Iowa Highway Ends (etc.)

6. Sammy’s Pizza, International Falls, Minnesota (Aug. 19); Brooklyn Pizza Co., Seymour, Indiana (Nov. 1)

One is from a small chain with all but two of its 15 locations in Minnesota; the other is a minor diner. The first was consumed in a hotel whose backyard abutted the Rainy River with Canada in sight, a walk away from one of the last three Kmarts in Minnesota — that will be closing this month.

For the latter, the hotel restaurant guide included one place that had gone out of business in 2017 and another whose ad misspelled not only the word “sandwiches” but the name of the city it was located in. Naturally, I had to veto the second out of principle, which led me to door (or pizza box) #3 and two suppers’ worth of food. I needed that cushion the next day after flopping into the hotel room at the stroke of midnight Eastern Daylight (for two hours more) Time.

Central Time Zone (mostly Minnesota) trip: 11 new counties, 4 US route state clinches (MN US 169, MN US 71, ND US 81, MN US 59), 1 entire US route clinched (US 169)

The beginning of US 53/71, International Falls.

5. Pork Strip Basket, Iowa State Fair, near the southwest corner of the fairgrounds (Aug. 16)

“Three delicious Chuckie’s Pork Strips, made from center cut pork loin; hand breaded with Chuckie’s Famous batter, seasoned waffle fries, creamy cheese sauce, bacon bits and topped off with savory chives.”

Worth every single one of the 10 minutes I had to wait. I could eat this once a week and then have to spend the other six days burning the calories from it. It wasn’t among the finalists for best new fair food — the finalists were just a wee bit “out there” for me — but I hope this one becomes a tradition.

Supper was a Gizmo (video), which I’ve had before, and despite being almost freshly served the meat was a bit too cool. But it was still tradition-laden food at what, as far as I’m concerned, is one of the best places on Earth.

Travels in Iowa 2019: 150-plus towns, 52 counties, 11 separate days including front/back ends of trips, 2 Little Mermaid statues, 1 previously visited state capitol photographed, 0 presence north and east of Webster City.

Weird flex cross: Shelby County, which I hadn’t been in since 2014, got two separate visits about 30 days apart.

4. 10-ounce New York Strip, Big Vern’s Steakhouse, Shamrock, Texas (July 21)

More steak in Texas? More steak in Texas, this time in a town with a population that has fallen below 2000 and whose famous landmarks are the tallest water tower in Texas and a Route 66 gas station whose design inspired a location in Cars. Plus, the murals on the walls were amazing.

Mountain Time Zone trip BACK: 7 new counties, 4 Route 66 hot spots, 4 state US route clinches (OK US 169, KS US 169, KS US 75, NE US 75), 2 state I-40 clinches (Texas, and then the new part in Oklahoma City), 1 atomic bomb pair replica, 1 previously visited state capitol photographed, 1 Route 66 book author (after meeting his wife the day before!), 0 New Mexico state flags (Really, Clines Corners? Really?)

More art deco fangirling? More art deco fangirling.

3. “Sopepizza,” Cornerstone First Edition Pizza & Subs, Tucumcari, New Mexico (July 17)

From the menu: “Marinara, Mozzarella, and filling choice, stuffed in a sopapilla and deep fried.” What is a sopapilla, you ask (and I asked)? It’s a bread unique(ish) to New Mexico that “can be served as desserts or entrees.” At this converted Pizza Hut, there was a pizza-style option.

It was delicious. July 17, 2019, was a banner food day. It was a banner lodging day, too, as I slept at the famous Blue Swallow Motel.

2. 8-ounce top sirloin, Big Texan Steak Ranch, Amarillo, Texas (July 17)

The Big Texan Steak Ranch is a Route 66 landmark. It’s the home of the 72-ounce steak challenge — but the fine print is, you have to eat the rest of the meal that comes with it. Mortal men and women are allowed one hour for the meal; Molly Schuyler pounded down five of them in two visits in an combined 35 minutes. I did not take the challenge. There was also a strolling singer.

(Don’t tell them I said this, but the rolls are better by miles at Texas Roadhouse … a chain that is headquartered in Louisville. And TXRH doesn’t make me assemble my baked potato while dining in.)

Mountain Time Zone trip OUT: 15 new counties, 2 atomic bomb pair replicas, 5 Route 66 hot spots, 1 new state capitol, 1 previously visited state capitol photographed, 1 Oklahoma State Extension cap, 2 state US route clinches (MO US 54, TX US 60), 1 construction-imposed non-clinch (OK US 60)

Starting about the Cadillac Ranch on the west side of Amarillo, I-40 was untraveled territory to me. Empty cans of spray paint are embedded into the ground all around.

In lieu of the trip reports I have not prepared for publishing, I shall spend the next few days regaling you of my adventures in gastronomy (well, adventures to me, anyway). They will serve as a shorthand of where I went and what I did in 2019. There were four major trips, each with a different time zone focus, touching 16 states total, but only 7 had unvisited counties reached.

I am a simple traveler of simple tastes. My road food typically falls under “Casey’s pizza”, “fast chain” or a newer option, “I have a microwave and a grocery store within reasonable distance.” These, in chronological order, fell outside that norm.

1. Hot chocolate from Starbucks #1/Wood Shop BBQ food truck, Seattle, Washington (Feb. 2)

I don’t do coffee, but I had a thank-you-for-your-business gift card. I was about to walk TWENTY THOUSAND STEPS for the grand opening of Seattle’s Route 99 Tunnel and grand closing of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and decided that this would be an ideal way to have my first ever visit to a Starbucks. The first store in the chain is right by Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market, and there was a line out the door — but then, there’s not much room for the line to be inside the door. At the market, beside the fresh fish, I suppose that in days of yore, having a stack of the new day’s East Coast papers to pick through in the morning was a sign of cosmopolitanality.

The food vendors for the “99 Step Forward” event were at the south side of the tunnel entrance, near the stadiums. Then after the ceremony shuttle buses took you to the north side to walk southbound back to that location.

Pacific Time Zone trip: 20 new counties, 2 major clinched highways (I-82 and US 730, the highest-numbered US route in the country), 2½ horrendous traffic jams*, 1 26-hour day, 1 international peace park, 1 state capitol.

February 4 2019: Peace Arch Historical State Park, US-Canada border, Blaine WA/Surrey BC; also the terminus of I-5 and, before that, US 99

Weather note: After two major outlying exceptions, Seattle’s third-snowiest winter is less than Waterloo’s snowiest February (this year, BTW).

*Turns out that, like “24” in Los Angeles, the least believable part of “Stumptown” is that anyone can get anywhere in Portland in a reasonable amount of time!