Discussion: Laramie Daze update

Quite remarkably, for the first time in literally hundreds and hundreds of years of the monarchy, yesterday an heir to the throne was born literally *while* course setting for Laramie Daze was ongoing. I'm not sure what people will make of that incredibly rare coincidence, nor would I guess I am any better positioned to make sense of it. When I called London to check the odds, the bookies were caught off guard, but they reckoned the odds of this event must have been somewhat similar to the odds of a simultaneous solar and lunar eclipse.

Be that as it may, course setting for Yellow Pine is in the bag, and the resulting 5.7 km opener to Laramie Daze will feature a good sampling of what black, rice sized beetles with an affinity for pine trees can to the forest. The course is on the easy side and set to take advantage of the trail net in places in order to avoid less pleasant sections of the beetle ravaged forest.

The prairie was full of needle and thread grass (aka harpoon grass), but by the time Daze takes place, most of the irksome seeds will have fallen to the ground or else hitched rides on unwilling victims.

Yellow Pine itself (the campground) was all but empty, ready and waiting, with only one campsite occupied...

For anyone who ventures out from the campground into The Big City, here are a few local events that'll be going on during Laramie Daze:

* Live Music in the Plaza: Thursdays, 7pm to 9pm, 1st & Grand (also on Fridays during the Farmer's Market, 5pm to 7pm)

* Farmer's Market: Fridays, 3pm to 7pm, 1st & Grand

* Snowy Range Music Festival: 8/30 - 9/1, Albany County Fairgrounds

Also --

* Laramie Plains Museum

* UW Art Museum

* Wyoming Territorial Prison