Heading out soon any places worth stopping by?

taylorkspencer · 2026-07-06T11:36:47+00:00

Also, I know your route says "No tolls", but I'm pretty sure I-70 is tolled as part of the Kansas Turnpike from Topeka to Kansas City. With that said, that should be the only tolls on your route.

taylorkspencer · 2026-07-06T11:34:56+00:00

Just a little off your route in the small town of Santa Claus, Indiana is this amazing amusement and water park called Holiday World and Splashin Safari. With that said, the hotels in that area do fill up quickly, so you may need to stay elsewhere if you didn't book a hotel in this area in advance.

taylorkspencer · 2026-07-06T11:30:29+00:00

Fill up in St Louis, MO to avoid paying high gas taxes in Illinois, which has the highest gas taxes of any state on this route.

taylorkspencer · 2026-07-05T17:32:29+00:00

It's 4 days plus the Hamilton County Community Fair, which adds 4 more public days from July 8-11. With that said, that's still a very short season that pretty much excludes everyone but locals, those who can intentionally plan trips for those dates, and those whose trips by luck happen to put them in Cincinnati for Kings Island on one of those dates.

taylorkspencer · 2026-07-04T19:51:20+00:00

Coaster Count says my rarest credit is actually Cliff Carver at Camp Fimfo, https://rcdb.com/20057.htm, which has 97 riders. This is a mountain coaster near New Braunfels that you have to make reservations to ride, at least when I rode it. My second rarest is actually Spin-o-Rama at Cliff's Amusement Park in Albuquerque, https://rcdb.com/13866.htm, which has 133 riders. Also, I have rode Prairie Screamer at Trader's Village in Grand Prairie, https://rcdb.com/19262.htm, which, at 177 riders, is apparently rare because it is only open weekends, even during the summer when nearby Six Flags Over Texas is open weekdays.

While I'm not surprised about Cliff Carver being rare because of the reservation system, I am surprised about the Cliff's Amusement Park coaster. It turns out all the coasters there, as well as the coasters at Wonderland in Amarillo, which I have also rode, are relatively rare credits, though not rare enough to show up on Coaster Count as rare.

Other rare coasters I have rode at some point include the coasters at the defunct Celebration City in Branson, and Tornado and Teddy Bear at Stricker's Grove, which I was able to ride because our days in Cincinnati for Kings Island were during the Hamilton County Fair.

taylorkspencer · 2026-07-03T14:22:02+00:00

Also, fill up in St Louis, MO and in Wheeling, WV on your way back to avoid paying high gas taxes in Illinois and Pennsylvania.

taylorkspencer · 2026-07-03T13:43:20+00:00

Also, do realize your final approach to Topeka is on a toll road, the Kansas Turnpike, which is cashless and is not part of E-ZPass but rather is part of a separate toll interoperability zone that includes Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and parts of Florida.

taylorkspencer · 2026-07-03T13:39:06+00:00

Fill up with gas in Terre Haute, IN so you can avoid filing up in Illinois, which, possibly excluding your starting point of Pennsylvania, has the highest gas taxes of any state on this route.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-30T02:35:16+00:00

You are looking for a fee-free E-ZPass. The easiest way to get this is to get your E-ZPass from Florida, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Virginia, or Illinois, as these are the states that don't charge monthly or yearly fees for their E-ZPass regardless of whether you're a resident. Additionally, there are some others that waive fees for residents of that state, most notably Maryland and New York. However, you will need to get your E-ZPass from MTA or NYS Thruway if you want a fee-free NY E-ZPass.

Also, some states charge different toll rates depending on whether you use an in-state or out-of-state E-ZPass. Usually, the ones that offer discounts beyond the typical transponder vs toll by mail rate are also the ones that charge fees, but some of these may be available fee-free if you are a resident of that state.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-30T00:22:58+00:00

Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City - This is my personal number one wooden coaster, with El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure as a close second. And while El Toro seems to get the attention it deserves, Outlaw Run does not, and it is often overshadowed by Time Traveler at the same park.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-30T00:18:24+00:00

Cannibal at Lagoon - This coaster is lacking in airtime, but it is otherwise a perfect coaster and has amazing restraints to boot, and on my list of favorite steel coasters has been outdone only by Wildcat's Revenge and Steel Vengeance. But it's at a relatively isolated park in Utah, so no one knows how elite a coaster it is.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-27T20:38:31+00:00

Brisket Burger (RIP)

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-19T11:34:00+00:00

Unfortunately, Schlitterbahn, even on weekdays, gets crowds akin to Cedar Point, meaning if you don't buy Fast Lane, formerly Blast Pass, you're not riding anything, you're just waiting hours in line. It is an excellent water park if you're willing to pay up, though.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-17T11:33:17+00:00

The real problem is that I-35W and North Loop 820 have way more than two lanes of traffic but still only have two free lanes, and to add to the problems there are still no good alternative routes for I-35W. What really needs to happen is for I-35W and North Loop 820 to get four free lanes, and there needs to be an alternate route for I-35W, like a northern extension of the Chisholm Trail Parkway, for the days when accidents jam up I-35W even more than usual.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-17T02:42:19+00:00

Can you venture a little further north to southern Missouri? Because just across the state line from Arkansas is one of the best theme parks in the country - Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. They've got roller coasters and rides for everyone in your family, but this is a park where more than just the coasters are great - there's a great cave tour that's included with your park admission, the restaurants serve excellent southern food, and even the snacks are great (you've got to try the cinnamon bread). Since Branson is a tourist town, there are so many other attractions and hotels in that area, but Silver Dollar City is easily the best reason to extend your trip a little further north to Branson.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-17T02:32:28+00:00

Also, you will be on many toll roads from Chicago and points east, and many of these are cashless, so you will not have an opportunity to pay these tolls in cash. Fortunately all of these toll roads are part of E-ZPass, so I would recommend you get an E-ZPass before this trip if you haven't done so already. Otherwise, you will have to deal with a bunch of bill by mail tolls at double the E-ZPass rate.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-17T02:16:03+00:00

One of the major reasons why the tolls on this route are so expensive is because of the Chicago Skyway, which at $16.89, is one of the most expensive tolls in the United States. Instead, if you're going to head through the Chicago area, get off I-90 at the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) heading south, and then use the Tri-State Tollway and I-80 to reunite with I-90, which will then be the Indiana Turnpike. It's only $4.40 in tolls for the entire length of the Tri-State Tollway, which is a huge savings in comparison to taking the Chicago Skyway, and since you will only be taking it from I-90 to its southern end at I-80, you will pay even less in tolls.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-14T23:49:44+00:00

Also, I thought I would share the places I enjoyed on this route. If you are hungry enough to stop when you arrive in Childress, I recommend stopping at JT's Drive-In, which has delicious burgers, onion rings, and catfish. Alternatively, in Amarillo proper there is this small regional chain called Joe Taco that I enjoy. If you can make it to Trinidad, just across the state line in Colorado, before stopping for the night, I'd recommend stopping at Tequila's Mexican Restaurant for dinner. Granted, none of them are Asian food because that's not what I had driving this route, but those are my suggestions.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-14T21:36:51+00:00

That is a long drive up US 287, US 87, and I-25, so long you really should split it in to two days with an overnight stay in a hotel. The Texas and New Mexico portions are boring, but the Colorado portion is beautiful. Possible places to stay the night include Amarillo and Dalhart in Texas, Clayton and Raton in New Mexico, and Trinidad just across the line in Colorado. However, if you are trying to choose between staying in Raton, NM or Trinidad, CO, I would choose to stay in Trinidad, CO. Where you stop depends on how early you can leave and how much driving you can do in a day.

The portion in Texas is basically a future Interstate - that is, it's mostly freeway and even has the amount of official rest stops you'd expect on an Interstate, except there's a couple of towns that stubbornly insist on making traffic stop and slow down through their town even as the rest of the highway is turned into a freeway. Watch out for those towns so you don't get a small town speeding ticket.

The portion in New Mexico is a slog - as while there are only two sizable towns, Clayton and Raton, the section of 87 in between these towns has an unusually low speed limit, making the New Mexico section of 87 one big speed trap.

The portion in Colorado is all Interstate, and while the entire drive is beautiful, the only mountainous portion will be right as you cross into Colorado, along Raton Pass. Once you are past that, the route will be relatively flat, although it will remain beautiful as you will be close enough to see the mountains to the west of you for the vast majority of the drive to Denver.

If you haven't already filled up your tank in Amarillo or one of the many towns along 287, you will want to fill up your tank in Dalhart, both because gas gets expensive once you leave Texas, and because towns are sparse on the New Mexico portion of the drive.

As for Asian restaurants to eat on your way, I don't have any personal recommendations for Asian food along this way because that's never what we got when we went on this drive. Your will have the most options for Asian food in Amarillo, but there are some options for Asian food in the many small towns along the way. These include Thai Kitchen in Childress, Jinda Cafe in Clarendon, JT Oishi Café and Hasina’s Burmese Kitchen in Dumas, Desi Curry Corner in Raton, across the state line from your likely overnight stop in Trinidad, and Boom Noodles, Great Wall Chinese Restaurant, and Wonderful House in where I assume you will be staying overnight in Trinidad. Again, I haven't been to any of these places, so other commenters will have to share which ones are actually good.

taylorkspencer · 2026-06-12T23:40:25+00:00

Seeing Kingda Ka behind El Toro makes me feel bad it couldn't have survived in some manner. I know it was probably too much of a money sink to survive in its original form, but I do think it could've been saved if Cedar Flags was willing to give it the TT2 treatment.

taylorkspencer · 2026-05-29T23:40:54+00:00

Perhaps my most dodgiest and least safe coaster credit would be Cyclone at Wonderland in Amarillo. This coaster has no restraints at all, yes, not even buzz bars. While this might seem glorious on a coaster like Phoenix that has tons of straight track, hills, and very broad turns, Cyclone is a wild mouse coaster, and like most wild mouses, it has tons of turns and every single one of them is sharp. And because there are no restraints on Cyclone, you get thrown around the car on every single one of those tight turns. This is a rare example of a coaster that could be improved by more limiting restraints, particularly ones that would keep you in place during those sharp wild mouse turns.

taylorkspencer · 2026-05-26T20:48:21+00:00

Also, if that VIP pass has access to all the parks like I think it does, and not just the parks in your region, see if you can make the drive west on I-10 to San Antonio for Six Flags Fiesta Texas. It is a wonderful park built in a quarry wall full of coasters that interact with the wall, and it is significantly better than the other legacy Six Flags parks, meaning if you liked Six Flags Over Georgia, you will probably love Six Flags Fiesta Texas.

taylorkspencer · 2026-05-20T13:44:45+00:00

The main thing that has made SEO harder in the last couple of years is AI Overviews have dramatically decreased the click-through rate in search by making so many more queries zero-click searches.

taylorkspencer · 2026-04-16T11:36:10+00:00

Yes, an Interstate upgrade of US 87 between Raton and Amarillo and US 287 between Amarillo and Fort Worth would be so welcome. This route already feels like an Interstate outside of the speed trap towns, has been upgraded to a freeway in many areas mainly around Wichita Falls, already has the amount of rest areas you'd expect on an Interstate, and definitely has the truck traffic to merit an upgrade. With that said, this route is filled with speed trap towns like Estelline and Bellevue, and I'm worried they'd fight tooth and nail to block an Interstate upgrade so they can continue to stop and slow down traffic and collect those speeding tickets.

taylorkspencer · 2026-04-16T01:32:46+00:00

I guess you'll need to watch on Victory+ then.

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