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tio wally travel

Tio Wally Eats America: Love’s Travel Stops

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in North Baltimore, Ohio.

Greetings from North Baltimore, Ohio
N 41° 10.462’ W 083° 39.101’ Elev. 704 ft.

We love Love’s. So much so that Love’s Travel Stops are the only truck stops where the crew of the SS Me So Hungry will fuel the land yacht. There are a few reasons for this.

One is that they are kept cleaner than most other truck stops. From the fuel islands to the bathrooms, Love’s makes a conscious effort to make its properties as inviting as it possibly can. And for good reason: It’s a highly competitive business to be in. Moreover, Love’s really goes out of its way to take good care of the commercial drivers.

All truck stops have some sort of Driver’s Reward Program. After you swipe your fuel card, you swipe your Reward Card and are awarded 1¢ for every gallon of fuel you purchase. Although a measly penny per gallon doesn’t sound like much, it adds up in a hurry when you’re purchasing an average of 100 gallons of fuel per day; a rule of thumb is a land yacht will average about 6 miles per gallon.

What makes Love’s Reward Program different from all the others is that after you purchase 1,000 gallons in a month you’re classified as Platinum. You have not only earned $10 in credit, you get unlimited free refills of any size coffee, iced or hot tea, or soda (providing you have your own cup) for the following month. They even have hot chocolate. You also get unlimited showers; other places give you a free shower with a minimum purchase of 50 gallons.

Again, that penny may not sound like a lot until you compare it to what the other truck stops are doing. For example, to earn a “free” refill at, say, Pilot/Flying J you have to buy 169 gallons of fuel and then if you use the points — Bam! — all of your points/credits are gone. Pilot/Flying J (it’s the same company) does have a so-called Coffee Club where every sixth cup is free. Thus, if you don’t use any of your Reward points, you pay only $8.45 to get a “free” cup of coffee. Such unbridled generosity.

I’ve never tallied it up but, at $1 per refill, I’m saving a minimum of $50-$60 every month on coffee by fueling at Love’s. But wait, there’s more!

You can use the Reward points for any food and merchandise in the store, except alcohol and tobacco. The points can also be used in many of the fast food restaurants affiliated with the Travel Stops, sometimes receiving a 10 percent discount to boot. Additionally, Love’s always has something or other on sale each month, and quite often it’s a good deal.

In month’s past Love’s had been having Munchies® Sandwich Crackers on sale Three for $1. There are a handful of different varieties of these FritoLay products but my favorite are the ones filled with peanut butter between Ritz-like crackers. There are also peanut butter-filled cheese crackers but they are quite a bit saltier. All of them — cheese, jalapeño cheese, etc. — are pretty tasty. I think Munchies® are easily the best sandwich crackers on the market. And I swear the peanut butter ones are filled with Jif®. At least, it sure tastes like Jif®.

For November Love’s had been doing a Buy 1 Get 1 Free promotion on Double S Ranch (now Double S Foods) Natural Style Beef Jerky. This jerky is really good. Love’s carries two varieties, Original and Peppered; according to the package Double S also makes a Teriyaki flavor but Love’s doesn’t carry it.

It reminds me of some of the homemade jerky I’ve had. Although it’s chewy like run-of-the-mill jerky, unlike most of its bone-dry, shoe-leather counterparts, it’s moist and quite tender. The Peppered flavor is Mesquite Smoked and smells exactly like Campbell’s Vegetable Beef Soup. It also packs a little heat that builds up on your tongue after awhile. At $5.79 for two 3.25 ounce packages it makes for a cheap chew to keep your mouth occupied as you drag down the miles. What a bargain.

I’ve been taking packages of the jerky and distributing them to various folks when I take shore leave. It’s turned out to be a really a cheap way of buying a little bit of fast-fleeting popularity — about two seconds worth, to be precise.

Love’s also had Two for $1 Butterfinger® candy bars. I don’t eat much candy but I bought a half-dozen of the regulation-size 2.1 ounce bars anyway. Now I’m stocked with enough candy to last me until about June.

But the sweetest part of these deals is that it doesn’t cost me a cent. I couldn’t begin to guess how many penny points I’ve gone through over the years. I do know that, in addition to whatever snacks I’ve snagged, I’ve made off with a veritable fleet of die-cast cars of varying sizes for my great nephew.

It’s the little things that makes me love Love’s — from the cheerful greeting when you walk in to there always being a trash can strategically placed right next to the bathroom door so you can use your paper towel to grab the door handle, thus allowing you to make a clean, germ-free getaway. Even my evil twin, crack lead navigator Skippy, particularly likes this little amenity. It makes him feel hygienic. Dream on, Skippy, you mangy, scurvy dog.

And so we roll.

Love’s Travel Stops, nationwide

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

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tio wally travel

Tio Wally Eats America: 96 Truck Stop

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Winchester, Kentucky.

Greetings from Winchester, Kentucky
N 38° 00.829’  W 084° 10.646’  Elev. 1077 ft.

If you want funky in Kentucky, this is the place.

I first found the 96 Truck Stop in Winchester through the miracle of the Garmin GPS. I was looking for a place to park, one that I hoped had InterTube access. Sailing along, I called this place and, lo and behold, they had free Tubes. All I had to do then was find it.

This place is in kind of a weird location. It’s very old place that, I suspect, was originally located just off the highway long before the interstate was built, but who knows? To get here you have to go north up Hwy. 627 and then double back on Rolling Hills Lane. Being kind of hidden, it isn’t a place you would spot from the freeway and pop into.

I arrived just before lunch on my last visit, having sailed all night. I went in hoping they’d have some special that I couldn’t resist but all they were offering at the time was an Open-faced Roast Beef (see pic) and BBQ Pulled Pork, neither of which rocked my boat.

Instead I opted for a Egg and Bologna sandwich ($3.50), and one of the “New Items”, Fried Green Tomatoes ($2.99), along with a Sweet Tea ($1.99).

Whenever I’m in these kinds of places and presented with various choices, I always ask the server what they would get, and usually order that. The waitress suggested I get the sandwich on white bread with mayo and tomato. It came with two thick slices of fried bologna and it was awesome. Had it not been so filling I would’ve ordered another one. It was that good! (Just looking at the picture has me salivating!)

The six slices of Fried Green Tomatoes served with Ranch Dressing and were okay, I guess. They were prepared nicely but were kind of bland, with a slightly fishy taste. I suspect they use the same cornmeal that they use for the Catfish. They also seemed kind of overpriced. I mean, it’s a tomato — a green tomato! — for chris’sake. But then again, fried green tomatoes are always pricey for some unknown reason.

The Sweet Tea ($1.99) was everything it was billed as: Sweet! Too sweet, I thought.

Still, that sandwich was so good I’ll definitely be stopping back just for that. Hell, it was every bit as good if not better than Uncle Joe’s Famous Fried Bologna sandwich.

Total bill for this portion of my culinary adventure was $8.99. In retrospect, I should’ve just got the sandwich.

After a long nap I woke up hungry again and went back in to see if they had changed the specials. They still had the previous two offerings but had added Stuffed Bell Peppers ($6.99), which I ordered.

I love Stuffed Bell Peppers and thought I’d hit pay dirt. “Wow, two stuffed peppers and two sides for seven bucks!” I thought. So I ordered it with Cottage Cheese and Macaroni and Cheese as the sides. Then the plate came.

Now I don’t want to argue with anyone armed with a felt-tip marker and a dry-erase board but … if you put an “S” after the word pepper, it makes it plural. If I’m not mistaken, the meaning of “plural” is “more than one in number.” So where the hell is my other pepper. I need my other stuffed bell pepper, damn it! I want it. Now.

I was going to ask my waitress about this roadside restaurant robbery but she was busy. Knowing that she’s dealt with plenty of mildly disgruntled land-yacht skippers in the past, I knew I would get nowhere with my linguistic argument. Indeed, I suspected that even if I presented her with my First Place Award for Opinion Writing from the Northwest Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists I wasn’t going to get another pepper. I really hate it when my coveted SPJ Award fails to get me more stuff[ed bell peppers].

Despite my apparent trauma from being shorted, the Stuffed Bell Pepper, after a dash of salt, was really good. Instead of a green pepper, it was fairly large red one, generously stuffed with a rice and ground beef filling, topped with a tomato sauce.

The Macaroni and Cheese was homemade, but it too was kind of bland. But with the addition of salt and pepper it easily filled the bill.

In all it was a pretty decent deal for the price. Plus, I’d found a dollar bill in the parking lot on the way in. A whole dollar! Bonus.

If you’re still hungry after dining at the 96 Truck Stop there is a place right across the street called Alltech. It grows algae — actually it’s more akin to a brewing process — in giant vats before sending it through a dryer and packaging it up in 50-kilo bags. The dried algae is then shipped off and used as a high-protein additive to cattle feed. This could conceivably make for an organic, alternative “dessert” for the health-conscious, if you’re so inclined. Or, like me, you can just wander over and be mesmerized by the giant acrylic tubes of bubbling algae.

The 96 Truck Stop is open 24/7, located about 20 miles east of Lexington off I-64 at Exit 96 (Hwy. 627 North). They have free InterTubes but only one power strip if you need to plug in.

And so we roll.

96 Truck Stop, 510 Rolling Hills Lane, Winchester, Kentucky

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

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Tio Wally Eats America: Johnson’s Corner

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is at Johnson’s Corner in Johnstown, Colorado.

Greeting from Johnstown, Colorado!
N 40° 21.777’  W 104° 58.908’  Elev. 4976’

When I was growing up my Mom used to say that if you wanted good food go to a truck stop. Well, it’s a myth. The truth is that the truckers eat there for one simple reason: They can park! Thus, the number of trucks at a truck stop has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the food but rather the size of the parking lot.

As a rule, if you want to find good food ferreted out by truckers, look for trucks parked in unlikely places. It usually turns out that the greater the effort they expended to park, the better the food.

But there are truly notable exceptions. And since it was just a few miles out of my way I decided to go have lunch at Johnson’s Corner (2842 SE Frontage Rd.).

I hadn’t been here for eight years or so. I used to stop here all the time as the food was always really good and fairly reasonably priced. I also liked the fact that it was such a funky, clean-but-rundown place. It had so much class that you had to sit in the well-worn “ass-dentations” in the seats of the booths just right to get comfortable.

It turned out the food was as good as ever but, much to my dismay, they remodeled a couple of years ago and got rid of all the funk. And it was funky.

Originally built in 1952, Johnson’s Corner was a landmark place as it was located in the middle of nowhere roughly halfway between Denver and Cheyenne. A couple of years later the Interstate was built and, voila, instant gold mine. Of course, it also helped that there was nothing else around.

They’re supposedly most famous for their homemade cinnamon rolls. As I’m not a cinnamon-roll fan I’ve never had one. But you can’t miss them when they serve them: they measure (conservatively) 6-inches square and about 4-inches high. They could be fairly characterized as “big.”

But what’s really good there, and often overlooked, I think, is the soups. They’re all made from scratch and now they have a cook who’s rather inventive, according to the waitress. I kind of had to agree.

I got Chili Blanca with my meal. They called it a soup but it wasn’t soupy at all. It was made with white beans, chicken and some sort of chili pepper; judging by the color and flavor I’m thinking it was those real long semi-hot banana peppers, definitely not jalapeño. Needless to say, it was really, really good, flavorful with enough bite to make it interesting.

For the entree I ordered Meatloaf ($11.99 w/tax) and, although I was technically a little early for them, a baked potato. I’d had the meatloaf before and remembered really liking it, and wasn’t disappointed this time. It has big pieces of onion and bell pepper in it and, I think, stewed tomatoes. It was good and it was a lot. Two meals!

While all of their food is really good, another standout meal there is their Roast Beef. Why they call it “roast beef” is beyond me as it’s actually shredded pot roast, piled high on white bread, with brown gravy. And if you get mashed potatoes with it they serve them old school: A scoop of smashed taters on a piece of white bread smothered in gravy. Seriously, how can you go wrong with starch on starch smothered in gravy thickened with starch?

Though I didn’t order any, they also have great desserts, especially the pies. Everything is made in-house from scratch and the portions are extremely generous.

I guess this place has been featured on the Travel Channel, Food Network, et al. Nevertheless, I highly recommend Johnson’s Corner. Although it’s not as funky/charming as it used to be, the food is still great. And the view of the Rockies ain’t bad either.

And so we roll.

Johnson’s Corner - 2842 SE Frontage Road. Johnstown, CO 80534

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.