Man visits 645 Cracker Barrel restaurants in US

Phillip Palmer Image
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Man visits 645 Cracker Barrel restaurants in US
On his 81st birthday, Ray Yoder completed his Cracker Barrel journey, visiting 645 restaurants in 44 states.

TUALATIN, Ore. (KABC) -- For 40 years, Ray Yoder traveled across the country, and his job was to deliver RVs to dealers across the country.

That's when he started a unique quest: to visit every Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in the country.

Yoder went alone at first, while his wife Wilma was home with the kids, but as the children grew older, she joined her husband on the road.

On his 81st birthday, Ray Yoder completed the journey, 5 million miles in the making. They walked into their very last Cracker Barrel outside Portland, Oregon, on Monday.

The grand total: 645 Cracker Barrels in 44 states.

Ray celebrated with blueberry pancakes, and Wilma had eggs and sausage.

"Well everybody does something, usually, anyway, so we thought we would do this and it would be fun so yeah it worked out," he said.

But rest assured, it won't be the end of the Yoders' travels.

They hope to keep up with the new openings, including California's first Cracker Barrel opening in February in Victorville.