Ah, yes, the true passage into adulthood: taking a roadtrip without any real adults to get in your way- erm, that is, guide you. My sister and I have wanted to do this for years. The drive out to Colorado was finally our chance. With the help of Roadtrippers, we picked out several weird and interesting attractions no more than a few miles off of our route. Armed with Google Maps and a list of five wacky places to stop, my sister and I rolled out at 8 A.M.
We reached Des Moines around 1:30 and were starving by the time we got there. Luckily, a good family friend had invited us to lunch and placed our orders as we approached Des Moines. Our food came out just as we walked into Zombie Burger. We'd had some trouble deciding on our orders because the entire menu sounded incredible. I eventually settled on They're Coming to Get You, Barbara. It came with caramelized onion and the restaurant's official Zombie sauce. I absolutely had to try the Zombie sauce, plus its buns were grilled cheese. I love grilled cheese in all its forms, so the deal was sealed. Two weeks later, I stand by this decision fully. The burger was juicy, oozing cheese, and the filling meal I needed after six hours without eating.
Des Moines was a fun city in a way that was pleasantly surprising. I picture corn on top of corn on top of conservative farmers in Iowa. The rainbow flags and uncensored t-shirts at Raygun were much more up-my-alley and liberal than I expected to find in a state where most primary voters went red. I left Raygun out of breath from laughing, but with an outstandingly accurate bumper sticker for my car in tow and a t-shirt being printed for me. Check them out in the gallery above! My sister picked up some coffee at Smokey Row on our way out of town, but I was so full from lunch that I couldn't fit anything more into my belly, no matter how badly I wanted to. If you're heading west from northern Illinois, I'd highly recommend a stop in eastern Des Moines for lunch and fun shopping.
Des Moines was a lot of fun, and we got so caught up that we spent more time there than we'd budgeted. Since we wanted to make it to our hotel in Kearney, NE by 9, we decided to skip the first attraction on our list. We carried on to see the Volkswagen Beetle that someone had transformed into a large spider. The VW Beetle Spider is in the tiny, gun-loving town of Avoca, IA. Much to my surprise, the spider is a homemade attraction in someone's front yard.
We took our photo from across the street because the spider was on private property and we were fairly certain the owner must have a small armory based on all the gun-purchasing options we'd seen on our way in. Our selfie stick promptly fell apart, but we got a picture and that's all that matters.
Our sight-seeing luck for the day ran out after that as every other stop we'd intended to make had closed by the time we arrived. We carried on driving until the magical moment we arrived in Kearney, NE and checked into our hotel. You know it's been a long day when a hotel without character looks heavenly enough to warrant a picture.
The Country Inn & Suites was a pleasant enough experience for the cost; it was clean, quiet, conveniently located, and easy to find. I had just two small issues with the place. Firstly, the queen-sized beds came with three quite small, uncomfortable pillows. That seemed odd to me as I'd expect to have two regular-sized pillows. I woke up with a kink in my neck, but that was no big deal. Secondly, I'd also been hoping for fresh eggs (seeing as we were surrounded by farms) at breakfast and was disappointed that they served soy eggs. Overall we had a fairly pleasant stay, despite the odd looks we received and whispered remarks that were made about us by the other guests.
We made one more sight-seeing stop the next day. Gothenburg, NE has an original Pony Express Station that they've opened to the public as a museum. It's a small place that takes about 10 minutes, but a great way to stretch your legs and learn a little something. We even were able to send a postcard from the station!
I think my sister was a little taken aback by the hiring advertisements. Can you blame her when the posters proudly declared, "WANTED: Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred." The station is along the Mormon Pioneer Trail, so this is a neat stop for Mormons and history-buffs alike.
From there, we headed straight for Colorado. We stopped for gas shortly after crossing the border. We were both fairly disappointed about having missed the World's Largest Ball of Stamps the day before, but this stop to refuel made up for it as it turned out we had unknowingly stopped at the World's Worst Gas Station! None of the pumps worked in the slightest, but I was charged three or four times for trying to fill up. It was a hot mess. Luckily, we had enough gas to carry on to another gas station further into Colorado.
We reached Boulder in the late afternoon, which wasn't so bad after all the driving we'd done the day before. Driving into Boulder from the east is incredible. Going down 36, you crest a hill and the Rocky Mountains are suddenly splayed out in front of you.
Long story short, if my recently-licensed sister and I can make it without a problem, so can you! Plan your trip to Boulder now! You won't believe the views.
Until next time!