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Birmingham, via Chappel Hill
HOLIDAY
INN - BIRMINGHAM AL - stayed there recently
KABOB HOUSE -
BIRMINGHAM AL - eat there recently
CNG - MENOMONIE WI
Still bad. Compressor not working, receipt printer not working. This was
mid-day on at Tuesday.
CNG - FAIR OAKS IN
Good fill even
with other's filling.
CNG - COLUMBUS OH
It would help if
they had an address visible from the street. Watch the other addresses, then
look for the big tanks with the name '' on it. Once you are in the driveway at
the top of the hill you will be able to see the pumps off to your right.
Anything bigger than a car will require some backing, either in or out, but
plenty of room for a semi to get in and out. Someone did come over to make sure
I knew how to run the machine. This one does ask how much fuel you want to put
in … I didn't know so I put in all 9's and it said my limit was $250 and
then timed out because I was taking too long. The 2nd time through I got all
the questions correct and got a really good fill. Pump is great, once you find
it. From the maps, I could not tell if you could get to the pump (easily)
coming from the south on I-?? But you can get there coming from either north or
south
CNG - GREEN NC
Lots of room to get in and out of
this one, see pictures. Got a good fill, in and out in 15 minutes. Pump is
where maps say it should be.
CNG - GREEN … SC
I had
looked this place up on Google 360, and the pumps shown on this website are
more current than the ones on Google. Lots of room, but I think it would be
tight to get a semi in on the far side, but that is not what I'm driving today.
Great fill, 60+ gallons, in about 15 minutes.
CNG - BIRMINGHAM
AL
Only complaint is the screen can be hard to read, it was again today.
GREENFIELD .. - QUAILITY INN - POSTED
Their billboard
is wrong
… just a little. It shows eggs, sunny side up and bacon
and today it was sausage and eggs scrambled. Plus the usual menu items.
You know a place is pretty sure of themselves when they have TripAdvisor'
business cards next to their motel cards. No issues.
Big rig parking parks
six (counting the spots on Google Maps), plus lots of room in the main lot. A
driver with a set up semi-pups was able to get in and out of the main area the
day I was there.
Closest food is the Bob Evans, they will give you a 10%
discount if you mention you are staying at the Quality Inn (the motel didn't
mention that perk to me)
Room was clean, quiet and I could control the
temperature. (It was set at 60 degrees when I got there)
Front desk was
pleasant, but checking in and checking out.
IN - GREENFIELD
… - BOB EVANS - POSTED
Seated almost right away, service was
good.
I usually stick to 'safe' items when I'm on the road …
breakfasts, burgers, sandwiches. But tonight I the Chicken Penne Pasta looked
really good to me. I am used to my Penne being in a cream sauce but this is
served in a garlic herb sauce. Good food, just the right amount of onions,
peppers.
Also had a bowl of the Cheddar Baked Potato … Mmmm …
(way better than Campbells mmm good) :
WV - RIPLEY - SHONEY'S
- POSTED
BUSES WELCOME
That is the sign that got me in, if
they are welcoming buses, they must have a big parking lot … not really.
No dedicated big rig parking, it was fairly slow today and it was a tight fit.
I looked at the buffet before ordering, my problem with buffets are that
they all you CAN eat, not all you 'should' eat, and in the middle of the day I
did not want to fill up … and I checked out the potato soup, not creamy
enough for me.
Instead I ordered a 'Build your own' (I missed the
'sandwich' part so I was surprised when it came.) Had I read the 'sandwich'
part, I would have ordered it on a Croissant instead of the Texas Toast .. I
added bacon, Swiss and eggs, scrambled.
Today's bacon was a little crisper
than I like it, but I'll give them a pass as I know I can never cook bacon the
way every person in my family likes it.
… and I left eating all I
'should' eat.
Service was good, it took a while for me to decide and they
kept coming back, and back. I am a very slow eater (I'm usually half done when
everyone else at the table is all done), and I was in and out in 45 minutes.
NC - HAW RIVER - DENNY'S - POSTED
Stayed at the Days
Inn across the street, choices of food are DQ, Wendy's and here, Denny's.
I was there on a Wednesday, so my soup was Loaded Baked Potato. And my sandwich
was the Prime Rib Philly Melt (it is the sandwich that brought me back to
Denny's after avoiding them for years). Every piece of meat was tender, the
onions sweet, and the cheese plentiful.
I was greeted before I stopped
walking. The place was fairly quiet, it was 9pm on a weeknight but a 'steady
flow' of people coming and going. Didn't notice any delay's in anything, my
water was refilled a couple of times. I'm not one that likes to sit around when
I'm done eating, so I like to have my bill on my table by the time I'm about
half done eating, that did not happen here. I walked up to the register without
a bill and she rang me up right away so no time lost there either.
NC - HAW RIVER - DAYS INN - POSTED
I ended up here
because I needed to use the truck was across the street in the AM, but I did
look for other options in the 20 miles prior to getting here and didn't find a
better deal with 'big rig' parking.' This place says they have big rig parking,
but not really. It is wherever you can fit and with an almost empty lot I still
had to maneuver to get around. BUT Flying J is next door and Wilco/Hess across
the street so there is plenty of parking off site.
Oatmeal plus the usual
breakfast items, this place had yogurt which is about the only thing I grab
unless I am running really late.
Deadbolt didn't work on the room I was
in, but not an issue for me. This place is not in a bad area and the other two
locks worked. (I let them know when I checked out)
Truckstop food or
delivery are your choices. Denny's at Flying J and Wendy's and DQ at Wilco/Hess
across the street.
Room was clean, quiet and I could control the
temperature.
Front desk was pleasant, but checking in and checking out.
SC - LEXINGTON - RANDY'S - POSTED
This is the kind of
place I keep an eye out for.
Little Ma/Pa places along the side of the
highway. The DOT rules say I was coming up against a break so I had my eyes
open for a place to stop. Lucky this place had a sign along the highway as you
cannot see it from the interstate.
Not much 'big rig' parking, but I
noticed the guy who left when I did had just parked his truck on the opposite
side of the four-lane and walked across.
When I was there in early
September, they were re-doing the seating area so that only there were only
about eight tables available. That looks like maybe 20-25% of the total seating
area.
Now I am a guy who likes to only pay for what I get/use, but this
place did catch my by surprise.
I ordered a Philly … I wish I had
kept the receipt, but I think it was $3.99 for the sandwich.
Bun -
fresh
Meat - tender
Onions & Peppers - sweet
Mayo - $.25
(they didn't tell me that when they asked if I wanted some on the
sandwich… still a GREAT deal)
Not sure if this is because of
construction or if they always serve their food this way, but the cups were
styrofoam and everything came in baskets (didn't see anyone order a 'meal'
while I was there).
Unfortunately, this is not a normal area I travel, but
if I ever do come this way again, I'll be on the lookout for this place.
I
am posting a couple of photos of this place, but these are BEFORE they
remodeled this section.
GA - DOUGLASVILLE - QUALITY INN -
POSTED
It's dark in here.
That is the kind of shades I like
when I check in late … there was more light coming from the clock and
microwave than coming through those shades.
The housekeeping in this place
was tip-top, but there was something about the rooms that made me feel I was in
a lesser motel chain. It may have been the size of the room? I'm not sure.
The shower was one of those where the tub, walls and ceiling are all one piece
so there are no little grooves or corners for mold to grow. (as shown in
someone else's photo from Dec 2012)
Two downsides that are not likely
issues for most people but they are for me. 1) No big rig parking. I had to
back in off the street, it was a slow night so plenty of room for me to park.
2) No food within walking distance, which surprises me as there are six motels
within a couple of blocks. Lots of fast food about a mile away. Kenny's Home
Cooking / buffet is the closest food but they closed a half hour before I got
there.
Because I was running so late last night, I actually ate breakfast
at a motel. They had waffle's, hardboiled eggs, yogurt plus the usual hot and
dry cereal. |
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