robust price on the set and I am sure he was secretly hoping they wouldn't sell. On the second day, two adorable little boys with big brown eyes picked up the horses and were given the greenlight by their dad. My husband watched as the young lads made the purchase and excitedly ran to their car. Both of us knew the horses would ride again and that is how it should be. 

The final lesson for me was simply this. Many people are nice. We had interesting conversations with a wide variety of folks. We re-connected with our neighbors and met a few new ones. We poured a cup of coffee for a couple of long time friends who stopped by and we enjoyed catching up. And, despite the rain, cold, wind and clouds, each customer proclaimed a love for treasure hunting. 

Speaking of customers, they are beginning to arrive. Time to refill my coffee cup and switch into sales mode. I still have hopes my harvest gold Bundt pan will find a new home.

Bundt pan update: It is still for sale.