DAY 10
We left Friday morning in the blowing snow to head to Laramie.
I graduated from the University Of Wyoming, and though I have returned a few times over the years, Gail has never been.
We stopped at the summit on I-80, at 8600 feet the highest pass on I-80, to see the Abe Lincoln statue. It was cold and snowy on the Cheyenne side of the pass, cold and sunny on the Laramie side.
We are staying at a great little B&B called the Mad Carpenter. The house was built in 1912, and has been really well restored by the owners, Lawrence and Danny. It is a beautiful, warm place to stay on a cold winter’s day.
We walked the downtown Laramie streets (2nd and 3rd street) and then across the UW campus, before the chill 9 degree temperatures drove us back into the truck for a driving tour of the rest of the city.
Laramie has grown so much during the past 33 years, (24,000 to about 32,000 population) many parts of town didn’t even exist back when I was in school. The University itself has expanded as well, but I was glad to see the School of Geology still there.
We walked past the apartment building that I shared with my friends throughout school. The owner was really quirky then, and by the shape of the place it appears he has gone off the deep end now.
Laramie is still, at heart, a charming, authentic western town.
We ate the best dinner out of our trip at Altitude, a micro brewery on 2nd street. I had great beef tips with gravy, and Gail had a pork loin and fingerling potatoes that were wonderful. I had a glass of the Tumblewheat Beer, while she had the German Style Pilsner.
Funny thing, the best food was in Wyoming.
I love it here. Wyoming will always hold a special place in my memory.
Sad news on the radio today: It seems like we left Colorado Springs just in time; yet another Right-Wing, Christian Terrorist whack-job with a gun shot up the Planned Parenthood clinic, not far from our son’s house, killing three and wounding nine.
Lest you doubt it, I will state it plainly: any nut who thinks this is nothing but a religious terrorist.
And we are worried about a terrorism threat from immigrants?
"There was only one time in American history when the fear of refugees wiping everyone out did actually come true, and we’ll all be sitting around a table celebrating it on Thursday.”
-John Oliver
This summer when we go to Turkey, and friends ask us if we aren’t afraid of (fill in the blank), I am going to reply, “Hell no. I went to Colorado over Thanksgiving, where there have been six mass shootings in the past fifteen years, two in Colorado Springs alone in the past month!”