Valero

About this location

A few stories people tell about this place

1. At Valero, every morning begins with a strange ritual. A regular customer always enters just as the sun rises, buying exactly three gallons of gas and leaving without saying a word. One day, a little boy followed him inside, staring wide-eyed at the silent man who paid for his purchase with an old coin. Finally, the boy asked softly, ‘Grandpa, why do you always come here so early?’ The old man smiled, pulled out another ancient coin, and whispered, ‘Because, son, today’s special is fifty cents off if you pay in silver.’

2. At Valero, one day an old man parked his car and noticed something unusual in the gas station’s recycling bin. Curious, he picked it up—it turned out to be a perfectly folded paper crane. Smiling, he asked the attendant if anyone had been around recently. ‘Oh,’ said the young worker, ‘that must’ve been our new intern, she loves making origami.’ The old man left, shaking his head and muttering, ‘Kids these days... folding paper instead of pumping gas!’

3. At Valero, late one night, a delivery driver pulled up for gas and swore he heard someone whispering from inside the empty tank. Curious, the driver peered into the tank but saw nothing. The next morning, a regular customer noticed an old cassette tape sticking out of the nozzle. When played, it was just static—until the station manager recognized his own voice, saying ‘Fill her up!’ over and over again. Since then, Valero’s customers joke that the place has its own DJ.’

4. At Valero, a delivery driver once filled up on gas and found an ancient coin in the pump nozzle. The delivery driver kept the coin as a lucky charm, but soon realized it was causing his truck’s engine to misfire. A mechanic looked at it quizzically and said, ‘That’s just an old rusty thingamajig from the pump.’ The driver grinned and replied, ‘Guess I’ll stick with modern charms like good service at Valero!’