If ya gotta go, ya gotta go, and on your summer road trip, you might be really happy with the first restroom you come across. But it's a total score if it's neat and clean, and there's one convenience store pit stop that will be better than all the rest.

 

Buc-ee's is the top-rated travel stop in all of America, according to GasBuddy.  It's a good spot to get some beaver nuggets, nuts, fudge, and yard art, and it's the best place in America to go to the bathroom too.  New locations are opening up all the time, like the new Royse City location, and the one near Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. There are more than thirty Buc-ee's locations so far, mostly in Texas. Our closest Buc-ee's stores are in Terrell and Madisonville.

Gasbuddy said Race Track has the best restrooms in Louisiana, and Casey's General Store pottys are tops in Oklahoma.  "First available" didn't make number one in any state.  Or number two for that matter.

I remember on long road trips as a kid, my sister and I always marked our progress by how many times we had eaten along the way. Our parents would get us a donut, then we would drive for two hours. Then we'd stop for some sort of imitation cheese snack with sticks for dipping, then two more hours of driving, then we'd have lunch at McDonald's, and drive for three hours and before stopping for a fountain drink with good crunchy ice and chase it with beef jerky.

The urge to "go" would hit in a hurry, and Dad would often pull over at the first convenience store we saw so we would be quiet and he could get back to driving in peace. Sometimes that meant ending up at a restroom with a sign on the door that said, "see attendant" for the key. Scary! The door to that restroom outside the main store was usually so rickety it didn't really need to be locked in the first place and it felt like a film crew from Survivor should be taping the whole thing. And it smelled like motor oil mixed with lake water. It was kinda like playing Beanboozled and getting the raunchy, gross jelly bean. I'm so glad convenience store bathrooms have leveled up since then.

Thanks, Buc-ee's! We've packed a lot of water and energy drinks on our summer road trips, so I'm sure we'll all be seeing you soon.

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