I've forgotten how much I love the mountains.
I would love to go back there (in the summer) with a camera and just go crazy for the week. Laramie lies on a plain between a range of hills that lie between it and Cheyenne and the Snowy Range to the west- it's totally flat and almost depressing, at first- but when you look around and really, really see then you realize how beautiful, empty- and almost peaceful it really is. The clouds seem closer, the sky seems bigger and everything just seems so wild, empty and free.
I love IT!
Laramie itself, however, wasn't large- but then again, this is Wyoming we're talking about. A town of about 27,000 and the home to the University of Wyoming- it's also home to the tallest buildings in the state (the two main dorms at the U)- aside from that, there's not much else there, apart from the University, the charming old-school downtown and a Wal-Mart Super Center (and a Sonic too. Yum.) I tend to prefer towns a little less isolated- and a little closer to the some sort of population base (Mankato's proximity to Minneapolis made it very attractive to me) yet, despite being all out in the nowhere, it's about an hour to Ft. Collins and 45 minutes to Cheyenne. And there's plenty to do- and drive too!
We did the usual Thanksgiving thing- and Ali and I enjoyed time with Nelly the Boxer...
...we also went hiking up in the hills near town, near the rocks at Vedauwoo and the Lincoln Memorial along Interstate 80. Vedauwoo was closed, since it was Thanksgiving, but the hills were still beautiful:
...it was a nice and much needed break. Now, there's just the mad rush towards the end of the semester and a potential move. (Yes, dear reader, you read that right. I might, with a little bit of luck and a job interview- and even without, the Missus and I will probably be headed back down to the I.C.) Then, job, finish up, life and we'll see what happens after that. Probably house, dog, car, kid, the usual list of things that happen after college and marriage. For myself, it'll be a relief to step away from academia and do things I love to do: write, photograph, cook... I want to lose myself in the mundane and learn how to be good at something other than school.
After that, who knows?
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