Saturday 9-13-25 University of Wyoming in Laramie & Errands

 

University of Wyoming in Laramie

 

We had four outstanding days at Willow Campground. Now it was time to move on down the road. We moved 35 miles to Laramie.

We woke up to 38 degrees at Willow Campground and the temperature of 66 degrees at noon in Laramie. A front came in about 2:00 and dropped the temperature to 54 degrees. We got some wind and a little sprinkle from the front. 

I got out of bed at 7:45 and made pancakes for breakfast. Then we put things away and made sure everything was secured. We were on the road by 8:50. We drove a two lane highway. It was amazing we only drove about a mile and got out of the forest. Then the temperature rose a few degrees. While driving we drove past ranches and saw Pronghorns, horses and cattle. It was a very nice drive.

When we got to Laramie we did errands and visited the University of Wyoming. Today was a home game for the Cowboys and they were playing the University of Utah. We didn't know there was a game but our neighbors at Willow told me. We wanted to beat the crowd on the campus.

First stop was at the Maverick to dump the tanks and fill the Minnie with water. The Maverick was very busy. We had to go to the back of the Maverick to where the RV and truck fuel pumps are. The dump was right there. Larry talked to a trucker, who was in front of us getting gas. He said it will be 10 minutes before he was going to leave. But it was only a couple of minutes and he moved up so we could use the dump. It looked like he needed to log something. That was very nice of him, while we were dumping he left. While Larry was dumping the tanks he asked me to find where the water was. I walked around the front and found it at pump #5. When Larry finished dumping the tanks we went to where the water was. We were lucky we could get right to the pump and fill the water tank. While we were filling the water tank the gentleman next to us got in a bind, he was driving a moving truck and towing a car and got stuck trying to get away from the pumps. The fender on his trailer was up against a post. He probably had never towed a trailer before and had no idea how to get out of the jam he was in. Larry helped him by telling him which way to turn and when. A couple of guys in a van left so he could back the car and truck into that space. I had to go and stop people from going behind him while he was backing up. The couple thanked Larry for his help. After the water tank was full we moved up a little bit and filled the Minnie with gas. It really didn't need gas but Maverick was nice enough to have a free dump and water station.

After filling the Minnie we were back on the road. We went to the University of Wyoming campus. They have four museums on campus but only two were open on Saturday. Larry programmed the location of the Art Museum in Google Maps. We parked the Minnie in the parking lot of the museum. We were the only vehicle in the parking lot. The actual Museum of Art shares a building with the Museum of Heritage but that museum was closed on Saturdays and Sundays. We thought this was weird. We walked in the building and took the elevator to the 2nd floor where the museums were located. A young lady was working the desk and told us about the Art Museum. It was a small museum but very nice. As you start your tour there are clocks of different time zones and the pictures are three dimensional. You look at it it looks one way and if you look at from the side it looks different. They were very cool. The exhibits were oil paintings of landscape from Patrick Kikut, pencil drawings and pencil paintings from Thomas Moran (1837-1926), photography by Tristan Duke, Pictures of endanger species around the world by Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese and many more. The endanger species exhibit was interesting because the sun will lighting drawings but if you put them in a dark room it will darken again. Ligorano and Reese worked together for over 40 years. The art, that Patrick Kikut did was of landscapes as he raft down the river. His raft was on display. We enjoyed walking around the museum.

 

Hawaii-Aieutian Standard Time: La Haina Fire August 8-11, 2023

 

Flaming Gorge Buttes (2019 oil canvas by  Patrick Kikut)

 

Elk Mountain, The Alkali Desert Wyoming Territory in 1868 pencil on paper Roald Fryxell

 

 

Yellowstone Lake 1874 Chromolithograph by John D. Fryxel

 

Three dimensional cloth 

 

Koettlitz Glacier, Antarctica 1975 by Eliot Furness Porter from Tristan Duke & Polar Photography

 

 

Endanger species by Ligorano and Reese

 

After walking around the museum we went back to the Minnie. While Larry was programming in the location of the Geological Museum a gentleman (Zack) came by and talked to us. He gave us an emblem celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Cowboy's stadium. He was a representative of the Cowboy Club. The university was having a home game and he was part of the security. We had gotten in the parking area before they had setup the security. He didn't tell us to leave but when we left security blocked off the parking lot. The art museum was right by the stadium and they were going to close the parking area off. 

Front side of the emblem 

Back side of the emblem

We parked the Minnie on the street not too far from the Geological Museum. We walked up some stairs through a very nice butterfly garden to a mall, where there were a lot of different buildings of the university. We found the Geological Museum. It was an old building, that was built in 1955. It had exhibits of their dinosaurs found at a dig of an old pipeline in Wyoming. As you enter the museum there is a giant dinosaur. The museum was small but interesting. There was an exhibit where the kids can play with sand and it will change colors and forms (mountains). We learned that they found a Mammoth in the area. It was very busy because of the game. The displays were very nice.

 

Butterfly Garden

 

 

Geological Museum

   

T-Rex outside

   

Stegosaurus display

 

Entrance exhibit

 

Laramie Pipeline Project

Next stop on campus was the Benjamin Franklin statue. It was about a block away from the museum. After taking a picture of Benjamin Franklin we went back to the Minnie.

 

Benjamin Franklin statue

We drove through downtown Laramie and it was very busy. The main road was under construction so it was a mess. We tried to find a place to park but was unsuccessful. Larry had read that the downtown had some murals but we didn't see any.

Larry programmed the Laramie Recreation Center into the phone because we wanted to take a shower. The recreation center was a beautiful building. We parked the Minnie and went inside. We told the lady, who helped that we would like to take a shower. It cost $9.00 for the both of us. The showers were ok but the water could be a little hotter. The water only got warm. After taking a shower we walked around the building. There was hardly anyone there. The pool was closed due to maintenance. They had two rooms for shooting hoops and nets in the same area for pickle ball. There was a weight room, climbing walls and some rooms for fitness classes. The upstair area looked like there were weight machines. It was very nice. Before you enter the building there was a art exhibit, it was sculptures of pants. They represented children, who died before their time. 

The final stop was Walmart for the night. It was just a couple of blocks away. We went inside to buy a chicken for lunch but they didn't have any. So we went back to the Minnie and had sandwiches. A little later we went back over to Walmart and did some grocery shopping. They had some chickens cooking. The gentleman, who worked in the deli said they would be finished in fifteen minutes. We finished out grocery shopping and went back to the deli. They were putting the chickens in their bags. They gave us a chicken that they had just removed. We weren't the only ones waiting. When we were there earlier we thought it was weird they didn't have any cooking and they were also out of chicken pieces. We were glad they had them now. We had chicken for dinner. 

Walmart was very busy because of the game. People asked us if we were going to the game. We said no. Walmart had a special area stocked up with clothing for the Cowboys and other stuff. The University of Wyoming are the Cowboys. 

We had a fun day in Laramie. I ended up doing 7,000 steps.