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What do Texans do in a winter storm? Go to Buc-ee’s, naturally

Despite freezing rain, ice and risky road conditions across Texas, customers could still get beaver nuggets at the iconic 24-hour chain.

DENTON – Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The yellow and red lights above the door were unmistakable, along with the familiar logo of the grinning buck-toothed semiaquatic rodent, beckoning travelers from miles away to this Denton oasis.

The crunching in the vast parking lot and mostly empty 22 gas-pump islands wasn’t the sound of customers savoring beaver nuggets, but rather the crackle of tires and shoes on this icy Tuesday night in North Texas.

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Despite problematic road conditions, a hardy blend of bored, adventurous, stranded, hungry patrons contemplated their circumstances and hatched the game plan that comes naturally to Texans.

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Hey, let’s go to Buc-ee’s!

“I just came in here for a few minutes to get out and not go stir crazy at home,” said Rena Wilhelm. “I figured I’d get out the little guy, too, since he’s about to lose his mind.”

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“Him” being Benji, the Yorkshire Terrier riding kangaroo pouch-style as Wilhelm carried a Coke, cookies and assorted snacks toward the cash register.

Rena Wilhelm carries her dog Benji as she prepares to check out after picking up snacks at...
Rena Wilhelm carries her dog Benji as she prepares to check out after picking up snacks at Buc-ee's on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, in Denton. North Texas remains under a winter storm warning through Thursday.(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

At that moment, roughly 8:30 p.m., Buc-ee’s appeared to have more employees (roughly a dozen) than customers, a rare sight for any of the 40-year-old Texas-based chain’s 44 locations in seven southern states, with more to come.

Wilhelm said she realized she’d better drive the short distance from her home after seeing quite a few customers slip-sliding across the parking lot on foot, many of them apparently coming to and from the nearby Homewood Suites, Hilton Garden Inn and Best Western hotels.

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Neeta Kumar had never been in a Buc-ee’s before Tuesday, when it became a sanctuary of sorts after a family outing became an ordeal.

She set out from her Frisco home to pick up one of her twin sons, Aryan, from his dorm at the University of North Texas, which was closed Tuesday and Wednesday because of the weather. Accompanying Kumar was 29-year-old daughter Tina Sharma, who had just flown back from a two-day medical residency interview in El Paso.

“I was so scared, there was no visibility,” Sharma said of the flight. “I’m in a window seat and I can’t even see where we’re going to land.”

Her adventure, it turns out, was just starting. The usual 45-minute drive from Frisco to Denton took three hours, and the women had just picked up Aryan and started back when they decided to pull over and get a hotel for the night.

Problem: No open restaurants. Solution: Buc-ee’s, though since the family doesn’t eat beef or pork, even the smorgasbord of food choices proved a bit too Texas-centric. Still, the family felt grateful to be safe after passing numerous stalled and wrecked cars abandoned on U.S. 380.

“We thought we were doing wonderful,” Kumar said. “But we forgot to see what the [eastbound] side was doing for going back. That was the most dangerous part because it was completely iced. We saw several accidents, so we decided to stop.”

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Fortunately, Aryan was familiar with Buc-ee’s. Sharma said she had recently vowed to visit one, and little did she know that days later she’d have the chance — while virtually stranded, but enjoying the vast store’s sensory overload.

“They have this big Texas welcome, and I really love that because I’ve been in Michigan during my medical school rotations,” she said. “It’s nice to be back in Texas and have that feel. Everything’s bigger and nicer in Texas, like this place. There’s no place like it.”

As the evening grew later Tuesday, more customers filtered in, though there were so few, it felt like being at Six Flags with no lines.

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Buc-ee’s provided a convenient pause for Eric and Kimberly Oleson of Noble, Okla., on their way to Houston for Kimberly’s medical appointments. They hoped to get south of Dallas before getting a hotel for the night.

“This is a great kind of partial stop: food stop, gas stop all that,” said Eric, who reported having no issues with the road conditions.

“And you always know the bathrooms are clean,” Kimberly said.

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Mary Calhoun; daughter Tacarra, 16; and son Kyrie, 4; were just starting to gather snacks as rambunctious Kyrie climbed in, out and back into their shopping cart.

Mary is a mail carrier in Denton. The U.S. Postal Service motto of “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” mentions nothing of sleet-covered streets in an ice-challenged region.

Forty-four North Texas post offices were shuttered Tuesday, so there was no mail for Mary to deliver, which meant a day of unexpected extra family togetherness at home. Thankfully the place with the bright sign and its smiling beaver face was nearby, with lots of room to roam.

“Sitting at home with him,” Mary said, smiling toward Kyrie, “we were going stir crazy.”

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Unfortunately, another layer of ice and another day of slick roads awaits North Texans. Another day of difficult, but necessary travel for some. Another day of cabin fever for others.

Hey, let’s go to ...

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