Valensorow's Maiden Voyage, as remembered by Slamby pt. 3 : Paradise Found

We waved them down and split up between the two vehicles. Dr. Bruce, Tommy Noble, and Menicucci (our friend who was doing merch for us this tour and is now a permanent member as mandolin) went in the cab and apparently that was an entirely different experience than expected. The cab driver charged practically nothing to come grab us and proceeded to give them the grand tour of the town, free of charge! The town of Laramie, Wyoming is home to the University of Wyoming campus, as well as 21 bars. Twenty one bars, I could get used to this place. There is an extremely low crime rate apparently, we arrived rather late and only remained until the next day but considering how nice everyone in town was, it does not come to a surprise. The tow truck driver was the best though; he made sure we were taken care of to the fullest extent. While Wuldor had communication issues with the insurance company, this driver resolved everything very quickly and even contacted a repair shop that his friend runs. I forget his name (he brought his wife along, they are an amazing couple with great stories), but the company was AllWyo Towing and the repair shop was Wyo Speed. Phenomenal people, they even locked our van safely inside their shop instead of leaving it out in the open with our gear in plain sight. They gave the rest of us a ride to our hotel we were staying at (the hotel offered us a free upgrade to the suite that was available because they felt so bad that we were stranded). Then we discovered Mingles Adult Day Care…

Have you ever been to a bar and felt like you were in the TV show “Cheers”? I have my fair share of experiences in bars but never have I felt so welcomed into a place to feel like I was home.  Mingles is not exactly a small bar, we didn’t realize at first but they actually have many pool tables, a few dart boards, an arcade, and even a giant beer pong table. They serve drinks out of fish bowls. Seriously, fish bowls. Well, I didn’t see any fish, but they were awfully large. The bartender estimates at a normal bar five of their drinks are the same size as a fish bowl. They charged us $9 each. Needless to say, we had a great time at Mingles. We met the locals and the bar owner, all of which are amazing individuals. They made us seriously feel comfortable and relaxed (a fish bowl will do that). I cannot stress enough, if you have ever pass through Wyoming, stop in the town of Laramie, stay a night, go to Mingles and get a fish bowl. You will never want to leave; we had to drag Ferret out of there before he set up his nest.

Life goes on, and while this trip was supposed to be fun, we had a job to do, so we woke up early, got ourselves cleaned up, then headed out…back to Mingles. Well, what else are you to do when you have to wait for your car to get repaired? Wake up with a Bloody Mary, that’s how! A few games of pool and we got the call. Wuldor called the cab girls sister (our cab driver was enjoying her birthday, but her sister works for the same company) and grabbed the van. We will never forget Laramie, Wyoming, land where people treat strangers like family, where honor and respect are common traits, where drinks are delicious and cheap. VALENSOROW AWAY!!!