This road trip has been two years in the making
Back in August of 2023, Adam and Ben accompanied me to Boulder to photograph Sam + Joe’s 2.0 Wedding (check out the photos here) and we loved it so much we knew we wanted to come back! We started noodling with the idea of a big family road trip, but between work and school it was hard to get something like that scheduled. We’ve literally never had a family vacation that was longer than 5 days unless it was to visit family, and a lot of that has to do with trying to align work & school schedules, which as you know is madness. There was also a sense that this is Ben’s last summer as a child (legally speaking), so we have to cram in as many fun childhood memories as we can before he turns 18.
This year our schedules were different though; I officially quit my day job to focus full-time on photography in May of this year, so have more schedule flexibility than ever before, and with Adam taking a break between IT contracting gigs and Ben on break from school, it seemed like this was the year we could actually make a long road trip work, without feeling like we were on a tight schedule.
We started off driving from Madison to Des Moines, Iowa, and had lunch there, and bummed around the city looking at cool stuff (I could have spent probably all day in Raygun and the Botanical Gardens), then we finished that day’s drive in Omaha, Nebraska, to spend the night. From there, we drove straight from Omaha to Boulder, stopping at a few neat little places along the way, including the very cool Pony Express Station Museum in Gothenburg, Nebraska.
Friday was our first full day in Boulder, and we mostly just hung out after so long in the car. After a delicious breakfast at Snooze A.M Eatery, we hit up some of our other favorite places in the Pear Street Mall area (I literally cannot say enough good things about the mocha menu at Ozo Coffee Roasters or the beautiful space for chilling outdoors at Trident Booksellers & Cafe) and spent most of the day enjoying the vibes, reading, and drawing, respectively. That evening, we went to Rayback Collective, where some of my favorite murals in Boulder live, and had non-alcoholic mocktails and enjoyed some food truck goodness for dinner, with a short walk afterwards.
Saturday we hit up the Boulder Farmer’s Market, got delicious mochas from Ozo again, and then headed to Chautauqua Park for a challenging 2 hour hike (but good lord was the view worth it)! Then Ben and I left Adam at the hotel to chill and draw while we drove to Estes Park to partake in the Stanley Hotel Ghost Tour (I don’t personally believe in an afterlife, but I DO believe in ghost stories being awesome, so this was a blast) and the drive through the mountains was breathtaking!
Sunday was a busy day that we mostly spent in Denver, Colorado! First we hit up Mile High Comics, the Nation’s largest comic book store, then we ate at Linger Restaurant (YUMMMMMMMMM) and had some ice cream downstairs at Little Man Ice Cream Co. From there we drove around the RiNo district looking at murals and cool buildings before heading to Meow Wolf. None of us had been to Meow Wolf before, and what a wacky and super fun experience! This interactive art installation is so fun! And Adam was thrilled he got to get some In & Out burger on the way back to Boulder!
Monday was our last full day in the Colorado area, and we had a chill morning visiting with a friend who drove in from the Denver area to hang out, then we drove to Estes Park again, this time with Adam so he could peep the mountain views, and stopped at the Colorado Cherry Company on the way back to enjoy some delicious cherry pie. We made our way back to Boulder, and eventually wound up back at Chautauqua Park to do family photos and Ben’s senior portraits as well (no need to waste those views if you’ve got ‘em)! We decided to eat at a little place on Broadway that we’d driven past a ton called The Hungry Toad and I am SO glad that we did, because not only was the food to die for, but this little British-inspired pub had live music playing (the music was giving a very “The Dubliners” vibe and absolutely made my freaking night with how perfect it was).
Early Tuesday morning, we left Colorado and wound our way to Lincoln, Nebraska to spend the night, and the next morning (Wednesday), we checked out the Wildlife Safari Park in Ashland, Nebraska, on our way to Omaha! We had lunch at Upstream Brewing in Omaha and then walked around the Old Market district enjoying the neat buildings, and trying to find Jeff Buckley’s Grace album on vinyl for Ben (which we finally did, thanks Homer’s Records!) before driving the rest of the way to Des Moines, Iowa again, and eating an amazing dinner at the Lucky Lotus.
Thursday was our last leg of the journey, and we stopped along the way in Iowa City, Iowa so I could photograph the Black Angel of Death, housed in the Oakland Cemetery (which you can read more about here), and finally made it home in the late afternoon to our adorable house and even more adorable kitties!
This trip was one of the best and most important trips of my life. The time I got to spend with my family, the experiences we got to have together, and the fun I had documenting the whole thing, was even better than I could have hoped for, and I can’t help but be so infinitely grateful that we got to do this!
Here’s to more road trips in the future!
—Sam
Attractions Visited by City:
Des Moines, IA
Raygun T-Shirts
Greater Des Moines Botanical Gardens
Pappajohn Sculpture Park
Gothenburg, NE
Pony Express Station Museum
Boulder, CO
Chautauqua Park
Boulder Bookstore
Pearl Street Mall
Boulder Farmer’s Market
Paradise Found Records
Estes Park, CO
The Stanley Hotel
Lyons, CO
Colorado Cherry Company
Denver, CO
Meow Wolf
Mile High Comics
RiNo District
Ashland, NE
Wild Safari Park
Omaha, NE
Old Market District
Homer’s Records
Grapefruit Records
Iowa City, IA
Oakland Cemetery (to see the Black Angel of Death)
Favorite Food or Coffee Places by City:
Boulder, CO
Ozo Coffee Roasters
Trident Booksellers & Cafe
Snooze A.M. Eatery
The Hungry Toad
Estes Park, CO
Antonio's Real New York Pizza
Lyons, CO
Colorado Cherry Company
Denver, CO
Linger Eatery
Little Man Ice Cream
Omaha, NE
Upstream Brewing (Old Market)
Des Moines, IA
Lua Brewery
Lucky Lotus
—Sam
