Farewell, Laramie

I’ve covered sports events all around the country, from the Deep South, to New England, to the Midwest, to the Northwest, to New York, to the California Coast.

Few trips proved more memorable than those to Wyoming.

Which made it all the more interesting to me that the last two trips I will probably ever take to Laramie, Wyoming were a study in contrasts.

Two years ago, I made the mistake of driving to Laramie with photographer August Miller and writers Dirk Facer and Jody Genessy. A blizzard made the return trip a 21-hour ordeal. It was, without question, the worst road trip of my career. The very worst — and that includes the time my plane turned around midway to Hawaii and went back to L.A., where I had to board another plane and fly across the Pacific again.

At least the weather was good when I got there.

Speaking of weather, this year’s trip was as good as I’ve ever seen in Laramie, not counting some of those August trips I made for preseason previews. Saturday’s game was played in 62 degree temperatures under clear skies. The leaves were still on the trees and Laramie was looking as good as it ever has.

I drove from Denver to Laramie one winter night in a snowstorm, and the roads were glassed over completely; I was driving 25 mph. As I said in my column, I once left Denver in 70 degree weather and it was snowing hard when I got to Laramie. I watched a BYU game from the press box, one year, and the snow was so thick you couldn’t see the uniform numbers.

The first road trip I ever made for the Deseret News was to Laramie in 1978. It was a Utah State-Wyoming. I was a brand new college football writer, thrilled to be on an expense account. That, too, was a warm, clear day.

Anyway, for some reason, I figured there was a nice symmetry about this whole thing. I got the best and worst of Laramie on my final two trips. I’ll remember them both well.

So long to the High Plains. I doubt I’ll be going that way again, unless it’s blowing through on a cross country road trip to Chicago.

More likely I’ll fly over on the nonstop.