Staging Site

We spend the sixth day of our trip exploring Bozeman. Here are the highlights:

1) Best Western Plus GranTree Inn

This hotel is right off the freeway and only a couple minutes from downtown. The staff are friendly and helpful and the rooms comfortable and clean. And the indoor pool is heated—and super fun. At least that's what my kids would tell you. They spent the entire morning making up synchronized swimming dances in the pool.

2) Sola Cafe

This cafe, across from the Museum of the Rockies, is the place to eat lunch on a sunny afternoon. The patio is spacious and filled with several tables—and the food's good, too. Everything here is made from scratch with Montana grown fruits and vegetables. At the counter, you can choose from an array salads, soups, and panini sandwiches. We try a Yellowstone salad made with grass-fed steak and a vegetarian chili served with corn bread.

3) Museum of the Rockies

A stegosaurus skull the size of a Ford Fiesta. A frog that glides through the air. Indian arrowheads and weapons. There's so much cool stuff in this museum.

We start in the hands-on kids' area that teaches little ones about Yellowstone. You get to fish for salmon in a stream, identify flowers, camp out in a tent, and even watch Old Faithful blow.

My kids are also intrigued by a special exhibit on frogs, where we learn all about the nearly extinct Golden Frogs of Costa Rica and try to find camouflaged frogs that look exactly like leaves hidden in a large tank.

But our most favorite part of the museum is the dinosaur hall where you'll find the world's largest Tyrannosaurus rex skull in the world and most complete collection of stegosaurus specimens. The kids even get to touch a real dinosaur bone.

The dinosaur program here is overseen by paleontologist Jack Horner, who was the inspiration for the Jurassic Park character, Dr. Alan Grant.

4) Living History Farm

The Tinsley House is part of the Museum of the Rockies and offers the chance to step back in time to 1890 and experience the daily life of homesteaders. Volunteers wear long dresses and bonnets and on the day we visit, they're knitting and baking bread in the kitchen. My daughter was excited about learning how to use a loom.

To read the complete Montana road trip series, click here. To join conversations about the road trip, check out the On the Go with Amy Facebook page. If you want up-to-the-minute updates, follow @onthegowithamy on Twitter.

Montana road trip: Helena to Bozeman Read Post

Montana

Montana road trip: Helena to Bozeman

After a few fast-paced days packed with driving and sightseeing we decide to spend a lazy morning at our hotel, the Best Western Premier Helena Great Northern. Our room is spacious and comfortable and its large curved windows look over the town. We take an hour to work and read. When you're traveling, sometimes you have to slow down.

Later the kids splash around in the heated indoor pool. We grab lunch at the nearby Bagel Company and the kids take one last spin on the Great Northern Carousel, just a block from the hotel.

At 1 p.m., we hit the road and drive to Bozeman.

It’s a stormy day and only a two-hour drive so we decide to plow forward and skip stops along the way. But we're actually forced to stop about halfway through the drive when the rain starts falling so hard we can't see through the windshield. And then hail, the size of small pebbles, starts pelting down onto the car. The freeway comes to a stop. Wow! We're stunned. We've never seen weather like this. And then it stops...and we drive on.

Bozeman

We roll into Montana's fourth-largest town (pop. 37,000) in the evening, and head right for Main Street.

Art galleries, coffee houses, fly-fishing shops, and even wine bars line the main drag of this Old West town. This is a place where you can pick up a Stetson cowboy hat, and then buy a bottle of French wine. It's chic and stylish but still has that Montana cowboy charm.

On this night, Main Street is blocked off to traffic and food booths, serving everything from kettle corn to wood-fired pizza, have taken over. There's a huge row of bleachers and a stage in the middle of it all. We learn that we've stumbled upon Music on Main, when live bands perform outside on Thursday nights.

The Garage: Soup Shack and Mesquite Grill

It's still an hour before the music starts so we grab dinner at The Garage, a casual spot dishing up burgers, salads, and homemade soups in a former garage. The car theme is carried throughout with license plates serving as the covers for the menus, and all sorts of car parts—from hubcaps to bumpers—hanging from the walls. The kids order mac and cheese, and I try the barbecue chicken salad. The prices are reasonable and the food fresh.

Music on Main

By the time we're done with dinner at 8 p.m., the sun is still shining and a country western band has started to play. There's a fiddler and a guy on banjo and a lead singer belting out the Beatles' "Octopuses Garden" to a bluegrass rhythm. The entire town seems to be gathered outside and many are dancing wildly.

We stay until the end, and on the way back to the car my son spots some horses. The owner asks if he'd like to ride bareback and before I know it my son's on top of a horse and smiling big. "I need a cowboy hat," he tells me.

Best Western Premier Helena Great Northern Read Post

Best Western Hotels Montana

Best Western Premier Helena Great Northern

The Best Western Premier Great Northern is a first-class hotel right in the heart of little ol' Helena (Montana's state capital; pop. 28,000). If an important person--say the President--were coming to town, this is where I'd tell him to stay. He'd fit right in wearing a suit—and a cowboy hat.

As soon as you walk through the door, you're greeted by a friendly hello. The staff at the front desk are professional and willing to bend over backwards to make you comfortable. They're also full of information about the town: where to bring kids, where to eat, what to do.

The lobby is large and divided into cozy sitting areas with comfy chairs and couches upholstered in rich earthy hued fabrics. In one corner, there's a business center with computers where you can check email and print documents for free. Some cafe tables are perfect for small business meetings, or sharing a snack with your kids.

The decor throughout the hotel is stylish and sophisticated yet it includes tasteful touches of Montana's Old West spirit. Artsy collages featuring images of the old railroad that once passed through the town are hung throughout the hotel, and there's a fabulous bronze elk sculpture in the lobby.

We absolutely love our room on the third floor. Large curved windows look over the town. The beds are comfy and topped with fluffy comforters. The room is immaculate, well-appointed, and seems like the sort of place you'd find in the best part of town in the big city. It's certainly a room fit for a President.

Montana road trip: Helena Read Post

Montana

Montana road trip: Helena

We wake up early and drive directly from Dillon to Helena. Montana's capital is lively little town (pop. 28,000) with lots of history. We decide to dig right into its storied past and spend the day touring historical sights. Here’s what we did:

1) The Parrot Confectionary, Helena

My kids' eyes get as big as saucers when they walk inside this old-fashioned soda fountain. As soon as you pass through door, there's a colorful display of hand-dipped candies.

But we can't have candy yet. We must eat lunch first. We park ourselves in one of the booths and order four bowls of chili.

This old-fashioned soda fountain looks just like it did in 1935 when it first opened in this location (it first opened in a different spot in 1910). There's a big red Formica counter with stools that spin around, and then several wooden booths. The lunch menu is simple: hot dogs and chili.

A friendly teenage boy carries the steaming bowls filled with huge chunks of steak to our table. There's a basket of Saltine crackers to go with it. We all devour our chili without saying a word. After her last bight, my daughter says, "Can we have some candy?"

It's hard to choose from the dozens of offerings: Turkish delight, raspberry creams, chocolate peanut butter fudge, almond butter toffee. We all decide on "Parrots," which are the same thing as a Turtle with chocolate, soft caramel and toasted pecans.

The lady behind the counter asks, "Do you want a tour of the back?"

My daughter practically screams, "Yes."

In the back we're escorted into a tiny refrigerated room where a woman who has worked at the Parrot for 30 years is hand-dipping chocolates. The time and effort that goes into each piece of candy is remarkable. These bon-bons are truly made with love. We all get a sample, and then another. "That's my favorite place in Montana," my daughter said, as we were leaving The Parrot.

2) Great Northern Carousel, Helena

The kids take a spin on this modern carousel featuring Montana wildlife. My daughter hops on a bison and my son a big-horned sheep. There's a dispenser hanging from the wall feeding out little rings that you can grab and then throw into the mouth of a clown. My kids arms aren't long enough to reach a ring, but they keep trying. The rings make the carousel all the more fun for older kids.

3) Montana State Capitol, Helena

Montana's Capitol dates back to 1902 and in 2002 it was restored to its original look. The interior of this neoclassical building is absolutely stunning with stained glass, historical murals, and a barrel vaulted ceiling over the grand stairway. Free guided tours leave on the hour, with the first leaving at 9 a.m. and the last at 2 p.m. My kids ages 6 and 8 seem to find the tour interesting, and they like the stories that our guide tells about the murals of Indians, miners, and Lewis and Clark.

4) Last Chance Train Tours, Helena
The best way to see the town and pick up some history is on board this one-hour train tour. The guides know everything about the state's history but they don't bore you. They keep it fun by cracking lots of jokes. "That's what you call a 'Montana rode-eo'" our guide said when the train went over a big bump in the road.

Here are a few of the places we passed on the tour:

Opulent mansion district featuring homes of Helena's mining millionaires

St. Helena Gothic Cathedral with dramatic 230-foot spires

The Old Fire Tower, built in 1876. One of the few remaining in the U.S.

5) Toi’s Thai, Helena

The food coming out of this amazing little Thai restaurant is what you’d expect to be served at the home of a family living in Thailand. The flavors are intense and the coconut curry chicken that we savor is rich and lemony and far tastier than anything I’ve eaten at the Thai restaurants where I live in the metropolitan city of San Francisco. In the middle of our meal, Toi comes out of the kitchen and says hello to diners. There are only about six or eight tables. It's truly like eating in someone's home.
To read the complete Montana road trip series, click here. To join conversations about the road trip, check out the On the Go with Amy Facebook page. If you want up-to-the-minute updates, follow @onthegowithamy on Twitter.

Montana road trip: Hamilton to Dillon Read Post

Montana

Montana road trip: Hamilton to Dillon

We wake up early on our third day in Montana because we have a packed itinerary. Our plan is to continue our drive through the Bitterroot Valley along Highway 93, and then drive over Chief Joseph Pass, crossing the Continental Divide. We'll then cut through the Big Hole Valley along Highway 43, before hopping onto 278, which will take us to Dillon, where we will spend the night.

Here are a few highlights from our day:

1) Blodgett Canyon, Hamilton

Hamilton locals refer to the box canyon just outside of town as a little Yosemite. And as we walk the Canyon Creek Trail, which follows a rushing river, we understand why. Granite peaks loom overhead. Not Half Dome, but still impressive.

2) Spice of Life Eclectic Café, Hamilton

This funky café housed in a 1909 historic building was initially a bank, then a rollicking bar, and now it's one of the best places in town for lunch and dinner. The menu is eclectic, as you'd expect, and you'll find a bit of Caribbean, Thai, Japanese, and Italian cuisine. My husband and I split a Jamaican jerk chicken salad and a bowl of black bean chili. The kids opt for a fruit plate off the children's menu.

3) Sassy Sewing Company, Hamilton

After lunch, we stroll down Main Street. My daughter spots this store selling handmade doll clothes for Barbies and American Girl Dolls. Susan Raye White is the amazing woman behind this shop and she sews at least one new dress a day. She shows us a wedding dress that’s a copy of the Kate Middleton gown. She plans to have it on display at the county fair. My daughter uses her spending money to buy a few things.

4) Lake Como, outside Darby

This pretty little mountain lake framed by snowy peaks has a soft, sandy beach that’s a popular swimming spot with locals. There’s also a hike that takes you around the lake and past a waterfall. Since we spent the morning hiking we opt for an afternoon swim.

5) Big Bear Taxidermy, Darby

Animal trophies are a dime a dozen in Montana and hang in restaurants, saloons, hotels, even the airport. But when you walk into this tiny storefront where the walls are covered in moose, deer, and bear heads, you feel the power of these beautiful animals. Dozens of deep, brown eyes are staring right at you, and it’s a rather arresting feeling.

I ask the taxidermist about a stuffed mountain lion that appears humongous. “Are mountain lions really that big?”

“Well, that’s an especially huge lion,” he tells me.

6) Big Hole National Battlefield

Over 125 years ago U.S. soldiers sneaked up on a Nez Perce tribe camped next to the Big Hole River. Gun shots were fired and almost 90 Nez Perce, mainly innocent women and children, were killed. Thirty soldiers and volunteers also died in the brutal battle. This National Battlefield was created to honor those who died.

In the visitor center, exhibits and a movie tell the story of the battle. The video brings my daughter to tears and she insists that we hike down to the battlefield where tipis made from sticks honor the Nez Perce.

7) Bannack State Park

From the Battlefield we drive through the Big Hole Valley, a broad stretch of land with jagged peaks marching along either side. We stop at the ghost town of Bannack.

Bannack was founded in 1862 when John White discovered gold on Grasshopper Creek. As news of the gold strike spread many prospectors and businessmen rushed to Bannack hoping to strike it rich. In 1864, Bannack was named as the first Territorial Capital of Montana. For years it was hopping, but the population started dwindling in the 30s and 40s and then completely disappeared in the 50s. What remains is a row of some sixty buildings, and you can step inside most of them.

8) Dillon

We roll into this little town at about 8 p.m. We'd read that it was named one of "America's Prettiest Towns" in Forbes magazine in 2010, but unfortunately we're unable to explore since it's so late. We drive around and notice the beautiful University of Montana Western campus. We drive by a Patagonia outlet (random place to find one) and downtown's main drag of red-brick buildings, and then grab dinner at Papa T's. Video games line one wall of the restaurant and the kids have fun playing PacMan (only 25 cents!). And then we fill up on pizza, piled high with fresh veggies.

To read the complete Montana road trip series, click here. To join conversations about the road trip, check out the On the Go with Amy Facebook page. If you want up-to-the-minute updates, follow @onthegowithamy on Twitter.

Montana road trip: Flathead Lake and Hamilton Read Post

Montana

Montana road trip: Flathead Lake and Hamilton

On the second day of our road trip we drive an hour from Missoula to Flathead Lake and then we opt to take the scenic route on our drive to the Bitterroot Valley. Here are a few highlights from the day:
1) Mission Mountain Range

We're driving through rural countryside (lots of hay bales) outside Missoula on our way to Flathead Lake, and then, Bam! Jagged, snow-topped mountains are staring us in the face. I'm so startled and excited that I scream. My husband points out that the mountains are spectacular because there aren't any foothills. They shoot right up from the valley floor. This is the moment when I fall in love with Montana and its mountains.

2) Flathead Lake

Who knew? This is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi. It’s only slightly larger than California's better-known Lake Tahoe but it seems twice as big as it’s long and skinny. When my 5-year-old son first spots the massive expanse of water he screams, “Look! The Ocean!”

We want to get out on the lake and so we rent a canoe for an hour, which costs us $25. This is a splurge since we’re on such a tight budget.

3) Lake City Bakery & Eatery, Polson

We break for lunch at a homey café in downtown Polson. Marilyn Humphrey has owned this local favorite for 41 years and her son wakes up every morning at 3 a.m. to make the doughnuts served at breakfast and hamburger and hot dog buns used at lunch. Soups and stews are a speciality and we settle on bowls of $5 chili loaded with onions and cheese. The beans are perfectly firm, the broth spicy, and the meat moist.

4) Cherries, Flathead Lake

Montana gets way too cold for cherries, right? Not on the east shore of Flathead Lake, which enjoys a surprisingly temperate climate. We stop at the first cherry stand and soon my kids’ mouths and cheeks are covered in red stains. But we spot dozens more stands as we drive around the lake. The orchards, which extend clear down to the lake edge, are absolutely breathtaking set against the deep blue waters.

5) Highway 83

Our plan is to stay the night in the Bitterroot Valley and so we must drive back to Missoula, and then drive for another hour to Hamilton. Rather than take the fast and smooth highways, we opt for the longer scenic route because a guy in a gas station tells me that we’ll probably come across moose, something I’ve always wanted to see in the wild.

Highway 93 stretches for 91 miles between the town of Big Fork on Flathead Lake and Montana Highway 200. It passes through a sparsely populated region with forested valleys and pretty lakes. We never spot any big-antlered animals but we do see more breathtaking mountains, the scenic Swan Lake, and the Morley Canoe Shop with gorgeous hand-carved boats on display.

6) Ice Cream Place, Seeley Lake

The highlight of our stop in Seeley Lake was a spot serving up old-fashioned soft serve. I skip the cone and opt for a huckleberry shake instead. Huckleberries have a blueberry flavor but their flavor is more intense.

7) Hamilton

This former timber town sits in the heart of the lush Bitterroot Valley, an hour outside Missoula. We arrive in the evening and check into the Best Western Hamilton Inn. The retro motel-style property is just blocks from downtown's shopping strip filled with Old West charm. You expect to see cowboys walking down the street and in fact there are a few men sporting hats but there are also a lot of 20-somethings in hiking boots. Hamilton has become a hub for outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy everything from skiing to mountain-biking.

8) Hamilton rabbits

In downtown Hamilton on Main Street, we spot a rabbit hopping across the street. It’s black and white—doesn’t look like the typical wild rabbit. We figure that someone’s pet has escaped and so we follow it. And then a local tells us that there are rabbits all over town. “They’re our town pets. We all enjoy them!”

*To read the complete Montana road trip series, click here. To join conversations about the road trip, check out the On the Go with Amy Facebook page. If you want up-to-the-minute updates, follow @onthegowithamy on Twitter.

Thank you, Missoula! Read Post

Thank you, Missoula!

Our family enjoyed our stay in Missoula. The Big Dipper ice cream, the hike up to Mount Sentinel, and the walk along the river were all memorable. We also had fun sharing travel tips on KECI-TV/NBC. Here's a link to the segment that will be up and running for a few days.

Best Western Plus Grant Creek Inn, Missoula Read Post

Best Western Hotels

Best Western Plus Grant Creek Inn, Missoula

Let me count the ways our family loved the Best Western Plus Grant Creek Inn in Missoula

The front-desk staff is friendly. Two lovely ladies checked us in to our room. They directed us to the amazing local hike to the top of Mount Sentinel.
The swimming pool is huge. My kids had a ball splashing around in the heated indoor pool--while mom and dad relaxed in the hot tub.
The rooms are clean, light, spacious and airy. We loved our room filled with windows overlooking the Missoula mountains. The furnishings were tasteful and beds comfy.
Breakfast was delicious. The impressive spread included sliced strawberries, kiwi, and cantaloupe as well as fluffy pancakes. Yum!

The Best Western Plus Grant Creek Inn is only one freeway exit from Downtown Missoula. Its tucked against a grassy field that was dotted with wildflowers during our stay.

Montana road trip: Missoula Read Post

Montana road trip: Missoula

Our Montana road trip starts in Missoula, Montana's second-largest city located in the western part of the state. We instantly fall for this laid-back college town with leafy tree-lined streets and spend an afternoon exploring its riverfront park and downtown.

These are the highlights from our day in Missoula:

1) Missoula Airport

As soon as you step inside this airport, you feel as if you've arrived at a wild, untamed place. Giant animal trophies hanging from the wall great arriving passengers. Men wearing cowboy hats and holding fly-rods sit around waiting for their planes. A 10-foot stuffed brown bear stands on his black legs inside a glass case. Across the way, a stuffed turkey looks so real you practically hear a gobble. This is what I expected Montana to be like, though I never thought its outdoorsy charm would be so strongly present at the airport. I instantly fall in love with Montana before even stepping outside.

2) Clark Fork River

This snaking river cuts right through downtown Missoula and its collection of redbrick buildings. We walk along the riverfront, stopping to ride the lovingly restored carousel, exploring the giant castle-like playground at Dragon Hollow, and watching the kayakers play in the waves.

3) The Staggering Ox

The sandwiches dished up at this popular spot in a strip mall are like nothing else. Fresh fixings are stuffed inside cylinder-shaped loaves of bread that have been hollowed out--it's sort of like a sandwich in a bread cup. It works brilliantly because the kitchen crew whips up all sorts of homemade sauces--spicy horseradish blue cheese, yogurt dill, ranch--and these cup-like loaves hold in all the yummy goo. I was quite happy with my salami sandwich dressed in a vinegarette.

4) Mount Sentinel

From downtown you can see this mountain. It's hard to miss because there's a giant white M on the side of it. As soon as I notice the switchback trail leading up to the M, I know that we must do the hike. We're told the best time to head up is in the evening when it cools off so we take this advice and park at the trail head after dinner.

A plaque at the trail head says that forestry students cut the switchbacks in the early 1900s and in 1909 students build the first M with white-washed rocks. Finally, in 1968 a 125-foot-long concrete M was installed.

The views from the M are breathtaking—and as you get higher more and more mountains pop into view and you realize that Missoula sits in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

5) Big Dipper Ice Cream

Fresh, homemade ice cream—including the state favorite, Huckleberry.

Montana road trip: Rules of the road Read Post

Budget Tips Montana

Montana road trip: Rules of the road

Our Montana Road Trip adventure has official started! Again, we're a family of four traveling 600 miles through the state of Montana.
Before heading out, we established some guidelines:

Travel on a budget. We have about $1,600 to cover the cost of lodging, food, hotel, and entertainment for 9 days; this comes to $175 a day. We're not including the cost of driving a car or our plane flights or airport related expenses.
Act like a local. Read local papers, listen to local radio, talk to local people. (We'll be referring to the GetLostMT.com website with over 800 stories about places to eat, stay, and play in Montana, written by the ultimate experts: local Montanans and others who have been there.)
Avoid franchised restaurants. Eat where the locals eat. Go to farmers' markets. Picnic.
Travel off the beaten path. Stay off the interstate whenever possible and take the scenic route.
Appreciate our surroundings. Learn all that we can about Montana by stopping at museums, reading interpretive signs, talking with experts.
Keep the kids entertained--without the help of a DVD player. Sing songs, play games, look out the window, and bond as a family. We've downloaded dozens of Books on Tape onto the iPhone—thanks to the San Francisco Public Library.
Stop every two hours. We've designed an itinerary with short driving days. Some days we're only driving an hour. But on those longer hauls, we promise to pull over and let the kids run around.
Eat all the huckleberry shakes we possibly can. The weather is supposed to be hot and we plan to cool off with berry shakes.
Swim. We're staying at Best Westerns along the way and they all have swimming pools. We also hope to splash around in a mountain lake and get our toes in rushing river.
Have fun. Relax. Move slowly. Stop to smell the roses.

You're welcome to nit-pick at our budget and the way we approach our trip. I'm sure some of you would do things differently. But even better, feel free to offer up ideas for places we should visit along our route and tips on how to travel on a budget.
*To read the complete Montana road trip series, click here. To join conversations about the road trip, check out the On the Go with Amy Facebook page. If you want up-to-the-minute updates, follow @onthegowithamy on Twitter.

Montana road trip Read Post

Montana

Montana road trip

My husband and I have decided to drive through the state of Montana with our two kids--ages 6 and 8--this summer. Our plan is to fly into Missoula, dip down into the Bitterroot Valley, swoop up to Helena, spend a couple days in Bozeman and Yellowstone, and then finish up in Billings.

We'll spend seven nights, eight days, covering 600 miles, and along the way we hope to climb tall mountains, plunge into cool lakes, catch a fish, drink a huckleberry shake, and take in Big Sky country's majestic scenery (and my 8-year-old daughter hopes that we won't be seeing any grizzly bears).

Photo: Flickr / Sebastian Bergmann

Want to avoid getting stuck in traffic this 4th? There's an app for that Read Post

Want to avoid getting stuck in traffic this 4th? There's an app for that

Our family will spend the Fourth of July with some friends in Lake Tahoe. This means we'll be driving Highway 80 from San Francisco to Sacramento and then on into the mountains. This 200-mile stretch is notorious for traffic and a trip that's supposed to be only four hours can easily turn into six, seven, nine, even 10 hours. I'm not kidding. It gets that bad.

We're hoping to avoid the traffic and so our plan is to leave Thursday night after 7 p.m. We'll return on the morning of the Fourth, skipping holiday activities on the lake and fireworks. We feel it's worth leaving early to avoid the traffic jams.

I was also interested in finding out if there are any apps for the iPhone that can help track traffic. It seems the best available is SigAlert. The app is tied into the state highway patrols' data and offers the most-up-to-date traffic maps available through any app.

I checked out the list of maps available for California and sure enough, they've got our trip entirely covered with maps for San Francisco, Sacramento, and Davis/Yolo, El Dorado, and Placer Counties.

You can easily zoom in and out of the maps and the app will give you estimated travel times for your selected route.

We won't necessarily gain any time on our trip by checking SigAlert and then finding out that there's a major jam ahead in Sacramento. But it will help us determine when to stop and grab dinner--and if that traffic becomes unbearable bad during our drive on Thursday, maybe we'll just pull over and stay the night in a Best Western and then hit the road early Friday morning. Who wants to sit in traffic when you have two little kids in the car?

TSA to perform fewer child pat downs Read Post

TSA to perform fewer child pat downs

The Transportation Security Administration has been under fire for performing pat downs on children.

There was a national outcry when a YouTube video of a 6-year-old getting a pat down went viral. And then a parent took video footage with the hands of a TSA official all over a baby.

The TSA now says it will be giving fewer pat downs though they'll need to continue to use the procedure in some instances, according to the Associated Press.

Summer bargin destinations 2011 Read Post

Summer bargin destinations 2011

USA Today has put together a roundup of five affordable destinations for this summer. New York City, Houston, Costa Rica, Reno, and Fort Myers, Fl., all make up the list.

New York makes the cut because this city is full with new hotels, which keeps rates down. Houston is in it's of-season in summer as its baking hot so you're bound to find deals. Also, it's now the largest hub of the largest airline in the world: United-Continental so you're bound to score cheap plane tickets in and out of this Texas city.

Why Fort Myers? Continental just announced mid-July airfare sales and hotels are slashing rates. And Costa Rica is on the list because the Central America country is in the midst of its wet seaon--yet this can also be a beautiful time to visit. Usually the rain only falls in the morning. Finally, Reno is a deal thanks to new airline service and affordable hotel rooms.

Read the full USA Today article

Free entrance day in National Parks Read Post

Free entrance day in National Parks

More than 100 national parks that typically charge an entrance fee will let travelers in for free on June 21, the official first day of summer.

Florida's Everglades, California's Yosemite, Colorado's Mesa Verde, Oregon's Crater Lake, Utah's Arches, Washington's Olympic and Wyoming's Yellowstone are among those waiving entrance fees.

More info

Earn a free night with Best Western! Read Post

Earn a free night with Best Western!

Stay three separate times between June 19 and August 14, 2011, at any Best Western hotel, and earn a free night voucher.

Register here

Montana road trip: Bozeman

Montana road trip: Helena to Bozeman

Best Western Premier Helena Great Northern

Montana road trip: Helena

Montana road trip: Hamilton to Dillon

Montana road trip: Flathead Lake and Hamilton

Thank you, Missoula!

Best Western Plus Grant Creek Inn, Missoula

Montana road trip: Missoula

Montana road trip: Rules of the road

Montana road trip

Want to avoid getting stuck in traffic this 4th? There's an app for that

TSA to perform fewer child pat downs

Summer bargin destinations 2011

Free entrance day in National Parks

Earn a free night with Best Western!

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