After a Quick Stop in this Gas Station, I Sure Miss Papa John’s in Yakima

This past weekend my journey took me to Portland, Oregon. I go by way of Satus Pass through Biggs Junction then along the Columbia River on the Oregon side. By taking this route you'll end up driving past Goldendale, Washington. A neat town with a couple of gas stations on the side of the road so you don't have to venture too far into town or anything, just swing by and gas up and maybe hit the roadside McDonalds or Dairy Queen as needed.

This gas station I happen to have stopped by had something I hadn't seen in a while and missed dearly in my humble town of Yakima. There was a Papa John's inside the gas station/mini-mart.

It's not uncommon to have a little restaurant inside convenience stores. We have some awesome taco places inside a few of ours in the Yakima Valley as well as a couple of mini-marts that have a Subway in them as well.

This, for some reason, hit differently. Soon as I walked inside I was hit with that Papa John's smell. It's unique to its own restaurant. Much like how Mcdonald's always smells like their fries or Burger King always smells like that smokey char-broiled burger, Papa John's has that 'garlic butter' aura that I miss dearly when I'd grab a pizza or two at times since they used to be down the road from our radio stations.

I didn't order anything (maybe I should have) but was nice to see the menu again and see new items we could have had here at our location like 'crustless pizza' which was basically pasta or toppings in a take-out container.

Maybe next time I drive through Goldendale I'll place an order to go, just for old-time's sake. I mean, we do have a Papa John's Pizza in Tri-Cities so it's not too bad, but we'll see. Maybe we'll get a Papa John's back in Yakima eventually.