The World's Largest Truck Stop

Okay, if you've never been to the Iowa 80 Truck Stop, you've never been to the world's largest truck stop.  It's worth seeing just to say you've been there.  It is actually quite impressive to me, and worth spending some time at if you are ever in the area.  That load that I picked up in Spanish Fork, Utah took me East on I-80 right over to the Chicago area, which allowed me to spend the night at the Iowa 80 truck stop just before making my final deliveries over there.  The building itself is so large that they have quite a number of trucks on display inside the place.  Here are some shots of three of the trucks that were inside when I was there this time.  I've been here before, but each time I'm here they have changed around the displays inside.

They also have a trucking Museum next door which is operated by the same family who own the truck stop.  Sadly I didn't get to go through it on this trip because when I got there I was so tired that I needed to sleep.  When I woke up later and wanted to go to the museum so I could get some photos to share with you, it was closed!  While the truck stop is open 24 hours a day, the museum keeps more regular business hours.  I had driven through the night and on into the morning, so I laid down in my sleeper to catch some rest, but when I woke up that evening anxious to take a look around in the museum, the doors were locked.  The museum has a very impressive collection of antique trucks in it, and I'm disappointed that I can't share some of them with you.  They did have a few of the trucks that are normally inside the museum parked in the truck stop though, so here's a few pieces out of their collection...

A truck driver can get just about anything he might need here at this place.  They have a shoe store, clothing store, all kinds of gifts and trucking related trinkets, four or five restaurants in the building, and all sorts of services for truckers.  You can get a bad tooth pulled, or maybe a cavity filled, and if your back is really bothering you then you could get it worked on or adjusted by the Chiropractor!  You can get your hair cut, and if you are a lady trucker, you can even get your nails done!  There is just about something for everyone here...

I also saw some show quality trucks out in the parking lot that were actual working rigs, and maybe one that was being hauled to a show on a trailer...

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of what I witnessed while I was there at this colossal monstrosity of a truck stop recently.  I certainly was glad to get to share it with you.

Tonight I am sleeping in Hamden, Connecticut outside the gate of my first stop on the three stop load I am pulling this Holiday weekend.  It's been a busy couple of weeks for me since I started back to work after my time off for Mother's Day weekend.  Today, as I was coming up through Virginia on I-81 there was a lot of traffic, and at one point it was just creeping along so I decided to take about an hour break and see if they couldn't get an accident cleared ahead that was causing the delays.  After taking my break I got back on the road and eased my rig into the still slow moving traffic, only to discover that the accident was about twenty minutes ahead of me.  When I got there the cars were gone from the scene, but they were still trying to remove the body of a large black bear from the roadway!  He decided to cross the highway on this busy Holiday, and paid the ultimate price for his poor timing.  That is the fifth black bear I have seen killed on the interstates in the last four years.