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The EddieWorld of Interstate 15 and Calico Road

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EddieWorld as the writing of this blog is comprised of only two gas station convenience store locations.  The original EddieWorld can be found in Beatty, Nevada along US Route 95.  The original EddieWorld was established by Ed Ringle during 2001 as the Death Valley Nut and Candy Company.  The original EddieWorld location caters to travelers between Las Vegas-Reno and features one of the largest stations/convenience stores between the two cities.  

While EddieWorld in Beatty might be notable as a remote locale the newest location off of Interstate 15 on Calico Road in Yermo has become far well more known.  The Yermo location opened on January 8, 2018, to cater to traffic coming to/from Las Vegas through the Mojave Desert.  The Yermo location when opened was boasted to be the largest gas station in California (since surpassed by a couple Costcos) and has twenty-six gas pumps.  

The sheer number of gas pumps coupled with a 27,000 square foot convenience store has drawn comparisons by some to the Texas based chain Buc-ee's.  To find out Adam's thoughts on the Buc-ee's location in St. Augustine, Florida click on the below blog link:

I went to Buc-ee's and came away unimpressed (gribblenation.org)

Those who regularly read what I post on Gribblenation no doubt already know that I don't tend to write firsthand blog narratives.  That said, given the mega gas station/convenience store chain craze is all the rage in the mainstream road fandom right now I thought that I would give my two cents.  My grand conclusion on EddieWorld simply put was that it is "alright." 

To be clear, I don't think that I'm the target demographic for businesses like EddieWorld or even Buc-ee's.  I more or less thought Buc-ee's was fine also.  I never saw a need to boast about it online after visiting one in Texas.  Likewise, I don't feel the need to boast about EddieWorld for similar reasons. 

That said, my wife clearly was the intended demographic for EddieWorld and she really did enjoy it.  In particular she was a fan of browsing the large assortment of takeaway bags of nuts given it reminded her of Casa de Fruita off of California State Route 152.  She did purchase a couple boxes of Jedidah's Jerky which I'll admit that I enjoyed also.  

 I did feel EddieWorld was less "in your face" than the Buc-ee's and more laid back which I did appreciate.  What food items I tried tended to be more my speed than the Texas-oriented fare found at Buc-ee's.  

As can be seen below, EddieWorld is hard to miss from the giant (I think ice cream?) marque which is easy to see approaching the Calico Road exit (Exit 194 specifically) on Interstate 15.



The scale of the EddieWorld convenience store and gas pumps is somewhat subdued contrasted by the Calico Mountains looming in the background.  Notably the gas pumps at EddieWorld do feature squeegees which I see as huge omission by the Buc-ee's chain.  To me it seems odd that a Texas based chain which caters to the Southeast fails to offer squeegees.  More so considering said customer base often drives through worst bug infested areas of the United States.  EddieWorld being located in the Mojave Desert could have made do without squeegees, but their presence was welcome.   




EddieWorld seems to have been much more accepting towards Electric Vehicle travel than Buc-ee's.  The location presently has eighteen Tesla chargers and six Chargepoint DC station.  I suspect that the charging stations were placed to cater to the Southwestern customer base which tends to have a larger population of Electric Vehicles than markets covered by Buc-ee's.  Of note I didn't see any parking for truckers, but I didn't see signage prohibiting them either. 


While EddieWorld did have the lowest gas prices between Bastow, California and Primm, Nevada it still wasn't a "bargain."  The price I paid for a gallon of 87 octane during January 2024 was $4.79.  While that is good by the often-rural standards of the Californian Mojave Desert I had paid $3.89 for a gallon of 87 octane earlier in the morning near home in Fresno.  


Worth noting, California has a California Air Resources Board (CARB) mandated a blend of state-specific gasoline.  The price of gas in California tends to skyrocket on one-way long haul freight corridors such as remote areas of the Mojave Desert beyond Barstow.  If you really want cheaper gas you'll need to wait until you hit the Nevada state line.

The scenes inside the Yermo EddieWorld are likely the source of the comparisons to Buc-ee's.  There are several types of non-chain restaurants within EddieWorld which I didn't get to try on my visit.  



EddieWorld is now owned by Ed Ringle's son Alex.  I'm gathering Alex Ringle might be a Los Angeles Lakers fan.  A couple of the jerseys on the wall at least brought back some fond memories of my Detroit Pistons 2004 NBA Finals performance against the Lakers.  


Signage on the restroom seems to be a little on the nose but likely not inaccurate considering travelers often return from Las Vegas in shambles after consuming large quantities of alcohol.  The urinals (not pictured) had games on them and I'm assuming the stalls likely do as well.  Interestingly the restrooms appear to have the capability to be sectioned off or expanded as needed.  I would imagine during the mad Sunday rush of traffic returning from Las Vegas that these capabilities come in handy.  


I'd probably stop at EddieWorld again if it happened to be coming up when I was hungry or just needed gas.  The location was friendly and approachable enough that it didn't feel overwhelming like the average Buc-ee's does.  My wife certainly enjoyed browsing the various food items and having a clean restroom available.  

We now return to our regularly scheduled historic highway and west coast backroad-oriented blogs...

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