Been to Laramie, WY? Click Here

by 54b on Mar 10, 2009 5:48 PM CDT

This is shameless and probably inappropriate for a fan post, but I'm desperate...

Writing an article about UT’s 2009 road trips for PB’s Preview Guide and I know next to nothing about Laramie, Wyoming. I’ve reached out to the local sports editor and a couple of bloggers, but they’ve been about as useful as one purple sock.

So if you’ve ever spent any time in Laramie or know somebody who has, I would greatly appreciate any and all suggestions you have on the following topics:

1) Overview: Just your initial thoughts about the game...is this going to be the biggest thing that ever came to Laramie, or will the locals hardly take notice and be glad when we’ve come and gone.

2) Lodging: Hotel/motel recommendations, especially if things are going to book up quick. What alternatives do we have if we can’t stay in Laramie? Where’s the next best thing?

3) Transportation: I’m assuming a rental car is a must for a trip like this, but what about flying in for the game. Where do you recommend flying into and what kind of drive times are fans looking at from places like Denver, Salt Lack City, or Fort Collins. Any other travel transportation tips would be much appreciated.

4) Restaurants/Bars: Just your recs for best places to eat and drink or put a better way, “you can’t leave Laramie without going to (blank)? Also, where are football fans likely to congregate the night before the game.

5) Tailgating: Just set the scene for me...do a lot of people do it, where’s the best place to do it, are there any laws or things fans should know about so they don’t get in trouble.

6) Tickets: What’s the scalping situation...if a fan can’t get a ticket through the school, should they come anyway and scalp. Also, what’s the stadium like. Are there places in the stadium with really bad site lines or sections/rows fans should avoid buying tickets in.

7) Gameday Traditions: Just anything fun about Gameday in Laramie. Does the team or Wyoming fans doing anything visitors should watch out for.

8) Local Attractions: Are there any local attractions or anything on campus worth checking out...also, any tips on side trips? I thought about putting something in here about Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, and the Grand Tetons, but those places look really far away. Still, fans may make a whole a week out of this road trip.

And of course anything else I might have missed.

Feel free to comment below or email me at 54bblog@gmail.com

Thanks in advance,
54b

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Comments

Not really helpful

While i doubt anyone on this board would really know anything about Laramie WY, my dad did live in Casper for several years right out of school and learned basically two things about the state.

Eastern Wyoming is one of the most depressing, cold, windy, desolate places in America with only Yellowstone to redeem it, much like OU’s BCS trophy room. (yes yellowstone is in the west, but its the only thing the whole state has)
I’m not sure if this is the case anymore, but it at least used to be very difficult to get a speeding ticket (90+ mph on highways) and even then they were cheap because there’s a lot of nothing in WY.

Sorry to really be of no help, but just thought i’d throw in my two cents

by PhiTypist on Mar 10, 2009 6:19 PM CDT reply actions

Got to start somewhere

Right now, I’m still planning on making it up for this game, but it’s tough sell if you’re not going to make a bigger trip out of it and hit Jackson Hole and Wyoming…and even that is a like saying, “I’m going to Lubbock and stopping by Big Bend.”

Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.

by 54b on Mar 10, 2009 7:10 PM CDT up reply actions

laramie wyoming

I spent a year of my life in Laramie Wyoming. I’ll try to be as helpful as possible so if I leave something out just ask.

1. I think this game will be pretty big in Laramie, however it’s a strange college town. Half of the town is UW and half is Wyotech. I went to Wyotech so I’m only seeing half of the glass I guess. The town is not very big so Saturday games like this one ought to draw out the fans.

2. Lodging. Ive never had to look for lodging other than one night in the motel 6. I know that the majority of fans will probably end up in Cheyenne which is about 45 minutes due east on highway 80. Fort Collins Co. is a much better place to stay as well and the night life there is more urban and less cowboy. Your looking at roughly an hour there if I remember correctly.

3. Transportation. My 2 cents would put everyone flying into Denver. The trip to Laramie from Denver is around 3 hours. If you take it at the right time of day it can be a beautiful drive. I recommend taking hwy 287 from Ft. Collins to Laramie, some of that trip is beautiful as well. Im very partial to Texas and the hill country but that is one sight that I miss seeing. I’m not sure about Salt Lake as I’ve never been that route.

4. Restaurants and Bars.
When I was there (2000-2001) the main bar in town was the cowboy. However if the dates are right that bar can be rowdy as hell. They have “fight night” where everyone can sign up and fight. Mostly college students vs tech students. Its pretty fun to watch but I would sign up as its can get pretty bloody. The main restaurant while I was there was applebees. WOOHOO. I dont really remember any local place that was outstanding.

5. As for gameday traditions Im not really sure. Unfortunately as a Tech student you didn’t hang out on the UW campus much as it usually ended in a fight of some sort. As for opposing teams visiting, again I’m just not really sure, not helpful I know.

6. Scalping.
When I was there I purchased my tickets from a scalper for the one game I attended. They were not expensive but I think the team they were playing sucked worse than they did. Again its been 8 years so I’m a little rusty.

7. As for local attractions I recommend a drive to Centennial Wyoming. Its a little ass town with nothing there but if you want to see some beautiful lakes, streams and wilderness then this is your best bet. We would drive to Centennial then head up into the Mountains toward Medicine Bow peak. (side note) ( do not attempt to run in the mountains as there is no f@ckin air and you can’t breath) Some good trout fishing though and the water is crystal clear.

If you have anymore questions feel free to ask. Like I said it was 8 years ago so things could have changed a little.

by vivalonghorns05 on Mar 10, 2009 9:30 PM CDT reply actions

Thank you. nt

Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.

by 54b on Mar 11, 2009 9:45 AM CDT up reply actions

Calling Bombilla. Calling Bombilla.

The vivid one went to grad school there for two years according to this post from last April:
On Wyoming

Laramie ain’t that bad. I used to live up there, too (UW Grad School in Infrared Astronomy). I totally remember the town shutting down when the Pokes were playing. I remember walking down Grand St and seeing the team practice, and thinking to myself “Damn…these guys are small.”

I lived there for 2 years before the snow started making me homesick for Austin. Laramie is a small town, to be sure, but there are some pretty damn good bars up there: The Library (best Nutty Brown Ale in the history of microbrews) is my favorite. Plus, Ft. Collins is just about 75 mi south and is the home of New Belgium Brewery (makers of Fat Tire) and Colorado State.

The Snowy Range Mtns west of Laramie are spectacular (the drive from Centennial into Saratoga is beyond beautiful). People are idiots, though. I mean, these people really are yokels. You have to bear in mind, though, that Laramie is the 3rd largest town in WY (around 30K people – Casper, then Cheyenne are larger) so the exposure to other people, cultures, and their ways of life is trumped by wanna-be rodeo stars, mormons, drunks, and meth-addicts.

Other than that Laramie is pretty.

Other info in the thread.
Booze booster: altitude:7,200 – almost 2,000 feet higher than Denver/Boulder;
Stadium holds 32,580
Temp average for Sept: high 72 and low of 38; take a jacket
Minor game key: how long will the big guys last at altitude?

I’ve made the drive from Ft. Collins to Laramie and it is great. But that was late October, with some ice and snow on the downside and didn’t go into Laramie directly; I was headed west. September should be fine, though. If you go from Denver to Cheyenne to Laramie, you’re out on the prairie and far from the mountains; very boring but faster.

by whills on Mar 10, 2009 11:11 PM CDT reply actions

Good stuff

I think that’s the big selling point for this trip…cooler temps and fresh air.

Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.

by 54b on Mar 11, 2009 9:47 AM CDT up reply actions

I Rocky Mtn Texas Exes will be making a road trip

so you may want to hook up – so to speak – with our gang. It’ll include a bus from Denver and a tailgate. You could always fly in to Denver and ride up with us.

Web contacts:

https://www.texasexes.org/ch/index.asp?c=531&m=7

Don’t know much about Wyoming, but I highly recommend any of the microbrews from Fort Collins – New Belgium & Odell’s, are great.

by Bobster on Mar 10, 2009 11:24 PM CDT reply actions

Side Trip Advice

I’ve traveled through eastern Wyoming many times en route to the Boulder area from Washington State. I just remember stocking up on fireworks and cheap Sierra Trading Post gear in Cheyenne, so I can’t really advise on gameday culture, lodging, etc.

I can say anyone who’s making a week-long trip would be better served to fly into Denver & stay for a few days near Rocky Mountain National Park. I have family in Longmont, there are several hotels there, and it’s about 45 minutes to Estes Park, a really nice town on the edge of the Rockies. (Side note: anyone who loves flyfishing, let me know, my cousin fishes there all the time and may be willing to share a couple of decent spots.) You could just alternate between visiting microbreweries and mountains for a few days, then head up to the game. It took us about two and a half hours to drive from Longmont to Laramie via 287, and we drive like grannies. Plus, why rush with that scenery? If you went on the interstate, you could cut it under two hours, I’m sure.

I agree on Denver being the best choice to fly to. The drive from Salt Lake City is gorgeous if you detour 200 miles out of the way up to the Bridger-Teton Mountains. If you take 80 all the way, you’re in North Oklahoma for hundreds of miles. My husband & I made a mix tape of our farts and all kinds of stupid voices just to keep ourselves from dying of boredom.

by bhamhorn on Mar 11, 2009 1:05 AM CDT reply actions

Hmm

I often visited Laramie whilst on my trip out west via the Oregon Trail. True story.

I actually have been to Boise, Idaho, which is surprisingly a lot like a mini-Austin—campus near downtown, Congress Bridge-esque entrance, neo-classical capitol building, main drag for all the partying, etc. Not that this helps you at all, 54b.

by jc25 on Mar 11, 2009 8:12 AM CDT reply actions

Laramie Game

Lodging is getting close to filled in Laramie, so book there soon if you’re flying directly there. Btw- it’s an extra $150-200 to fly into Laramie versus flying into Denver.

Here’s the link to the alumni chapter (RMTE) event page for the game in Laramie:
https://www.texasexes.org/ch/register.asp?event=CH53100110

RMTE will have a party bus with kegs on board for the trip from Denver to Laramie and back, and they’ll have a quieter bus for families and older alumni who would prefer a short tour of the area around Laramie in addition to the game. Price and details as we get closer to the event, but it will be far less expensive than the additional airfare into Laramie, and much more fun.

Also, the RMTE blog (http://rmte.blogspot.com) will post info as we get closer.

Lastly, tickets are going at a premium. The stadium only holds about 30,000, and they have construction that wipes out some of that seating (they are planning on bringing in some temporary seats to make up that difference). Single game UT tickets are already being scalped for $300+, though you can still buy season tickets for $180/ea.

It should be a great warm-up for the TTU revenge game, though I hope the Horns don’t get caught looking ahead.

by RMHorn on Mar 11, 2009 3:48 PM CDT reply actions