MontanaWithKids.com

Terry, Montana
By: Bob van der Valk

I heard an interesting tidbit at the annual Terry Roping Club meeting held recently at the Lazy JD Bar and Restaurant in Fallon, Montana.

Mark Dolatta, describing some of the local colorful Terry history, said that in Montana a gathering of four or more Indians (p.c. Native Americans) is considered a war party and you are allowed to shoot them on sight. (more…)

Greg Klevgard and his sons, Bo and Shane, from Ismay, Montana stopped by the Badlands Cafe and Scoop Shoppe in Terry. The last time they had stopped by for lunch Greg and his family enjoyed the atmosphere so much they promised to come often. (more…)

Santa Claus meets Sinterklaas at the Stockman Bank in Terry, Montana

Dateline: Terry, Montana
December 4, 2009
By: Bob van der Valk

Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle arrived at the Festival of Lights Parade in Terry, Montana on December 1st this year. He visited with the people along the parade route as well as stopping by the shops along Logan Avenue all lit up with bright holiday lights.

Saint Nicholas getting a Montana Huckleberry candy treat from Dale and Kathy Galland at the Prairie Unique in Terry, Montana

Saint Nicholas is a legendary figure who, in many Western Cultures, brings gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24th or on his Feast Day, December 6th (Saint Nicholas Day). This legend has part of its basis in tales concerning the historical figure of gift giver Saint Nicholas. (more…)

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Aaron Flint and Bob van der Valk in front of the Badlands Cafe and Scoop Shoppe in Terry, Montana before doing the Voices of Montana broadcast

Terry, Montana
November 29, 2009
By: Bob van der Valk

The Badlands Cafe and Scoop Shoppe in Terry, Montana was visited by host Aaron Flint and his Voices of Montana radio show on Friday, November 27, 2009. His broadcast was beamed live from the cafe across the State of Montana on the Northern Broadcasting Network. (more…)

Aaron Flint Host of Voices of Montana Radio Show

Aaron Flint will be doing his Voices of Montana radio show on Friday, November 27, 2009 from Terry, Montana. He will set up to do his one hour broadcast live from the Badlands Café and Scoop Shoppe starting at 9 a.m. and will be interviewing Bob van der Valk about happenings in Terry and Prairie County.

All residents of Terry and Prairie County are invited to join Aaron Flint and Bob van der Valk at the Badlands Café. Coffee will be served compliments of Arline and Inger Koppenhaver, who are the owners of the unique retro-50’s styled restaurant with the rear end of a ’55 Chevy sticking out of the front façade of the building. (more…)

Prairie County MT American Legion Honor Squad - June 1960

Dateline: Terry, Montana
November 11, 2009
By: Bob van der Valk

The Prairie County American Legion Post #32 will hold their Annual Veterans Day Parade on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 2 p.m. in front of the Stockman Bank Building on Logan Avenue in Terry, Montana. (more…)

Landon Pigg and the Troth of Us with Inger Koppenhaver

Landon Pigg and the Troth of Us dropped by the Badlands Cafe and Scoop Shoppe in Terry, Montana on Saturday afternoon November 7, 2009. He and his group were on their way from Minneapolis to Seattle and felt an urge to drink some good coffee. They also picked up a basketball and football at Netzer Trustworthy Hardware store for some athletic recreation to keep them occupied during their road trip. (more…)

Paul and Linda Nygard from Billings, Montana enjoying breakfast at the Badlands Cafe and Scoop Shoppe in Terry, Montana before hunting antelope in Prairie County

The van der Valk Eastern Montana Gas Price Advisory for 10-12-09

Dateline: Terry, Montana
By: Bob van der Valk
October 12, 2009 9:30 AM MDT

Hunters have been arriving in Terry by the droves since last week Friday in time for the start of the annual hunting season. They will be after herds of antelopes, which have propagated thanks to the great summer weather greening up the prairies.

They have also enjoyed seeing lower gas prices to fill up their trucks, vans and SUVs while driving to Terry from as far away as Minnesota and Idaho. The Four-Corner gas station in Terry is selling regular unleaded gasoline for only $2.479 per gallon this morning. (more…)

Dateline: Terry, Montana
October 10, 2009 4:00 PM MDT
By: Bob van der Valk

Hungry hunters will have another place to eat for breakfast in Prairie County, Montana just in time for the start of the hunting season in Eastern Montana. (more…)

The promise of the authentic Terry Badlands look and feel hits you as soon as you enter the Badlands Café and Scoop Shoppe located in downtown Terry, Montana. (more…)

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like I keep getting the worst assignments on the trip. Fine, fair enough, I’m the junior editor so I’ll write it up. Virginia City, Montana, is nothing but a tourist trap, and one that felt a pretty hard hit from the high gas costs this summer, what with being basically in the middle of nowhere. So this nowhere tour of nothing got hit hardest, and the real victim wasn’t the operator, who owns everything outright, but us poor tourists.
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If you’re ever taking the time to wander the mainest of main drag in the sleepy town of Deer Lodge, Montana, and you’re looking for another (not so) quick thing to occupy your juniors, it would seem that fate has taken the time to smile all over you, whatever it that means. In addition to the Prison Museum, Car Museum, and everything else they have going for them, there is also the (im)modest suburb of Cottonwood City. It’s so perfect you’d almost suspect it was built only recently by volunteers to appease junior folk such as us.
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Happy Pappy, the jingling cowboy, is known for his unique style of entertainment throughout the western tourism industry especially in and around Billings, MT. Dennis McNiven, who many also call Pappy, has been providing western entertainment from acting in movies to strumming his guitar around campfires. Pappy, who has been in movies like Far & Away, Lonesome Dove, and River Runs Through It (to name a few), has settled down in his ways and now provides entertainment to the masses in Montana.
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Easily the single best experience we had in all of our many Montana adventures was the evening we spent just east of Billings in the fine company of Pappy and his family at the Western Romance Company Cowboy Dinner. It’s a horse-drawn wagon ride, an evening of authentic cowboy cooking, and fellowship with the single best people we met on the whole of our trip to Montana.
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I’ve heard bad things about summer brother birthdays, and I believe all these no-guests–showing-up rumors because I have exactly such a brother in my own family. A couple years ago our parents sent out more than 2-dozen handwritten invitations before school let out asking parents to bring their youngster friends, and not one of them even had the decency to RSVP saying they weren’t going to come.* That’s probably why my parents take his summer birthday so seriously, and this was another really great gem for him.
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Throughout our 5-plus weeks in Montana, we’ve stayed everywhere from mountain top resorts to the lows you scrape a rung below the Motel 6, and no place left an impression on us quite like the 1880s Ranch in Anaconda, Montana. It wasn’t just a neat location, it was handily the best lodging experience in all of Montana.
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