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WASHINGTON (AP) Hillary Rodham Clinton is hitting the road as she starts her 2016 presidential campaign quite literally.

Clinton left Sunday on a road trip from her home in Chappaqua, New York, in a van headed for Iowa, home of the nation's first presidential caucuses.

The former secretary of state announced her Democratic presidential bid Sunday and will hold her first campaign event on Tuesday in eastern Iowa. The road trip was Clinton's idea, aides said.

Watch Clinton's video announcing her presidential bid below:

"When Hillary first told us that she was ready to hit the road for Iowa, we literally looked at her and said, 'Seriously?' And she said, 'Seriously,'" said longtime aide Huma Abedin in a conference call with Clinton alumni. "This was her idea, and she's been really excited about it since she came up with it."

Abedin said Clinton's van stopped at a gas station in Pennsylvania, where the former first lady and New York senator met a family from Michigan. "I think it's safe to say she surprised quite a few people who had just happened to stop for gas at the same time she did," she said.

A Clinton aide said the van is nicknamed "Scooby" after the Mystery Machine van in the 1970s animated television show, "The Scooby Doo Show." The aide said Clinton was a passenger and the van was driven by the Secret Service.

The trip will cover roughly 1,000 miles between Clinton's home in New York City's suburbs and Iowa. Clinton expects to arrive in the state on Monday and is appearing at a community college in Monticello, Iowa, on Tuesday.

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Hillary Clinton Takes Road Trip To Iowa For First Campaign ...

TIME Newsfeed 2016 Election Hillary Clinton Goes Unnoticed at Chipotle Yes, she'll pay extra for guac

Hillary Clinton has had to make a lot of important decisions recently. Black or pinto beans? What kind of meat would she like? Does she want salsa? Most importantly, is she willing to pay extra for guacamole?

The answer to that last question is apparently yes. Clinton, who launched her presidential bid on Sunday in a long-awaited announcement, visited a Chipotle on Monday during a stop on her 1,000-mile campaign kick-off road trip, the New York Times reports. Charles Wright, manager of the restaurant in the Toledo suburb of Maumee where Clinton stopped, said she ordered a chicken burrito bowl (with the guac), a chicken salad and two drinks.

Clinton, joined by longtime aide Huma Abedin, went mostly unrecognized by Chipotle staff and customers. Wright wasnt even aware that Clinton stopped by until he checked the security footage after a Times reporter called about a tip. The thing is, she has these dark sunglasses on, Wright said. She just was another lady.

In a way, thats just the message Clinton is trying to send with her campaign.

[NYT]

Read next: Hillary Clintons Main Obstacle: Her Own Inevitability

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Hillary Clinton Goes Unnoticed at Chipotle

With Hillary Clinton on her way to the Hawkeye State hours after making her presidential campaign official, Iowa Democrats feel that a competitive primary will help the state party and will therefore help the former secretary of state.

"The more people that get in and expand this debate, the better the party will be," Bob Meddaugh, a Democratic activist and supporter of Vice President Joe Biden's 2008 presidential bid, said at a Polk County Democrats event. "And I think it will help Hillary, too."

READ: Hillary Clinton launches second presidential bid

And even those behind the Clinton's Iowa operation are saying they'll fight for every vote and they're anticipating primary challengers.

"We expect the caucus to be competitive," said Matt Paul, Clinton's 2016 Iowa campaign manager. "Hillary's committed to working hard to earn the support of every Iowan."

Democrats in the first-in-the-nation caucus state are hungry for an exciting, competitive contest, one where multiple candidates are asking for their vote by showing up on their doorstep. They are jealous of Republicans who have had regular cattle-call events in the Hawkeye State and will likely have a dozen candidates to choose from.

"Iowa, we are really spoiled, we are used to that pressing the flesh and talking to these people," said Monica McCarthy, the Union County Democratic Party chairwoman in 2008. "We expect that."

Clinton's ever-growing world of campaign staffers has watched Democrats like former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and along with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders tease presidential runs in Iowa. Though it may seem counterintuitive, Team Clinton's hope is that one candidate will emerge as Clinton's foil, someone who will push her to compete and run a competitive caucus campaign.

RELATED: Clinton's Democratic foes say voters need choices

Despite low poll numbers, O'Malley has emerged, in the eyes of Clinton supporters, as the most likely person to be her foil. He has been a repeat visitor to the state and received plaudits from a wide array of Iowa Democrats for the time he has put in. What's more, O'Malley's super PAC shipped a dozen staffers to Iowa to work on different campaigns during the 2014 midterm elections.

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Hillary Clinton's 2008 run lingers over her 2016

Hillary Rodham Clinton put on some dark glasses and slipped quietly into an Ohio Chipotle restaurant on Monday but nobody noticed.

The presidential candidate, joined by aide Huma Abedin, ordered the chicken burrito bowl with guacamole at the Mexican-food eatery just outside Toledo, where she stayed for about 45 minutes, according to WTVG-TV.

Manager Charles Wright told ABC News that no one recognized Clinton in her dark shades. He only released a security video of Hillarys nosh stop after he was contacted by journalists.

She got great food, the manager said. Everybody loves Chipotle.

Clinton has been trying to appeal to working-class voters as she campaigns for the 2016 Democratic nomination. On Sunday, she stopped at a Pennsylvania gas station, where she tweeted an image posing with a a family from Michigan.

Road trip! Hillary tweeted, Loaded the van & set off for IA.

The former New York senator ditched the private jet and rode in a van that pays homage to the popular riddle-solving TV cartoon Scooby-Doo. Although the 70s-inspired van from the show is called the Mystery Machine, Hillarys campaign opted for the less secretive nickname of Scooby.

Shes been really excited about it since she came up with it, Abedin said.

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Hillary Clinton goes incognito to grab some Chipotle

Hillary Clinton is very deliberately going small in Iowa, her first stop since announcing in an online video Sunday that she's running for president again.

First, she'll do a roundtable with some community college students, and then she'll visit a local fruit business, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

Her campaign is trying to convey that she's not expecting a coronation -- that she plans to work for every vote -- which was clearly the idea behind her announcement video.

Clinton doesn't appear in her own announcement video until it's almost over.

51 Photos

The remarkable career of a former first lady, U.S. Senator, secretary of state and presidential candidate

"My daughter is about to start kindergarten," one person says.

"I'm getting married this summer to someone I really care about," says another.

She's preceded by a diverse group of Americans, sharing big and small plans for the future.

"My brother and I are starting a new business," one person says, in Spanish.

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Hillary Clinton campaign's target: Everyday folks