Arco Ampm

Ugh, where to begin. Be warned, these guys DO NOT take credit at all, and if you are on EBT, you’re also out of luck. Took them over 15 minutes to do a shift change, and they didn’t seem to be hurrying at all even though there were at least ten customers waiting. Once the shift change was over the employees were pleasant enough. As long as you’re not trying to use credit, I guess this place is passable. Maybe I just went in on a night where the employees were having a bad day.

cheapest gas we could find, clean mini-​mart and bathrooms

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE JERKY COIN
BACKGROUND:
It’s a freakin’ gas station that been around for a long time.
STATS:
Drive up gas pumps (Duh)
Fully stocked large convenient store
ESSENTIALS:
Something that needs emptied
Something that needs filled
Cash/​credit card
EXPERIENCE:
Driving back from a weekend of hiking in Mammoth Lakes, drinking lots of fluids to replenish all that were lost on trail, hiker bud and I stop here to return some beverages. I meandered around the convenience store waiting my turn and what do I find? Lots of Scooby Snacks and beverages, for both the adult in me as well as the kid in me. What else do my eyes see? oodles and oodles of Meaty Jerky options.
This am/​pm has big sticks, little sticks, and resealable bags filled with Turkey Jerky, Applewood Bacon Jerky, BBQ Pork Jerky, and different flavors of Beef. And get this, it’s over $ 2.00 less than the bags of the one flavor one meat Gus’s. I purchased the Applewood Bacon and the BBQ Pork. The bacon is ok, just tasted like slightly undercooked bacon, but the BBQ Pork, which I didn’t try until last night, YUM-​O!!!
So, if you’re ever in the Mojave hood and and have a hankering for some jerky, sweat your way from your air conditioned car through the 100+ degree weather and cool off in this air conditioned, well stocked and relatively clean am/​pm.
Staff members are friendly, but some juvenile delinquents have etched some unidentifiable words in the lavatory. Oh and don’t forget your personal seat covers or whatever you do to protect your assets, and for goodness sakes, if you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie and wipe the seatie.
Keep in mind that there is a $.35 charge for credit card purchases.
Next time I’m in the Mojave hood, I’ll be stopping here to stock up on some meaty products for the trail.

This ARCO, located on the Northeast corner of Sierra Highway (14) and Mono, sells gas very inexpensively, though you’ll need to have cash or a debit card on hand as they don’t accept credit cards. It is very conveniently located with easy access whether you’re headed North or South
There is a Chase ATM inside if you need to get cash. The fountain had several diet soda options including Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Coke, and Diet Pepsi. They were running a special on water that was a very good deal. The cashier was a bespectacled young man who was vivacious and kept up a cheerful banter the entire time.
The ONLY negative about this store — which kept it from being 4 or 5 stars, was that it had but one single restroom. Why was this a problem? Well, for starters, the handle was broken off the inside of door (see my photo). It’s a bit disconcerting to close the door of a restroom THEN notice there is no handle on the door. It’s like something out of one of those slasher films. Even worse, the door had filthy scratches around the door handle and the bolt lock that looked like someone had scratched it up trying to get out (maybe while being chased by a serial killer, perhaps?)
Luckily, you could just push the door open (preferably using a paper towel to shield you from grime), but it was still unacceptable IMHO. In addition, there was toilet paper all over the floor. If they fix the door handle and maintain the restroom a little better it would definitely be a 4 or 5 star stop.

Pleasant staff, clean restrooms, the fuel prices are on par with bigger cities (would have expected a higher cost given the nowhere nature of Mojave between Barstow and Bakersfield).
All told, a worthwhile detour from Highway 58 (since it itself has been detoured from traveling through Mojave proper these days).

I stopped at this place on the way home for some fuel.
This place has a large store inside and the restroom is kept clean.
The price of regular fuel is $ 3.57 a gallon.
The staff is pleasant and friendly.