Day 3: Topeka, KS to Boulder, CO

One of the most exciting parts of this trip was our planned stop to Boulder. Probably about 10 years ago we had a family trip to Colorado and Boulder was one of our favorite places. It’s a great college town with a lot of personality and a fun walking district. So we wanted to see that again. And I saw on the Food Network this little bit about a doughnut store called Tastefully Toasted that was in Boulder. So the plan was get to Boulder early in the day (it was only an 8 hour drive) and hit up the walking district. The next morning, get doughnuts on our way out of town.

But before we get to Boulder we first have to make it through Kansas; which is the most boring drive someone could ever experience. (Please note the pictures.) And it takes a long time too. There are no good radio stations and really no civilization. Well the radio is good if you’re in the mood for fire and damnation talk. Interesting to note: on the Western edge of Kansas is when Mountain Time goes into effect; and there are no mountains in sight. During your entire drive through Kansas you can’t wait until you hit Colorado because you’re sure that it will be more exciting than Kansas. Not true. Eastern Colorado looks just like Kansas. You have to drive a couple hours more before you hit mountains.

We stayed in a La Quinta in a town just outside of Boulder and it was our nicest room during the trip. We decided to go to downtown Boulder, even though there were warnings of flash flooding and didn’t feel a drop of rain the entire night. We walked around a bit, ate at a pretty good Tex-Mex joint and went to bed, looking forward to our doughnut stop in the morning.