'Trucker's Disneyland' Is the Pit Stop to End All Pit Stops

[Wyatt]

Walcott, Iowa, been there.

You can just about guarantee finding a spot to shut down and uncross your eyes.

I would run Interstate 84 out of Portland, OR down to Ogden, UT across to Interstate 80, up to and through Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa on my way up into eastern Canada.

I stopped at the I-80 every chance I got.

Fasten your seatbelt and adjust your mirrors—this is Rerouting, your one-stop-shop for mapping out the ultimate summer road trip, no matter what gets your engine going. Cruise over to the rest of our coverage for pit stops at offbeat roadside attractions, sweeping desert panoramas, epic mountaintop vistas, oceanfront oyster bars, dynamic public art, and so much more. Sometimes you need gas [sic] (Large cars burn diesel, some four-wheeler must have written this article.). Sometimes you need a dentist. Sometimes you need to wash your dog. Sometimes you need a movie theater. Sometimes you need a haircut. Sometimes you need a museum.

Perched on a massive expanse of 225 acres about three hours west of Chicago off of Interstate 80—America’s second-longest highway, which extends 2,900 miles from San Francisco to New Jersey—the sheer size of the truck stop is mind-boggling. You could fit 170 football fields within its grounds. It's currently six times the size of the Pentagon building, and has expanded dozens of times since opening in 1964.Here, nearly 900 trucks can park as their drivers indulge in a hearty meal, or perhaps get a haircut or a cavity filled courtesy of onsite barbers and dentists. There are facilities to wash their bodies, pets, and big rigs, or kick back and catch a flick. Even casual road-trippers can explore the museum or stock up via the extensive snack selection.

It's a miniature city unto itself, one that employs some 500 Midwesterners, each serving the unsung long-haul warriors who keep America's economy humming.

“Without trucks, America stops,” says Iowa 80 Group vice president of marketing Heather DeBaille, who has worked at the truck stop for the last 28 years. “Without truck stops, trucks stop.”

Here, you might see truckers bellied up to the counter at the Iowa 80 restaurant discussing tales from the road. You can spot touring musicians like Bono or presidential candidates popping in as they make the trek across I-80. You might even see elephants being weighed on the truck scale when the circus drops by for gas.

DeBaille says many truckers will plan their routes around a stop at Iowa 80, which drivers started dubbing “Trucker's Disneyland” some 30 years ago. “They just get overwhelmed,” DeBaille says. “It’s like a candy store. They’re like, ‘Look at all this cool stuff for my truck. Look at all this chrome. Look at all these lights!’ They’re in heaven.”

Link To Article

The restaurant, showers, etc., museum, chrome shop building is in the right foreground.

The fuel island is just about center of the picture.

Website

 

[Curmudgeon]

I have been in there many, many times. It was a regular stop on my way west. It's the largest truck stop in the world.

 

[Wingnut]

Been there more times than I can remember... but if I was running west and had the hours, I'd stop in Des Moines or drive on to the York Petro in Nebraska. Less traffic in the lots, and there was a good cook at that York Petro who made some excellent BBQd beef. Walcott Iowa 80 could be a cluster when everybody tried to leave at once... or jump off at once, as seen in the photo. Interesting place, but other truck stops had chrome shops too, the Joplin Petro comes to mind.

 

[Wingnut]

One thing about those larger truck stops & travel plazas in the Midwest: a driver would see some of the prettiest rigs there, all decked out in chrome & chicken lights, lol. I used to park within sight of the fuel island whenever possible, so I could see all the chicken lights as the trucks rolled on or off the island. Friends o' mine who rode along with me on long runs were blown away by some of the rigs! They were used to seeing cr@ppy NAFTA rigs in Kalifornia, so they had no clue that in the Midwest, many owner-operators took great 'pride in their ride'---really decking 'em out, lol. I miss that aspect of trucking in the '90s, dunno how it is today but back then it was heller cool. Truckers were treated with more respect in the Heartland, as most folks knew that if the trucks didn't roll, materials wouldn't get transported and shelves would be empty...

 

[backlash]

No mention of lot lizards.
In 1995 I drove a large U-Haul from Medford, OR. to Spokane WA. I stopped at a truck stop in Troutdale, OR. to eat. I was approached 3 times from the truck to the café.
I was going to spend the night but changed my mind and drove another 3 hours to my folks house.
I later learned it was a well know spot for truckers that like to party.

 

[Wingnut]

Didn't wanna mention those pesky lot lizards in this family forum, lol... I actually have some funny stories about that aspect of truck driving. I need to bring my scrap books in from the shed, I have some cool pics from my 'trucking daze' which I intend to share with y'all at some point. Scenic shots, truck shots, wreck shots, you name it... whenever I passed a gnarly truck wreck, I'd hang a simple 35mm automatic camera out the window and shoot a pic or two, just to show my friends and family back home what I saw out there, ya know? I have something like 8 or 10 photo albums, probably wasted a fortune on film & development, lol. This was back when digital cameras were just appearing or whatever, and I still had the old gear. I'm gonna try to bring those books in this week, it's too darned hot out there right now... I'm just taking it easy and letting my system get back on top of that pesky bug. I dunno why it came back so hard last night, I only drank about 12 beers, lol.

 

[Curmudgeon]

I was driving through Philly one night and that pickup came flying out of nowhere and smacked that pole. Picture is fuzzy because I only had half a second to grab my camera.

.

 

[Curmudgeon]

I do miss my office view................bad. I don't miss all of the ungrateful 4 wheelers and .gov regs.

It just doesn't get better than that, lol.

.

 

[Magus]

No mention of lot lizards.
In 1995 I drove a large U-Haul from Medford, OR. to Spokane WA. I stopped at a truck stop in Troutdale, OR. to eat. I was approached 3 times from the truck to the café.
I was going to spend the night but changed my mind and drove another 3 hours to my folks house.
I later learned it was a well know spot for truckers that like to party.

No lot lizards at our local flying J, I've looked.
Just you know, to see if there were any!

 

[Wyatt]

One thing about those larger truck stops & travel plazas in the Midwest: a driver would see some of the prettiest rigs there, all decked out in chrome & chicken lights, lol. I used to park within sight of the fuel island whenever possible, so I could see all the chicken lights as the trucks rolled on or off the island. Friends o' mine who rode along with me on long runs were blown away by some of the rigs! They were used to seeing cr@ppy NAFTA rigs in Kalifornia, so they had no clue that in the Midwest, many owner-operators took great 'pride in their ride'---really decking 'em out, lol. I miss that aspect of trucking in the '90s, dunno how it is today but back then it was heller cool. Truckers were treated with more respect in the Heartland, as most folks knew that if the trucks didn't roll, materials wouldn't get transported and shelves would be empty...

I was a class eight truck transporter for five years and got introduced to the Western Star.

They are almost exclusively an owner-op truck.

I used to be a Paccar devotee, (Pete& KW) as a kid.

That was before I drove a Western Star.

The Australians like them and I drove several from the manufacturing plant in Portland, OR down to the port at Long Beach, CA for export.

1000 miles in a right-hand steer, usually with another truck decked up on the back.

Right through LA.

I didn't drive one this classy from the factory.

Notice the snorkels on the breathers and the extra fuel tanks.

The snorkels are to get cleaner air into the intakes running the Outback.

The cowcatcher is to protect the radiator from getting punctured from an animal strike.

Lose your 'rad' in the boonies and you could be in a world of hurt.

Optimus Prime is a Western Star.

This truck was built at the Freightliner plant in Cleveland, NC.