Seldom do I get so excited about a place that I dont want back home, but Laramie, Wyoming, certainly that. While I was walking down Grand Avenue on Monday, I stumbled across some houses for rent and seriously considered calling the numbers listed, just to see what kind of prices I could expect. Simply put, Laramie has everything I could ask for in a place to live, including a lack of crowds. This trip only lasted 4 days, but it was my second experience in the area. This time only served to affirm my first impressions from 5 years ago.
Before I get into my love affair with Wyoming, though, I need to get a few things off my chest when to air travel in the time of Covid. Short answer: just say no! I booked a flight on Frontier Airlines (say what you want, but they are cheap and efficient) with the assumption that the cabin would be socially distanced. It was not. Not at all. While face masks were required at all times, that does not make up for the fact that I was rubbing shoulders with a gentleman the entire flight. The
whole cabin was like this. I had read that there would be no middle seats for the flight, but all seats were occupied (except maybe 2 in the whole cabin). This was quite distressing. In times, no big deal, its what you expect. But it was like they did the bare minimum—face masks—to say with safety guidelines. Also it didnt help that one of the flight attendants kept her mask below her nose every time she passed through the cabin. Trust me, I wont be taking another flight until this pandemic is over. Besides, I love a good road trip much more than flying.
The Motel 8, just off on 3rd Street, was my home for the trip. It didnt really look like much from the outside, but its reviews were stellar and the price was right, so I jumped at the chance. On a map, it looks like a good distance away from the things I had wanted to visit, but theres really nothing in Laramie thats far away. Even the on the opposite side of town is less than 10 minutes from Motel 8. The reviews were not wrong at all, and
I spent all day Saturday getting a feel for Laramie and then going to the football game at the University of Wyoming. Sunday morning, I chose to get out of Laramie for a little while, just to see the touristy things in the area before I concentrated on the town for the rest of my trip. My first stop was the smallest town in America, Buford, WY. It has a population of 1, a guy who runs the general store and the post office. Thats how they get away with the smallest town, because they actually have a post office. I couldnt see anyone working there when I showed up, however. Its only about 20 miles east of Laramie along and its right off the exit ramp. But all I saw were signs and a closed fence around the general store. Maybe theyre only open in warmer months.
My next stop was going to be the Vedauwoo Climbing Area, heading back along from Buford. I found contradictory reports online about its opening status; some said that camping was the only thing closed in the winter months, but others
said there was nothing to do after camping closed. It looks gorgeous in the pictures, so I thought I would take a chance. I got off the exit, about halfway back to Laramie, and turned right onto the entrance road. This looked like bad news. There were no tracks in the snow, and it was narrow and winding. Pardon my inexperience from being in the South, but Im not prepared to back up on a road if I meet traffic. So I executed a perfect turn and got back on the interstate for another 8 miles.
The last thing to see before getting back into Laramie was the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument. Its the highest point on and this monument is beside the rest area and pretty hard to miss. It appears to be from the 1930s, and when you look out from the statues vantage point—at least in December—you get a panoramic winter wonderland. It was quite a sight to behold, despite the wind ripping through my coat.
