Spring Has Sprung

Several weeks ago I was up early in the morning to take a walk where I had parked over night at my customer in Bridgewater, New Jersey.  They don't start until around eight in the morning, and I was out taking a walk, enjoying the nice weather in the area until they decided to get started.  It was around six a.m. and for the hour or so that I was walking I am sure that I saw several hundred Geese as they were making their way back up North after they had spent their winter time down in the milder climates of the South.  I thought to myself, "Well, that means Spring is finally here."  (By the way, a bunch of Geese are not called a "flock."  They are known as a "gaggle of Geese" - a little fun and totally uninteresting trivia for your pleasure)

Last week I was back in New Jersey, and I had spent my available driving hours getting there a day early with the plan of taking my ten hour break there in Riverdale, New Jersey.  This would allow me to get on up to my final stop in Farmington, Connecticut that evening, and be the first in line to get unloaded Tuesday morning at Stanley Access Technologies.  That put me into position to be a day early on the load, and gets me moving on to another load quicker.  Incidentally that is how you want to dance this dance.  If you can consistently operate in this fashion you will be making opportunities for yourself, and you won't be one of the many drivers who does nothing but complain about how their dispatcher is not treating them right.  It worked out well too - my back haul load was an almost 2,200 mile run!

So, while I am taking my ten hour break in Riverdale I decided to take a nice walk in a nearby neighborhood that I often walk in when parked at this customer's property.  This walk only confirmed my previous suspicions that Spring had sprung!

The dogwood trees in this neighborhood are some of the finest I've seen, and they have more of the pink variety than the white ones in this neighborhood.

Check out these beautiful blossoms up close and personal...

Here are several of the best ones that I saw, and I could have taken more photos, but since the purpose of this blog is not about flowers I tried to stifle myself from going over-board.  One of the things I want you to realize though is that you need to have a life outside of being a truck driver.  Enjoy the different areas you go to.  Learn to take a little time out of the rat race and "smell the roses," or "taste the tacos along the way."  Haha!  More about that taco statement in just a little bit!

Here's a nice white one, probably the type most of us are familiar with...

This one is in a yard where I have gotten some really nice fall shots of the trees also.  Those of you who are familiar with some of my fall foliage posts may recognize the unique house where this pink Dogwood is located...

Those Spring time bulbs are up and blooming also.  I saw a good number of tulips and other early spring bulbs blooming and demonstrating all their pomp and glory in New Jersey.  It just makes Spring twice as much fun for me, because I have already seen all this stuff happening in the South about a month ago.  As an Over The Road truck driver you get to experience all the seasons two or three times each during the year.  Sometimes the winters can be brutal, and yet it somehow all gets made up for by the wonders of Spring each year.  Here's a few of the flower beds that I noticed as I was strolling through the neighborhood...

Okay, let's talk about that reference I made to Tacos...

I was recently in Tampa, Florida delivering a load of aluminum extrusions from the SAPA plant in Cressona, Pennsylvania to Alro Metals.  I go here fairly often and there is a place nearby called "The Taco Bus" that I have often wanted to try for lunch.  There is no way to park a big truck there, and because of that I hadn't figured out how to try it yet.  But, this day it was May the 5th - Cinco De Mayo, and I decided that I was going to make it happen.  My delivery appointment was for eleven a.m. and they had me unloaded by about noon.  I simply asked them if I could park my truck in their lot after they unloaded me, and walk up the road to The Taco Bus to get myself some lunch.  They jokingly replied that they would be happy to accommodate me as long as I brought tacos back for all the staff!

The Taco Bus has always been busy anytime I go by there, so I figured it must be good, and it was!

It is an intriguing place with both inside and outside dining areas, but the unusual thing about it is that you walk up to a School bus, and order your meal from a side window in the bus!  I guess the whole idea is that of the "street taco" that is so popular now days sold from a food truck.  And although I do not know the history behind the name of this establishment, it could be that they started out with a bus selling tacos from it - I would guess that is highly probable.  Anyway, here's a look at the place where I got some really good Carne' Asada Street tacos on Cinco De Mayo...

This what it looks like from the street...

Here is what you see when you get around to the side of the building where you are going to order your meal...

And, not only was the food good, they also seem to have a pleasant sense of humor.  I like folks who can laugh at themselves, and I think from this hand painted sign on the side of the bus, these folks know exactly how to do that...