A sighting of the silver Empanada Shack food truck at a Lycoming County brewery, market, or store gets many mouths watering for some crispy half-moon goodness. At the window, a soft-spoken man with big plans takes orders while his wife prepares the food. Those plans involve empanadas, rivers, and family.

Orlando and Jessica Rodriquez own the Empanada Shack and Rich Port Adventures, a water sport rental and shuttle service. Rich Port is the literal English translation of Puerto Rico. Both are from Puerto Rico, though Orlando lived there only a short time before his parents left for the continental United States. By the time he was ten years old, he was a young man growing up in Idaho, discovering joy in the natural world, and learning about “outfitters” who made that world accessible to people.

When visiting family on the island, Orlando noticed that there were no outfitters. “By 2017, I could do my job in the States anywhere, so why not Puerto Rico?” The plan was to design and rent paddle boards—the Rich Port Board Company. Three months after arriving and beginning the business, Hurricane Maria devastated the island. “Our place was demolished,” he says.

Maigrette Polanco and Eddie Rodriquez, Orlando’s parents, moved from Idaho to Montoursville for family reasons. And because family is the filling in the empanada of life, Orlando and Jessica relocated to the farms and forests of north central Pennsylvania, where they married.

The Rich Port dream came with them, too. By 2019, Rich Port Boards became Rich Port Adventure as a small start-up to supplement the job of selling trailers. But the paddle boards needed in beachy Puerto Rico were not what people in this area wanted most. So, again, they adjusted. “We started with two kayaks, and at the end of the first year we had eight,” Orlando says. “Now we have about fifteen to twenty at any one time.” It might have been a side business for longer, but covid, a hurricane of sorts, disrupted work and life. Orlando needed to make the business full-time just as people in search of fun, outdoor activities discovered the area’s lakes and rivers.

Kayaks are rented from May to October, but a growing family (they just welcomed their third child) needs work that happens all year round. They set up a tent to test some of Jessica’s family empanada recipes, and the response was overwhelming. They quickly realized they’d need a trailer of their own to house this business, thus the Empanada Shack was born.

The fillings are all made by Jessica and Maigrette. The dough is then rolled in the truck, the empanadas filled with either a traditional beef or chicken filling, or one of their specialty fillings (the buffalo chicken gets rave reviews). Since they’re baked to order, the smell around the trailer is incredible. Orlando says, “This week, a woman came from two hours away just for empanadas!” Big lines form at the shack in Williamsport on First Fridays, and at many other locations, like New Trail Brewery. The ever-changing schedule for the Empanada Shack is on their Facebook page.

The couple had a restaurant for about a year. In 2022, Muncy offered the use of a building that had been a restaurant with a commercial kitchen. It became a place for the rental business and to bake empanadas, expanding the menu to other Puerto Rican dishes. “It was nice for the kayaks, and we had a team of over twenty people in 2023. But the help was seasonal.” By 2024, when they would need to sign a lease, circumstances had changed. Their workforce had shrunk, and they were expecting another baby. In any case, a traveling food truck performed better than a restaurant. Orlando and Jessica let go of the storefront to focus on the kayak rentals and the food, which was now the mouth-watering center of their business.

Two enterprises intertwined makes for a more secure income, but a more difficult balancing act. Orlando often rents kayaks and arranges for delivery or a shuttle while he is working at the Empanada Shack. “Balance is hard,” Jessica says. “We stress out, then keep it cool and organized.”

Orlando chimes in, “It’s caffeine and Jesus.” This business dance includes the family, as they raise three young children. “I want my kids to have the summer jobs that I always wanted,” he says. “And then, who knows?”

This year, Orlando has secured an agreement with Robert Porter Natural Area in South Williamsport for a permanent seasonal location, right on the river a little below the Williamsport dam. Work is continuing on that area, with plans to open at that location in August. It is from there that Rich Port is hosting the Third Annual Youth Kayak Clinic on September 7. For children ages six to twelve, this three-hour clinic will teach beginning kayaking and kayak safety.

Rich Port Adventure rents kayaks (and some other equipment) and provides logistics for adventure-seeking folks. If someone wants to kayak and doesn’t know the area, they are a valuable resource for the best places to enter the river or tips on how to best navigate the Susquehanna. They do not guide trips, though they sometimes provide the equipment for a guided adventure that someone else is doing. But no matter what the need, Rich Port Adventure will tailor the equipment and logistics to make their customers’ trips safer and more enjoyable.

The cost for kayaks from Rich Port is currently $25 for a half day and $40 for a full day. A delivery or pickup of a personal (not rented) kayak is $30 each way. A shuttle service is a flat rate of $60 and can shuttle up to fourteen people. Find both the Empanada Shack and Rich Port Adventure Company on Facebook. To contact either business, call or text (570) 692-2537.