Supper Time! Favorite Places To Eat On The Road

Very seldom did hubby and I eat at truck stops.  Usually, we only stopped to eat once a day, in the evening, and he knew of enough places that were not truck stops that we didn’t depend on them for meals.  In my opinion, he just didn’t want me meeting up with his old waitress girlfriends, but that’s another story.

I always had enough food and snacks on the truck to take care of breakfast and lunch with some extra for supper in case we had a “hot” load that kept us from stopping for our evening meal.  Quite often, I fixed supper on the truck using one of the 12-volt “lunchbox” cookers that are available at most truck stops.  The only thing I didn’t like about this nifty little device was the fact that the aroma made me hungry hours before the food was ready.  This was a killer.  I wanted to eat long before the food was done.

My favorite places to eat, other than in the truck, include 2 truck stops, 1 small dirt-lot truck stop and one small restaurant with a dirt lot for trucks.

The small restaurant with a dirt lot was somewhere along hwy 68 in Maryland.  I cannot remember exactly where, I’m sorry to say.  But this little restaurant had the best boneless pork chops I’ve ever had and everything else was just as tasty!  This was a regular stop whenever we had to travel to D.C. and the surrounding area.

The dirt-lot truck stop I mention was a really small place with room for only about a dozen trucks to park, but this was where I got the best breakfast ever, even if it was late in the day.  The first time I ordered “huevos rancheros” here, the cashier called the janitor about the order.  He was an older man of obvious Mexican descent, but that man could cook!  Yum!  I’m sure that he has since passed away simply because he was pretty old when I was there.  This little truck stop was located just east of El Paso in a town called Fabens.

As far as “truck stop” food goes, I have two that I favored.  My second favorite truck stop to eat at was a new one built at exit 40 on I-80 at Avoca, Iowa.  Every time we were there, I could count on getting a good-tasting meal.  Hopefully the same cook is still there, but you know there’s as much employee turnover in truck stops as there are in trucking companies, if not more.

This brings us to my personal all-time favorite place to eat while I was on the road.  We’re going to head into the state of Idaho, way down in the southeast corner of the state, close to the junction of highways 89 and 30.  Here we enter the Ranch Hand Truck Stop.  Park your rig, walk right in, sit right down and be ready to take the leftovers to the truckin’ dog waiting out in your truck!  I have never been able to eat an entire country-fried steak from the Ranch Hand.  It was served on a plate seperate from the veggies and was actually larger than the plate!  Jiminy, it was good!  Sam the Truckin’ Dog always got the doggie bag!

I can’t tell you if these places are still here since I’ve been off the road for almost 10 years, but these were my favorites while I was out there.  If they are still there, I’m hoping that you’re lucky enough to get the great tastes that I got!

About Author Tumbleweed

Hello, to all of you! I'm glad to see that you took some time out of truckin', or hopin' to be truckin' or even done with truckin', to stop in. I've done my truckin'. I had several years "on the CB" before I even got to truckin', and that dad-blasted radio is the reason I've paid my dues. Me and my big mouth, that's what I get. I used to work about an hour from a very big city and I was always chattin' with the drivers and helpin' them get to places in town that they were trying to get to. I could get them around all the construction and any events that might be taking place at the fairgrounds or the convention center. Every now and then I'd stop and have coffee with one of the drivers. The last time I did that, we ended up talking for four hours! Two weeks later I was on the road with my future hubby. Hubby had been driving big trucks for about seventeen years, by then. He's had the opportunity to drive the "double-stick" shift, he's hauled swingin' meat, gasoline, produce, dry goods, lumber, car engines, you-name-it. Then, I got to do it, too. Of course, I did know how to drive a straight stick and I think that helped some. I actually tried driving the big truck like it was a really, really big 5-speed. Took a little while to get used to double-clutchin', but once I got the hang of it, then I wanted to do it in the 5-speed, too. Geez. I've been in Kenworths (KWs), Peterbilts (Petes), Western Stars (Star Cars), International Harvesters (IH's), and I think I even drove a Volvo once. My favorite truck as far as looks go…Western Star, hands down. But as far as driving and comfort, I go for the Petes. Those of you who are or have been truckin' will understand what I give up in this blog. Those of you who haven't yet will get a little bit more education, maybe a laugh or two, and hopefully a little insight as to what you're in for. And if I know anything about truckers, it's that they love to talk about their experiences out on the road...the good, the bad AND the ugly. Come on in and let us hear from you. You don't have to start blogging, just add your own experiences for everyone to share. I've been off the road now for nine years and for the most part, I don't miss it. However, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world. Truckin' is a life unto itself. Now, I'm livin' in the southwest with my hubby and takin' things one day at a time. I like it like that.

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