Largest Love's in the US...

The one in Des Moines used to be a Flying J. That’s why the lot is big.

 

Yeah I was never a big fan of Loves either the company supplied us with Flying J fuel card so stopped at those 99.9 % of the time, Petro was great I love the one in Reno, I'd always pull up there if I was running freight form Logan UT across to Modesto CA on the I - 80.

 

Yeah, it was something about PFJ having too many truck stops or some such and they had to sell. At least that's what I heard.

 

It was back when the merger happened. I can’t remember exactly how many. I know the one in Troutdale OR became a Loves too. I can’t remember which ones were Pilot and which ones were Flying J before they changed. Pretty sure Des Moines was a J though. That big parking lot has always been a mess as far back as I can recall.

 

Petro always seems to have the most available parking due to sheer size of the parking lot. Loves does seem to be consistently cleaner than the others. Pilots always seem to be too small and I've seen some that were absolutely filthy. Flying J seems in the middle as far as size and cleanliness.

 

That is what I immediately thought as well, the Love's on I-90 in Hampshire, Illinois is the biggest one I've been to and it has 237 parking spots. Any additional parking in the greater Atlanta area is very welcome so I don't want to complain about this loves or what nonsense they claim.

I get it, there are some TA/Petro stops that are truly excellent and then some that are absolute dumps. I hate it when I see one that has a decent restaurant and either closes the restaurant or replaces it with some crappy fast food joint. Here are some that I go to on a regular basis that I think are excellent:

Riverton, IL
Rochelle, IL
Portage, WI
Lake Station, IN
Perrysburg, OH
Girard, OH
Joplin, MO

 

I liked to stop at the Cusseta Bridges stop in Ala

 

Love’s seems to be building several new locations, also quite a few locations are being updated. Not sure about ones east of the river, the newer ones west seem to have a larger parking area and additional showers.

 

….only if you leave the store in Falkville, Alabama out of the matrix. Restroom smells like it hasn’t been cleaned since it was built. Absolutely putrid.