36,000 square feet of Wally’s is almost too much Wally. Even for Wally.

At Wally’s everybody knows your name, especially when it is Wally.

This particular Wally’s is the Home of the Great American Road Trip and it is 36,000 square feet of Wally. That is a lot of Wally even for me. It is in Fenton, Missouri, off Interstate 44. Another is up north in Pontiac, off Interstate 55.

Just like I-44 is old U.S. 66 on steroids, Wally’s is convenience gone wild.

For most of my life I have been used to people hearing my name and then repeating it as if they couldn’t believe what I said. Well, except for one young girl who said, “Oh, like the robot.” He was the hero of the movie, “WALL-E,” a great picture.

And there was the satirical Walley World in “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”

It’s not that I had a chip on my shoulder, but when other kids were buying refrigerator magnets or buttons with their names, I was always left out in the cold. All the Wallyburgers from Wally’s in Breese can’t make up for that.

So it was with amazement and a sense of awe that I pulled out a shopping cart and began piling in the Wally merchandise.

Never mind the entire wall of beef jerky packages or the display counters with piles of beef jerky for the serious jerky fan or the dozens of soda flavors and all the candy machines. I went for the T-shirt and hats.

It was hard to pass up the coffee shop, ice cream shop, deli counter and the two industrial-size popcorn making machines. I didn’t need any fishing gear or the camping gear on display on the full-size Winnebago in the store.

But I did pause at the taxidermy display with its raccoon in a hat and squirrel leaning on a beer can. Of course, I had to have a Wally’s keychain and I was able to finally fulfill my lifelong yearning for a Wally magnet.

Lunch was a Wally dog and a frozen Coke, one of 12 flavors. Maybe I am getting carried away, but the hot dog, plucked from a heated roller, was great. It had been split lengthwise and lightly toasted.

Besides all the people gobbling up Wally merchandise, there was a host of employees running around making sure everything was spotless and in order.

I was dazed. It was difficult to decide what to buy, or to know when to stop. Then I realized it is only about a 40-minute drive from home and well worth another pilgrimage sometime.

I foresee an entire wardrobe of Wally’s clothes. Well, maybe not.

I just wish there was a discount for guys named Wally, or girls for that matter.