The Long and Winding Road

I’ve been on hundreds of road trips. But thanks to the storm that blew across Wyoming last weekend, I’ve confirmed something I suspected for years: Wyoming is the worst major college road trip in history.
Except for the weather, Laramie isn’t a bad college town. But getting there and back is another story.
I’ve driven in brutal winter conditions from Denver to Laramie or vice versa several times. One year I traveled in howling winds across glassy roads, arriving after the game had begun. Some years I had to drive from Denver via Cheyenne in order to get through. Upon landing in Denver one football season, I was encouraged because the temperature was in the low 70s. By the time I had driven to Laramie I was in a blizzard.
Call it psychological, but the only time I ever got sick enough to throw up on a plane was from Denver to Laramie.
But this year was the first time I’ve driven from Salt Lake to Laramie.
Big mistake.
At best, it’s boring, at worst, life-threatening.
Deseret News staffers August Miller, Jody Genessy, Dirk Facer and I made this year’s trip. On the way back, we hit the storm and ended up on the road for 13 hours before stopping at 6 a.m. at Little America in Wyoming for a few hours sleep. We saw several trucks overturned, including one FedEx truck that had packages spilled out on the side of the road.
Good luck getting that hard drive you ordered in the mail.
Twice we were stopped for 2 1/2 hours without the traffic moving.
That’s not Wyoming’s fault. The people are nice, the athletic staff first-rate.
But there’s just no easy way to get there.
I guess I’m just lucky Alaska-Fairbanks isn’t in the Mountain West Conference.