THE VAN DER VALK GAS PRICE ADVISORY FOR 2-26-09 – There is good news or bad news these days depending on which side of the fence you are dealing in the petroleum market. The April WTI crude oil price surged back over $44 a barrel on Thursday. This was mainly due to The United American Emirates cutting back on some more oil exports to Asia in anticipation of the March OPEC meeting.
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There was a place we went to fairly early in our travels that struck us so singularly we just didn’t know how to properly cover it short of spending three or four days writing it up. The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana has so much to see, experience and enjoy, it was a real struggle to figure out what to write up to truly pay them tribute. So after much deliberation, delay, and staff meetings we finally decided the single best feature of the place is everything.
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Since our purchase of the Nintendo Wii last year, we’ve been doing our best to consider games as they come around, and do our best to review them as it’s appropriate. We’ve been shopping since then like regular folk, but we’ve been suckered in to at least a couple lackluster Wii purchases, and this terrible game is just one such example.
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This coming Tuesday is National Pancake Day. Sure, it’s only marked on the most comprehensive of every-holiday calendars, but it happens every year, and it’s a day for win-win benefit all around, so maybe you need to gear up for a hot breakfast this Tuesday, February 24th, and get ready to chow down… for the children.
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Whether you live in Billings, Montana or you’re just passing through, this oversized funplex has something for kids of all ages. They’ve got a massive laser tag arena, crazy fast go-karts, putt-putt golf, a modern arcade, and even a mega-climbing zone for kids like me that just want to go into a maze of plastic tubes for an hour or so.
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A wicked combination of negative economic news from around the world has pushed crude oil back under the critical benchmark of $35 a barrel. While some analysts suggest prices will immediately rebound, others are looking at the dismal global forecasts, unusually high reserves and an apparent absence of OPEC control… some are predicting that oil will hit $32/barrel within a week, and $20/barrel within a month. Here are the reasons they’re probably right, and why it’s a good thing.
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Helena, MT – Montana is officially the third state to allow assisted suicide, according to ruling by Helena District Judge Dorothy McCarter. She moved to allow the practice in December and again in January, dismissing a request for an injunction during an appeal. Judge McCarter decided in December that the terminally ill patient Robert Baxter can self-administer lethal drugs provided by a physician. Continue Reading

Any adult traveler surely knows the difference between a “hotel” and a “resort”. One is a place you sleep, the other is a place where you’re allowed to enjoy life, even if just for a little while. In case you don’t know which is which, the hotel is “just some place you sleep”. But not all resorts are created equally. Some are so exclusive they don’t even allow children, while others bend over backwards to make them comfortable, and so happy they won’t even disturb the fun and relaxation their parents are there to enjoy. Big Sky Resort is among that latter sort.
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Resorts generally cater to adults. They rarely discourage children, but just as often, they don’t do anything to help them stay occupied. In part two of our three part series, we’re covering the ways Big Sky Resort really stands out from other resorts in regards to their dedication to the fun and happiness of the countless kids that visit each year. In this article, we’ll cover the fun for kids in the winter months.
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Our crew has only worked in the travel writing field since 2001, but we’ve hit the market pretty hard since then. Even when baby Brendan was just one year old, he was himself a foreign bureau chief, and we could tell because people gathered around him like a local celebrity. Still, almost every guide book is every bit as good as the next, but “Hidden Montana” from Ulysses Press is something different, and in a good way.
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We’re already pretty much raving fans of PhotoWorks.com, and not just because they’ve got the stalwart professionalism of American Greeting backing them up. When we wanted prints for Christmas, we turned to them, and again when we wanted an oversize print the local shops couldn’t make. But there are a bunch of reasons we use PhotoWorks, and why we suggest them to you.
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Every resort on the planet likes to boast that they have the best features for fun and relaxation for any week or weekend a grownup might wish to spend, but many overlook the youngsters that may want to come along. You can shuffle your kids to grandma for the week, if she’s willing and that’s what you need to do, but some of us actually want to spend our time away from work with our kids, and making that happen is an area where Big Sky Resort really stands out from the many alternatives you might consider.
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Big Sky Resort is already famous as one of the best skiing destinations in the nation. Its high peaks, long runs and vast diversity in types of runs available – designed to satisfy the first-timer, die-hard slope junky, and everyone in between – but once you get off the shushing slopes, you’re going to be hungry, and that’s where Big Sky really veers away from its rivals.
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Big Sky Resort’s 3rd annual Big Sky Big Grass bluegrass festival will begin February 13 and play in Whiskey Jack’s, the Carabiner and Missouri Ballroom. This three-day music exhibition features artists and bands coming in from all over the country, and this year it promises to be bigger and better than in past years. Pulling out all the stops, they’ve booked 12-time Grammy Award winning artist The Jerry Douglas Band to headline. Continue Reading

Of all the hotels, motels, cabins and lodges that boast their goods across the Montana touristscape, few do so with as many claims to demi-fame as the Fairmont Hot Springs. It’s a historic site conveniently located along Interstate-90 (near Anaconda, with highway billboards for miles around), and it really is a historic hot springs. From there, however, don’t get your hopes up too high.
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Of all the cut-rate games I’ve bought for the Nintendo Wii, none meant much for me than headache. After buying the Nintendo Play (which came with a controller, so I was warned to have low expectations,) and falling for another title I won’t even bother naming, my faith in the system was entirely shaken… and then I found Lego Star Wars, and my modern gaming life just may now be complete.
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Most free museums feel like junk stores without price tags, but this place, as small and four miles away from where you probably want to be, wasn’t just worth the trip, it was straight up awesome. Not only did we find a bunch of great cowboy stuff to buy our brother for his upcoming birthday at fine prices, but we also saw neat stuff, had great fun, and the place still offers free admission.
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If you’re looking for something between cheap and free to do with your kids, a real standout is the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula. The museum is very cheap, but the historic collection around it is free and it’s got more fun stuff to play on than my parents could even endure.
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Any traveler of the Interstate-90 corridor through Montana will surely see signs for the Deer Lodge Prison Museum Complex, assuming they have eyes in their heads and some amount of brain connected to it. Personally I can’t read, but I have people who do that for me so I was keenly aware these billboards existed from the time I hit the state line, and so I count myself in the know. The complex is much more than that, but the Prison Museum is the heart, and if you miss it, you’re really missing it.
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