The saying used to be about Gillette that "a jackrabbit needs to pack a lunch to get there." It's pretty desolate and I never experienced it but I'm told winter white outs, blowing snow with nothing for 100 miles to stop it, are vicious.
Laramie is kind of in-between the liberal craziness of Boulder and the LDS enclave of Salt Lake City, though I'm told things are loosening in SLC at least around UU. With the rise of the Utah program I think Wyoming has suffered with "bandwagon fan loss" but it's a really nice campus and town.