In-N-Out road trip makes way through Downey

Photo by Alex Dominguez

DOWNEY - A family on a mission to visit every In N Out in the country finally made its way through Downey and Norwalk last Sunday.

With the pandemic in full effect and not many great options for summer plans, Sam Vonderheide, of Templeton, CA, asked his 11-year-old son Berkeley what the family should do.

“I’ve been really embracing summers and trying to do a lot of fun things with my kids, which is fun,” said Vonderheide. “We do road trips; we do fun things. Last summer, obviously most people’s plans were put on hold and everything was shut down.”

“We had already been stuck at home for several months…we were anxious, and I was anxious to do something. I was putting Berkeley in bed one night almost a year ago in June, and I said. ‘What are we gonna do Berk?’”

Berkeley’s answer?

“I said let’s go to all the In-N-Outs,” said Berkeley. “I didn’t mean it that seriously, but I should’ve known better because my dad is crazy.”

The mission a year in the making has been undertaken by primarily Vonderheide, Berkeley, and 12-year-old daughter / sister Emery, with some friends and family tagging along on occasion.

Vonderheide says that his family are “life-long In-N-Out fans.”

“I’ve been raised to love it. I’ve always loved In-N-Out,” said Vonderheide.

There are approximately 360 In-N-Out locations spread across eight states.

At the time of writing, the family had visited 348. That includes having done 185 in 15 days, and all 40 Texas locations in two and a half days. According to Vonderheide, they’ve driven roughly 16,000 miles.

And yes, they order something every time.

“We were doing 20 plus a day some days,” said Vonderheide. “Me and the two kids, we would take turns. ‘It’s your turn to order something. Oh, I just want some fries,’ because in 15 minutes you can have a burger if you want.”

“We paced it; it could be a drink. You have to order something, and we keep all the receipts. It worked pretty well.”

Vonderheide says he “didn’t want to ruin” In-N-Out for his family.

“You can ruin a good thing by way overdoing it,” said Vonderhiede. “It might seem like we are, but I think we’ve been in control, and I think we might even like it more now.

Vonderheide has documented their travels with a dedicated Instagram and has gained an enthusiastic following – particularly of In-N-Out associates – in the process.

“I thought people might appreciate this; a lot of people really like In-N-Out like I do,” said Vonderheide. “I didn’t know who our audience would be, if it would be road trip people, foodie people.”

“I thought, ‘Where are the In-N-Out fans that would appreciate this?’ Some people started seeing what we were doing, but it seems like the biggest In-N-Out fans – for the most part – are the people who work for In-N-Out…They seem to be some of the people who are most into what we’re doing.”

As the family zeroes in on its final few stores, Vonderheide says that they should have California done by this weekend.

Ultimately, it all boils down to quality time spent with family.

“For me what I enjoy about summers is spending time with my kids,” said Vonderheide. “We have fun with whatever creative, funny random things. This was the perfect combination for this year…If you’re going to go anywhere in a pandemic, In-N-Out is a pretty clean place.”

“We had a lot of fun. It’s something we’ll never forget, and it’s been really cool seeing other people enjoying what we’re doing.”

The Vonderheides can be followed on Instagram at @Innoutroadtrip.