So Life Is Good!

This past week has been one great week for Tony and me and I am totally amazed how it all happened, because it just proves, once again, to me that wishes do come true. And finally now I can tell y'all how the stars lined up for my wish to come true.

As I look back, I realize that the first star lined up, a week ago Sunday, when Tony and I were, over at Carol's ranch, having fun visiting with her and her sweet sister Carla and their dear friends Julie and Sugar. We were sitting out on the deck and talking about life and all kinds of things.

Some where in our conversation, one of them (not Tony) mentioned food trucks, and I immediately said, "Omg, I love food trucks so much. I wish I had a food truck...." And after I had quit blabbing like a babbling brook out of its bank, I made a mental note about saying that and then I got back into the conversation which was now about Willie Nelson's beautiful, new song Something You Get Through. Which is now one of my most favorite songs.

That Sunday night I decided to re-watch the great movie Chef starring Jon Favreau and it is one of my all-time favorite movies. Jon Favreau wrote it, directed it, produced it and he also starred in it. And ever since I watched that uplifting movie, several years ago—I've wanted a food truck.

Monday morning, while drinking my first cup of coffee, I Googled Airstream trailers, on Craig's List and the first picture to pop up almost made me fall out of my chair, because it showed this older Airstream and the caption above it read: "Top 10 Food Trucks" by Southern Living magazine.

And that is when I realized that Tony and I could maybe convert our vintage, 1977 Airstream and possibly turn it into a food truck, instead of using it as an Airbnb. 

My mind was racing, so then I started looking at food trucks for sale on Craig's list and to my surprise there are many affordable food trucks for sale.

I bet by now you are thinking that I bought a food truck, but you are wrong. So please continue reading.

Late Tuesday morning Tony and I went to Bandera and it takes us thirty-minutes to get there, so that is when I decided to talk to Tony about food trucks, because I knew I had a captive audience, when he wasn't tuning me out.

Anyway when we drove through Medina, I noticed that Debbie Martin's food truck was not open for business as usual. Debbie is our dear friend who owns and operates The Old Timer, which is famous and should be declared an historical landmark, because it is "the pulse" of Medina. And not because Tony goes there every morning to drink coffee with his friends. 

When I asked Tony about why the food truck was closed he told me that two days before Debbie's employees had quit running it, because they were moving.... So, I said, "Tony, on our way back I want to stop and talk to Debbie about her food truck and watch out! Someone is crossing the road...."

Long story short—On our way back home Tony and I stopped, at The Old Timer.

And I talked to Debbie about her food truck. And we talked for over an hour and we came up with a plan that suits us both. And that's when the wheels were set in motion—the sky is the limit!

So Friday morning, I went Online and started taking this eight hour course to get my Texas Food Safety Manager Certification that is required. The Online course was fabulous, but totally exhausting and because of taking notes, etc. I spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday, over 18 hours in total time studying, so I could pass the exam. 

And my backache, many sleepless hours and the pinched nerve, in my neck, was all worth it, because Tuesday morning, I nervously took the exam and I passed it with flying colors! And Carol was the first person I called to tell about passing the course. 

Then Tony and I went to Kerrville to pick up a refill of Roy's arthritis pills. But before we did that Tony and I went to Wolfmueller's Books to tell our good friends Sandy & Jon about what Tony and I are fixin' to do. And yes, they thought it was cool and were thrilled for us, too.

Then we went down their alley, jaywalked across Main Street, to Little Joe Restaurant, to celebrate me passing the exam and us getting to work part-time, in Debbie's food truck—The Old Timer's Rusty Dawg: Weenie Wagon. Because it is a win-win situation for Debbie and us.

And Tony and I did not order the exact same thing to eat, but we did order what we ate the last time we were there. "Margarita, I'll have the #1," I said. And Tony ordered their #5 Carne Guisada. And of course it was totally delicious. And we both drank their mouth-watering, homemade lemonade.

And since then, Tony and I have been regulars at, The Old Timer, discussing details and what all is involved with us running Debbie's Rusty Dawg. Here is a picture of the food truck.

There is still much to do, before we start serving food, hopefully by next week and of course, Tony still has to take his Texas Food Handlers course, so he can be certified to work in the kitchen with me. And the only thing bad (kind of funny) about all of our exciting news is—Tony has to wear a beard cover and he is not real thrilled about it. So life is good and dreams really do come true.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!

Little Joe And Margarita!

The last few days have been great and today has been no exception. This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to run a few errands.

Our first stop was at So Fast Printing, so I could pick up my order. You see yesterday morning, while I was on my computer I found a few pictures that wanted printed on her heaviest card stock. So I had e-mailed them to Rose, at So Fast Printing, so they could print them out for me.

I love working with Rose, because she is true professional when it comes to printing things right. Over many years our rescue ranch, Tony and myself have used her printing shop for quality printing. And Rose had made it so easy to work with her, because all I would have to do is e-mail her what we wanted printed, with instructions and then go pick up the order.

Yesterday when I had sent her the photos at the end of my instructions I had told her that Tony and I would be coming to Kerrville later in the day and it would be perfect if I could pick them up. But I finished my note by saying, "But if you do not have the time today—no worries."

Anyway, yesterday afternoon got away from us and we did not make it to Kerrville as we had planned. So I felt bad about coming in today to pick up my order, because she had told me yesterday that they would be ready when we came to town.

So when I walked inside So Fast Printing today, my guilt immediately flew right out the window, when Rose, who was wearing a big smile, greeted me and then handed me my order. The photos looked fabulous printed on the heavy card stock, as I had requested and Rose charged me next to nothing for printing them for me.

Our next errand to run was, at the big H-E-B, to get groceries and we were out of there within twenty minutes. And our last planned stop was at Wolfmueller's Books, so we could see our good friends Sandy & Jon.

When we arrived Sandy greeted us from the back of the bookstore and waved for us to come back there. "Hi y'all. Please sit down," Sandy said. "Jon went to run an errand and he will be right back..."

We had a fun, short visit with Sandy before Jon returned and then we had a fun, hilarious visit with the two of them.

During our entertaining talk-a-thon/laugh-a-thon Sandy handed me this folded pamphlet to look at.

Then she and Jon enthusiastically took turns telling us about how delicious their food was, at this new Mexican Restaurant, where Conchita's used to be located. "...Y'all are going to love Little Joe's." Jon said. "Their food is excellent and it is Tex-Mex at its very best. They've only been open a week or so and oh my gosh their homemade lemonade is to die for....it's now our favorite Mexican food restaurant."

They had convinced us to give it a try right then, even though we had groceries, melting inside Roy, and had planned to eat sandwiches when we got back home. "Go over there with them Jon, and introduce them to Joe and his sweet daughter Margarita. It is just the two of them. Joe does all of the cooking and Margarita is the waitress/cashier. And they are the nicest people. I love their #1 and #4 and y'all should order that. And Jon, please bring me back some more lemonade," Sandy said.

So Jon, Tony and I adios-ed Sandy, went out their backdoor and shuffled across Main Street and then went inside Little Joe Restaurant. And Margarita, was wearing as big a smile as Rose had, at So Fast Printing, greeted us before we even sat down at our table. 

Within a minute we were all sipping the delicious lemonades that Sandy had raved about. Well, their menu was huge and it was filled with so many delicious choices. But in the end Tony and I did not order the exact same thing as we usually do. (You can enlarge this menu and on the backside of this flyer is their breakfast menu, but I did not have enough space available to put it in this blog post.)

Well, I ordered their #1 Enchiladas, as Sandy had suggested. And Tony order their #5 Guisada Plate and Jon ordered a lemonade to go, which made Margarita chuckle, because she knew how much Sandy loves their lemonade.

A few minutes later Jon adios-ed us and he took off with his and Sandy's lemonades and that's when Tony and I got to visiting with Margarita while we waited on our food. She told us that she and her dad have owned several Mexican food restaurants over the past years and that she and Joe were excited about opening this one. "We are open all week from 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM and we serve breakfast all day." Then Margarita took off to go get our orders.

Well, let me tell you what Tony said to me once he took a bite of his guisada, "This is the best guisada in town. Seriously, it is the best that I've ever eaten."

I smiled, and whispered, "Tony, don't talk with your mouth full." Then I took my first bite of the cheese enchiladas.

"Omg!" I said. "These enchiladas are to die for."

Tony chuckled, and with more guisada, in his mouth, said, "Don't talk with your mouth full." And his words nearly made me choke, because I started laughing.

When Margarita returned to our table and served us Joe's homemade flour tortillas, definitely not coming out of a machine like other Mexican food restaurants use—Tony's and my eyes grew really big, because they looked so delicious and because we could not wait to try them. 

After we had enjoyed eating our delicious lunch and the mouth-watering, homemade flour tortillas, I told Margarita that I was going to blog about their new, family-owned restaurant and I asked if I could please take a picture of her with her dad, Little Joe. And two minutes later—I shot them using my iPhone. It was painless.

Bottom    Line: Little Joe Restaurant is now the best Mexican food restaurant, in Kerrville, Kerr County and the Hill Country. And we told that to Sandy & Jon, as soon as we returned to their awesome bookstore.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!