When you’re on the open road hauling a big rig like Ladybug, it’s just natural for us drivers to get a hankerin’ for food. For me, that hankerin’ is on a pretty steady timeline, like every ten minutes or so. And when I’m hungry, which is pretty much all of the time, I can’t think or talk about anything else, but food. Heck, I drove half a day through the mountains and basically just talked about cheeseburgers the entire time.
Bernadette just keeps looking out the window admiring the wonders in the distance. She doesn’t even attempt to join my conversation about cheeseburgers. She just nods her head and tells me I’ll be fine and keep driving. Every now and then she’ll happily chirp, “If you’re hungry, I have almonds. Or I have a nice energy bar.” Those almonds and energy bars are not cheeseburgers. They taste like bird seed. But I still eat them. And I keep driving.
So our first morning in Vegas, I awoke in a full-on hankerin’ mood for a proper breakfast. I think of all the meals in a day, breakfast is the best. Not a healthy smoothie, or bowl of some tasteless yogurt with something unknown sprinkled on it. I needed a real proper breakfast with all the trimmings. And the greasier, the better.
Bernadette came up with a brilliant idea. “Why don’t you go next door to that casino and get yourself breakfast and we can leave for our day when you get back.”
Before she could say another word, I shot out the door like a leopard and high tailed it over to that casino. Running past endless rows of slot machines, I eventually came across a food court for the ages. It was a Mecca to fast food royalty with big, beautiful boards displaying every type of breakfast a hankerin’ guy like me could ever imagine.
Eventually, my eyes zeroed in on the menu at an overly decorated Mexican restaurant. Standing at the counter eyeing the selections, I came across a framed photo of the original owner. A handsome, unsmiling woman with unusually thick eyebrows. I made the sign of the cross and then did something I have never done in my life!!! I ordered a fully loaded Breakfast Burrito!
It was awesome. It must have been about two feet long of tortilla stuffed with just about everything you can imagine. Bacon, eggs, cheese, beans and best of all, tatar tots! You don’t get tatar tots ever at my house. I was in Heaven. I even took a photo of my giant Burrito to send to my kids back home. “They will be so jealous,” I chuckled.
The first bite of that Burrito made me smile ear to ear and back. But, just as I was about to go for another bite, a dusty looking gentleman rolled into view. He was obviously a desperate fellow and he slowly rolled his wheelchair around the outskirts of the food court checking out trash bins looking for leftovers. No one seemed to notice, and I almost turned away to ignore him myself, but then, I couldn’t.
I walked over and said, “Hey bud, I have a fully loaded Breakfast Burrito if you’re interested.” And his eyes lit up. So, I delivered the giant burrito, along with two tiny bowls of hot sauce, and dropped a few bucks on the table beside him. He put his fist out and I fist bumped him and left.
When I arrived back at Ladybug, Bernadette was waiting patiently and smiling as always. “I hope you had a good breakfast, Honey, because we’ve got a lot of walking to do today. I also packed some almonds and energy bars just in case you get hungry.”
I smiled at my pretty gal. “That sounds perfect Bernadette. You know how much I love bird seed.”