Monday, June 1, 2009

250 miles and Taco Johns for lunch

250 miles for Taco Johns? I know what your are thinking. Why spend half a day and 7 gallons of gas to eat at Taco Johns, Why? The short answer, for the same reason I ate the middle of a chocolate cake for supper, because I can (it doesn't hurt that my girls are on extended travel). This whole affair is wrought with questions. First why in the world would I chose to eat at Taco Johns? Because the nearest Taco Tico is a 500+ mile round trip and I didn't decide to go out for lunch until 11:30 a.m. I know, I know I still didn't answer your question, why Taco Johns or Taco Tico for that matter?

As a young impressionable child I would go with my aunt, uncle, cousins and a van load of people to Taco Tico in Columbia, MO (long since gone) we would get a trays of tacos stacked a foot high, really. Later Taco Johns became more accessible and satiated my craving. To this day I have a couple of brain cells buried way down deep in the noodle that do nothing but chant one of two things: "We want Taco Tico" or "We want Taco Johns"..."We want Taco Johns"..."We want Taco Johns"..."We want Taco Johns"..."We want Taco Johns" over and over and over...

The ride. It has been a few years since I last traveled up Missouri Highway 79, and that was in the car chasing trains, so I had forgotten how straight and flat it is up to Louisiana. I saw lots of biker types (Harley's, Metric cruisers) but not much else on two
wheels. The only time I leaned the bike was to avoid the vast amount of roadkill. There are better, more enjoyable roads to travel but I was hungry. I crossed the Mississippi River at Louisiana and had another flat and straight 30 miles up 54 to Pittsfield, Il. I arrived at the Shell gas station/Taco Johns at 1 p.m. I had 2 tacos, a burrito and a diet Coke. I thought about getting a bag of taco's for supper but in my rush to leave home I didn't put my sidecases on the bike, and as much as I like Taco Johns I didn't want to leave my cameras in Pittsfield. Leaving I took Illinois 106 northwest through Hull to I-72 and crossed the Mississippi into Hannibal, MO so that I could ride the more motorcycle friendly part of MO 79. The ride south from Hannibal wasn't as pleasing as I remembered. The road was fairly rough with lots of tar snakes. I did stop at one of the scenic overlooks to snap a photo.

Taco Johns was perfect, or as perfect as it can get. It felt good to put a few miles on the bike in one sitting, most of my riding these days consist of my 50-a-day
commute, but the path I choose was less than perfect.

I think I will do lunch at Taco Tico next time. St Louis, MO to Louisville, KY isn't to far for lunch, it it?

GAW

2 comments:

cpa3485 said...

There used to be a Taco Tico near my home. An old buddy of mine and I sometimes would order the hottest tacoburger they could make and no drink. We would eat the tacoburger and, with flaming mouths, get in the car and drive as fast as we could to the nearest Dairy Queen, about 2 miles away, and get a shake.
Ahhhh, those were that days.

682202 said...

Jim,

Thanks for stopping by. Hot tacos washed down with a milkshake, I've never done it, but it sounds like a good plan. GAW