On Labor Day, a friend and I traversed up north to Laramie, Wyo. We went to get away from the city, see some open land, and visit a place that considers “traffic” to be a line of three cars waiting at the stop light.

It was absolutely lovely. We left Denver at about 10 p.m. Sunday night and were back by 9:30 p.m. the following day. A quick turnaround, but chock-full of awesome.

Examples of awesome:

• Climbing a 12,000 ft. peak
• Seeing a snow flurry in September
• Having one’s fingers nearly frozen off in the 20 degree wind chill (um…OK, admittedly not so awesome)
• Throwing pine cones at a dinosaur (Wyoming, they’re a whole different kind of hardcore up there)

This was the kind of trip that was absolutely necessary and perfectly timed. I love Denver, it is one of my favorite places, but sometimes living in the heart of city and being on that constant treadmill of daily tasks, you need to disengage and get away.

A special thank you to David for letting us crash with him and his roommates, and for being a trooper about us arriving so late. He’s a scholar and a gentleman and an excellent tour guide.

If you ever have a chance to visit Laramie, you should. It’s a small, classic sort of Western town, but a keeper.

Yes, that's snow. We've been in near constant 80 degree weather lately. The 30 degree change was a little shocking.

At this point, the wind was blowing so hard, we considered turning back. But we were brave.

This was our reward. 12,000 ft. into the air.

And this. (A cell phone camera rendition.) My fingers were so cold, I was halfway convinced I was going to drop my camera right over the edge.

This rather rusted can held a log book. Well, log pages, for one to leave their mark.

Medicine Bow Peak. We were up on the top of that thing.

And as promised, a dinosaur. On the University of Wyoming campus they throw pine cones at its mouth for entertainment. Also, for good luck. I don't know, must be a Wyoming thing.