Roadtrip: Southern California to Boulder, Colorado

Day 1:

Stopped at Eddie World for some icecream and bathroom break. The bathrooms there are very clean. 

Kept driving and sat in traffic for two hours. Stopped in Barstow to grab a bite to eat at Arby’s. We only ever eat Arby’s on roadtrips. It’s tradition. J used to eat the roast beef sandwiches a lot as a kid and it’s nostalgic. As for me, I do love all the fried food from Arby’s and they have delicious burgers for a fast food place — better than Jack in the Box and Carls Jr. I’d say. 

We stopped in North Las Vegas to grab coffee at the Human Bean. The best part about this coffee shop is they give you a little espresso chocolate bean with your coffee. 

From there, we did the roughly 3 hour drive to Cedar City, Utah where we spent the night at Abbey Inn & Suites. The hotel was very clean and service was great! 

Day 2:

We headed from Cedar City, Utah to Colorado Springs. We stopped to grab breakfast at North Creek Espresso in Beaver, Utah. This quaint coffee shop had delicious breakfast items and coffee. I opted for a regular iced latte and J ordered a butterscotch latte. For food items: we ordered a breakfast burrito and a breakfast BLT sandwich. 

Stopped at Smoothe Bistro in Glenwood Springs for smoothie bowls. I went with the Funky Monkey Peanut Butter bowl topped with pumpkin seeds, almond slices, and agave syrup. J opted for the Revive Berry bowl with honey, dark chocolate chunks, and granola. We continued the drive to Colorado Springs and stopped at the gift shop in Georgetown. Bathrooms were very clean. 

Once we arrived in Colorado Springs, we checked into our hotel, Kinship Landing. This place was awesome. They have a coffee bar and cafe downstairs. 

For dinner, we decided on Yellow Mountain Tea House. About a ten minute drive from the hotel. The food was delicious and so was the tea. We ordered vegan buns, chicken buns, dumplings, and an order of dumpling soup. For the hot tea, I went with the mango green tea and J went with the pumpkin spice cheesecake tea. 

Day 3:

We woke up early and hit the road. We stopped in Penrose, CO at Coyotes Coffee Den to grab coffee and a bite to eat before heading to Cañon City. J ordered the S’mores hot latte and I went with a regular iced latte. Both were delicious. I ordered a breakfast veggie bagel on a whole wheat bun because balance. 

From there we headed to Cañon City, Colorado to do the Royal Gorge Train Ride through the canyon. The views and experience were great — the food was not very good. So I’d recommend either eating before you do the train ride or after you’re done. The entire experience was about two hours. We opted for the Vista Dome package because it provides access to the open air cart so you get a breath of fresh air and spectacular views. 

For lunch, we headed back to Colorado Springs and ended up at the Burrowing Owl. It’s a vegan restaurant. We ordered guacamole, cashew mac and cheese, and tacos. My favorite item was the mac and cheese. We needed an afternoon pick-me up, so we stopped at Corter Coffee Roasters to grab an iced cold coffee. 

For dinner, we decided to eat at the restaurant in our hotel — Homa at Kinship Landing. I went with the chicken pesto pasta and a bowl of green chili. To wrap up the day, we went to go get MORE coffee at Jives Coffee Lounge. 

Day 4: 

We left the hotel early and stopped at Tiny House Coffee to grab even MORE coffee before hitting the road. I opted for a regular iced latte with whole milk, while J went with a blueberry iced latte. Both were delicious.

We had breakfast at Garden of the Gods Market & Cafe. I ordered their tomato soup and the veggie sandwich with fries. We stopped at Dad’s Donuts for some dessert. The donuts tasted like lightly fried croissants. SO GOOD. From there we went to Garden of the Gods and did a jeep tour. Highly recommend. Spectacular views from the top of the mountain. Before hitting the road to Boulder, we stopped at Pine to Peak Espresso for a coffee— because you can never have too much.

We stayed at the Boulderado Hotel. Excellent customer service and hotel. It reminded me of my grandma’s house. For dinner, we ended up at Boychik - Avanti F&B, Boulder. It was good Mediterranean food! For second dinner, we went to The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse.

Day 5:

At this point, we’re feeling a little tired. So we got coffee from Ozo Coffee Co. before hitting our white water rafting trip in Idaho, Springs. We went with Clear Creek Rafting Co. and it was a great experience. I had never done it before so we opted for a beginner level. For lunch, we drove back to Boulder and ate at Bohemian Biergarten. The pretzel and cheese was probably one of the best I’ve ever had.

We took a drive to Denver, Colorado to stop at The Inventing Room. It was a fun experience trying different ‘desserts from the future’. We made a quick pit spot at the Capitol.

For dinner, we drove back to Boulder and had dinner at Oak at Fourteenth. This was probably my favorite restaurant throughout the entire trip. For an appetizer, we went with Rigatoni Alla Vodka. That’s a dish I’ll think about for the rest of my life. For my entree I went with the Oak Roasted Halibut and J went with the steak. I’m a fan of gigantic beans. I forgot what we ordered for dessert but it was also delicious.

Day 6:

The original plan was to stay a couple more days in Colorado but we were tired and missed our bed so we decided to make the drive back home. We stopped at Sweet Colorodough for breakfast and fresh donuts. I ordered a bagel with cream cheese, avocado, and sausage — simple yet so good. From there we continued the drive to SoCal. We stopped at The Creamery in Beaver, Utah to grab dinner. The food did not disappoint. I ordered a salad with fries and bought chocolate milk and blue cheese to take home.

Picked up an iced mocha at Beans & Brew and hit the road.

Finally at last- we made it home after 17 hours on the road.