The brown paint boys spell "GOWYO."

The band chant is "C-O-W-G-IRLS," which is easy once you do it a couple of hundred times.

And the crowd was, well, approximately the size of Lander.

I was all prepared to give Constant Readers an update on my Lenten fasting in this space, which is being 100 percent fulfilled but driving me completely crazy in the meantime.

I was going to tell you how I went to a mid-week luncheon with the boss and a couple of gals from work. And there on the tables were not one, but two, desserts PER PERSON.

I was going to tell you how I got the Girl Scout cookie delivery, placed one beautiful green box in the pantry for Mouse and the rest in the freezer with a note that said, "MOM's - DO NOT TOUCH."

I was going to tell you how Mouse and her friend went to the store the other night and came home with not one, but TWO, kinds of ice cream and their first round of Easter candy - giant chocolate bunnies in their own personal foil boxes.

I was going to tell you that the boss suggested that next year for Lent, I give up water. Right now, I concur - at least while I'm waiting for my first ice cream, my first peach pie, my first lemon pound cake, my first Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie.

But instead of writing about all of that, I want to tell you what happened Thursday night in Laramie.

The friend printed real tickets on the computer for $9 each - no kidding - and we were off.

We parked in the vicinity but farther away from where we usually park because of the crowd. We got out of the car and not 10 feet away was my best friend from junior high who lives in Cheyenne and her friends from Laramie - the exact same threesome we had seen in nearly the exact same spot the last time we were in Laramie for a basketball game.

Both times, the running into each other was completely coincidental and caused the five of us to erupt with glee.

"No wonder there's only 500,000 of us in this state," one of the group said. "We just keep recycling into each other."

The Pokegals' thrilling 64-62 win over Oregon in the third round of the WNIT was also historic as the 7,362 screamin' souls inside the A-A represented the largest crowd ever to watch a women's game at UW.

After the game, we stopped at the northernmost new snazzy convenience store for the bathrooms and drinks for the trip home.

In wandered a whole carload of folks from the friend's hometown.

At the Shirley Basin rest stop, we grabbed a brand-new state highway map and chatted with Judge Poke Fan, also on the way home to Casper, who agreed that the game was a terrific, historic event.

And then we were home, 10 gallons of gas, 305 miles and 7 and a half hours later.

If there is any way possible that you can afford $9 for a ticket, 10 gallons of gas and some time, a road trip to Laramie this afternoon, to be part of another historic event, would be a great way to spend a Sunday. Tip is at 2 p.m.

Go C-O-W-G-IRLS!

Community News editor Sally Ann Shurmur can be reached at (307) 266-0520 or sallyann.shurmur@casperstartribune.net