Children, get in the car. We're taking a road trip to the caucuses.

Suri Botuck was eager to hear Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis make his closing pitch to Iowans in Cedar Rapids on Sunday, but she didn't have a caucus for him Monday night. She's not even from Iowa either.

Mrs. Botuck, 40, and her husband, Jacob Botuck, 42, are from St. Louis, about 250 miles south. With five of their six children in tow, they piled into the family's 2009 Toyota Sienna at first light Sunday morning to participate in what she called “caucus tourism,” a tradition her family started four years ago during the Democratic primaries.

In 2020, the family attended events for Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg and Donald J. Trump. Each stop was meticulously documented in a photo album that she takes with her on their travels.

Why exactly do the Botucks travel so far – with a large family in tow – to attend a few stump speeches?

Ms. Botuck said she saw the trips as more than just family outings. They offer an opportunity to be closely involved in the political process. “I hope my children know to always vote,” she said.

This year the Botucks were joined by Mrs. Botuck's sister, Rivka Friedman, 34, her husband and her five children.

“As fun as politics can be, it's also important to us because these things affect everything,” Ms. Botuck said, adding that she found the campaign events in Iowa “really family-friendly.”

On Monday morning, the Botucks drove two hours to see Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, and Vivek Ramaswamy, the wealthy entrepreneur, who dropped out of the race later that evening after Trump's decisive victory.

Ms. Botuck said she voted for Trump in the final round. “I like my low taxes, I like my peace in Israel, I like my choice of school,” she said.

Her husband, whom she described as “more of a libertarian”, cast a symbolic vote for the American economist and statistician Milton Friedman, who died almost twenty years ago.

Although Ms. Botuck has not yet decided who she will vote for in the Missouri primary, she said Mr. DeSantis was a strong contender. The Florida governor, she said, “has a very good backbone and he doesn't care what people think.”

She also said she liked the prospect of Mr. DeSantis as Mr. Trump's running mate, something the governor has ruled out. “I'd like to see a joint card,” she said.

After Trump's first-place finish, the Botucks went to the DeSantis party. When asked about the former president's victory, Ms. Botuck said of the DeSantis campaign, “I'm sure they were really prepared for that.”