North entrance road routes might be closed to Yellowstone National Park, but the adventure isn’t.
Silver Gate is OPEN and welcoming all guests
According to the proprietors of Silver Gate Lodging, reservations are coming in. Silver Gate is accessible from Chief Joseph Scenic Byway via Cody, WY, or Billings, MT. Silver Gate has opened their cabins for visitors wishing to take advantage of the mild temperatures and lack of crowds. Silver Gate is well known for its relaxed and laid-back atmosphere. Perfect for staycationers, backpackers, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts. Come explore the Yellowstone ecosystem with us. – https://silvergatelodging.com/
Enjoy the rugged beauty of the Beartooth Wilderness.
Silver Gate Lodging consists of 29 cabins, five motel rooms, a historical inn, and a general store nestled in the beautiful and peaceful town of Silver Gate, Montana.
Silver Gate Lodging is located at: 109 US Hwy 212 W, 111 US-212, Cooke City, MT 59081
Phone: +1 (406) 838-2371
Website: https://silvergatelodging.com/
A road trip up the Yellowstone River wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t stop in Gardiner for a neat snack.
Due to the closure of the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park because of the road being washed away due to recent flooding, our choices for places to eat were somewhat limited. When we got there, we settled in on the Cowboy Lodge & Grill Restaurant.
Cowboy Lodge & Grille gun collection (tap or click image to enlarge)
If you’re in to the old west and it’s history, then this might very well be the place for you. Antique guns were affixed to the ceilings and real life genuine westerns played on the TV.
It was an abnormally slow day so we were able to seat ourselves.
When our server came around with the menus, both I and the wife ordered up regular cheeseburgers and our son thought to give the Bison burger a go.
I understand tourist towns, and usually wink at some of the prices, but a cup of French something coffee was $4 so I took a hard pass on that. I’m more of a “real” coffee drinker anyway, and besides, I had a couple of Flathead Valley Cherry flavored waters out in the truck that I wouldn’t have any trouble getting back to when I was done eating.
Cowboy Lodge & Grille Cheese Burger (tap or click image to enlarge)
The food came round in about 15 minutes. Each burger had it’s own related little flag on top which I thought was a nice touch. I could imagine someone from Germany holding on to that little flag forever as a memento of their once in a lifetime trip to Montana and Yellowstone National Park.
After we got our food, I was somewhat disappointed at just how hard the burger was to chew .. I eventually ended up snagging up on a fork in order to cut the meat. It reminded me of those times when my wife adds too much bread to her meatloaf. The taste of the cheeseburger was over all underwhelming.
I asked the server if the burgers come in pre-cooked and then microwaved to fill the order. He said the burgers were cooked in the morning in advance of opening and are left to marinate. It was 5PM in the afternoon by the time I had ordered the patty which had been pretty much sitting since the early morning.
Had trouble with the burger, but that won’t prevent me from ever going back, as I’ll just order something different that might have to be made fresh.
Cowboy Lodge & Grille Bison Burger (tap or click image to enlarge)
Our son loved his Bison burger, said it was easy to chew and tasted great. I don’t think they prep the Bison burgers too early or even at all. I’m guessing that they are made fresh. I’ll have to give it a shot next we’re in.
I wasn’t at all surprised that the service was prompt and friendly because that’s pretty much how we do things here in Montana.
Heads up on the menu though. The online menu is different than the actual menu at the restaurant. The online menu sports some lower prices.
The tourist tax we were charged was 2.7% which is less than what the tourist tax in St. Regis is, and there is a 4.8% service charge on credit/debit cards, so cash is your friend in that case.
The Cowboy Lodge & Grill is located at 208 Stone St in Gardiner
Their phone is +1 406-848-9175
If you would like to drive down to Gardiner in order to help support them with regard to the loss of tourism dollars this year, then that would be great. Be sure to call The Cowboy Lodge & Grill first to be sure it is still open. Many of the other restaurants and hotels were closed when we were there on account of the road being closed between Gardiner and Mammoth Hot Springs.
Online Menu
Cowboy Lodge & Grille online menu (tap or click image to enlarge)
We have the tendency to just hop in the truck on the spur of the moment and head out to see things.
In Montana it’s pretty easy to do, especially when we’re surrounded by so much great history.
On this particular road trip, we were driving up from Bozeman after a Twitter meet-up and we ended up in Helena to try to get Dustin a tour of the Capital Building before it closed. As one might have guessed, being since it was the weekend, we missed the visiting time and the Capital Building was closed.
No worries, because Helena has a few other pretty interesting places to visit.
We ended up at Reeder’s Alley
Reeder’s Alley – Helena, Montana 2022 (tap or click image to enlarge)
Pennsylvanian, Louis Reeder built this quaint collection of tiny row house apartments that once housed miners and, later, single men of varied occupations. At one time some thirty-two one-room apartments spread along the narrow alley in various buildings. Less than half remain. During those days, as with other services, rent was paid in gold dust. Other landmarks included in this little area include the historic Morelli Bridge and the Stone House. – https://helenamt.com/2022/05/history-of-reeders-alley/
The narrow alleyway and closely spaced buildings nestled against the slope of Mount Helena today comprise the town’s most complete remaining block of the territorial period.
Legend and lore:
Reeder’s Alley – Helena, Montana (tap or click image to enlarge)
Laura and George Duchesnay bought the stone house in the early 1900s. Laura loved animals, and she soon filled the home with singing yellow canaries.
These birds ended up having another so-called covert and sneakier purpose. Rumor has it that, during Prohibition, Laura would hang some of her canary cages outside the house to let people know that a new shipment of illegal liquor had arrived.
When the alley was alive with the sound of canaries singing, the locals knew it was time to belly up to the bar.
According to local legend, the birds’ songs filled the stone house even years after Laura’s death. In fact, a few visitors reported hearing their ghostly chirps many years later when the building became a restaurant.
While there’s no proof that Laura was actually using her birds to sell her high-proof bootlegged liquor — nor is there proof of any ghost birds in the alley — evidence suggests that at least one of these things is true.
In 2008, when the stone house was being renovated, people discovered a pair of pits concealed beneath the floor. These secret compartments were just the right size for stashing illegal liquor.
Reeder’s Alley – Helena, Montana 2022 (tap or click image to enlarge)
As a young Montanan of 15 years, Dustin is extremely interested in his home, and Reeder’s Alley is one of the things that he hopes to show his kids in the future when I’m long gone. I snapped a few pictures that day compared to Dustin’s 10’s of dozens of pictures. I hope that Reeder’s Alley will still be around in the distant future, and not go away like Frontier Town and the Columbia Gardens did all of those many years ago.
Montana is a small town with long streets, so nearly everything we see and do here is classified as local. I don’t think that there are too many states in the Union where you can vacation local like you can in Montana.
In December 2000, Darrell and Kathy Gustin, then owners of Reeder’s Alley, donated the Reeder’s Alley properties to the Montana Heritage Commission.
The buildings in Reeder’s Alley are designated as an historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places with the National Park Service.
Grammy nominated trance legends Cosmic Gate aka Nic Chagall and Bossi have proved to be a matchless musical union.
The last 20 Years set them on the course to becoming Germany’s most enduringly successful electronic music duo. Smashing the biggest festivals and road-blocking clubs worldwide.
Featured Wake Your Mind Radio track from Fat Sushi:
Bringing a new level of definition to Wake Your Mind’s sound, prepare yourself for Wake You Mind Radio. Across 60 minutes, the fully formatted weekly show will feature Nic & Bossi discussing and airing the tracks that have been setting their floors on fire. It’ll also encompass first-listen music premieres and tracks from the deeper side of the WYM psyche.
The show also features comprehensive info on up-and-coming gigs, Nic & Bossi’s biggest hitting tune of the week and WYMR will also be the first port of call for breaking news on the fast-approaching sixth Cosmic Gate artist album.
Swiss duo Fat Sushi is currently making its trademark on the underground clubland by releasing tracks and remixes on some of the most respected labels in the game: Suara, Einmusika, Katermukke, Steyoyoke or Hive Audio to name a few. Being in the industry for almost two decades before the peculiarly named pairing decided to join forces in 2013, you can hear the inspiration of various musical styles in their productions: heavy basslines, uplifting melodies and carefully chosen vocals – from deep house to techno spectrum.
I’m pretty sure that most of us would agree that we here in the United States live in a free market economy.
Though we live in a free market economy, I find it rather interesting that there are a lot of people over on the interwebs, including our so-called politicians, that have absolutely no idea of just how a free market economy works.
A free market economy can be a thing to behold when things are running smoothly, but it can also be somewhat of a bear-cat when things aren’t.
When Covid came around, our economy was just humming right along. The impact of Covid hammered the oil industry in 2020, forcing U.S. oil prices to go negative for the first time on record. In a matter of hours on April 20, the May 2020 contract futures price for West Texas Intermediate plummeted from $18 a barrel to around -$37 a barrel.
In an effort to not putting too fine of a point on this, I’d have to say that the oil companies, at this time, were all dressed up with no place to go.
Oil producers were faced with a glut of crude oil that left them scrambling to find space to store the oversupply. Brent crude oil prices also tumbled, closing at $9.12 a barrel on April 21, a far cry from the $70 a barrel that crude oil fetched at the beginning of the year.
The plunge of U.S. oil futures into negative territory was short-lived. But the collapse in demand was so fast and volatile that it led many people to question whether oil would be able to fully recover in 2021. By the summer of 2020, oil prices began to rebound as nations came out of the Covid lock-downs and OPEC agreed to major cuts in crude oil production. West Texas Intermediate crude finished 2020 at a price of $49 per barrel, while Brent crude finished the year at a price of $51 per barrel.
People claim that Trump was responsible for keeping the price at the pump so low (2019-2020), but really, the low prices were the result of the Saudi’s and the Russian’s having their little pissey-fits over just how much to either increase or decrease production. During their little squabbles, oil tanked totally (this is the point where you would’ve had to give me $37 for every barrel of oil I wanted)
Currently, the U.S. has 129 refineries in operation. Though we might be able to get our hands on vast amounts of oil, the ability to refine it and get it to market is limited, affecting the actual supply that is available for consumption. Purchasing oil from the Saudi’s won’t make much of a difference in lowering the price of gas at the pump, even at $120 a barrel, because our refining capacity is stretched pretty thin already. Even if we pumped our oil at home, the prices would remain inflated due to the same limits on our refining capacity as it relates to the current demand.
Oil production/refining is actually up (tap or click on image to enlarge)
Jumping up and down blaming Trump or Biden for all of this is just political bullshit. Trump and Biden, at the end of the day, were just as tied to our free market economy as we are. Neither of them either in past or present capacity could do a single thing. Trying to supposedly help, either via Presidential or Congressional fiat, would only serve to muck up the natural order of our free market economy and continue the current pain for much, much longer. Besides, trying to fix all of this using socialist principles wouldn’t be too unlike putting transmission fluid into your crank case.
Demand for fuel is at an all time high, production is limited, so here goes the price through the proverbial roof. Our capacity to refine is at it’s limit. Yes boys and girls, oil production/refining is actually up. Refining rates currently are higher than when Trump was in office.
Because of the Russian/Ukraine war, the U.S. has stopped purchasing imported oil from Russia.(The U.S. had only imported about 12% of it’s domestic supply from Russia)
With keeping free market economy in mind here, I’ll now introduce you to the Federal Reserve.
To add insult to injury to what’s already going on in the oil industry, the U.S. Fed just happened to decide that it needed to print literally trillions of dollars out of thin air and it flooded the domestic economy with it.
Here we have the perfect storm of market economics paired with increased inflation.
The last time oil was up to $120 per barrel, gas prices rose to $3.80-$4.00 per gallon. This time it’s the same, but with inflation factored in. The price at the pump now, with added inflation, is $5.00-$6.00 per gallon. As demand increases as most surely it will, and with our current rising rate of inflation, the price at the pump could quite literally go much higher.
Since we all live in a free market economy, we might do well to just STFU and roll with it.
If for some reason $7-$8 gas per gallon is untenable for you and your pocket book, you might consider actually electing people to office that know a thing or two about the free market economy. The very least we can do is to not be drawn in by all of the political bullshit from either side and look at all of this for what it really is.
Are the prices going up? Of course they are.
The best we can do in the short term is to hunker down and roll with it.
The perfect storm of free market economics
I’m pretty sure that most of us would agree that we here in the United States live in a free market economy.
Though we live in a free market economy, I find it rather interesting that there are a lot of people over on the interwebs, including our so-called politicians, that have absolutely no idea of just how a free market economy works.
A free market economy can be a thing to behold when things are running smoothly, but it can also be somewhat of a bear-cat when things aren’t.
In an effort to not putting too fine of a point on this, I’d have to say that the oil companies, at this time, were all dressed up with no place to go.
Oil producers were faced with a glut of crude oil that left them scrambling to find space to store the oversupply. Brent crude oil prices also tumbled, closing at $9.12 a barrel on April 21, a far cry from the $70 a barrel that crude oil fetched at the beginning of the year.
The plunge of U.S. oil futures into negative territory was short-lived. But the collapse in demand was so fast and volatile that it led many people to question whether oil would be able to fully recover in 2021. By the summer of 2020, oil prices began to rebound as nations came out of the Covid lock-downs and OPEC agreed to major cuts in crude oil production. West Texas Intermediate crude finished 2020 at a price of $49 per barrel, while Brent crude finished the year at a price of $51 per barrel.
People claim that Trump was responsible for keeping the price at the pump so low (2019-2020), but really, the low prices were the result of the Saudi’s and the Russian’s having their little pissey-fits over just how much to either increase or decrease production. During their little squabbles, oil tanked totally (this is the point where you would’ve had to give me $37 for every barrel of oil I wanted)
Currently, the U.S. has 129 refineries in operation. Though we might be able to get our hands on vast amounts of oil, the ability to refine it and get it to market is limited, affecting the actual supply that is available for consumption. Purchasing oil from the Saudi’s won’t make much of a difference in lowering the price of gas at the pump, even at $120 a barrel, because our refining capacity is stretched pretty thin already. Even if we pumped our oil at home, the prices would remain inflated due to the same limits on our refining capacity as it relates to the current demand.
Jumping up and down blaming Trump or Biden for all of this is just political bullshit. Trump and Biden, at the end of the day, were just as tied to our free market economy as we are. Neither of them either in past or present capacity could do a single thing. Trying to supposedly help, either via Presidential or Congressional fiat, would only serve to muck up the natural order of our free market economy and continue the current pain for much, much longer. Besides, trying to fix all of this using socialist principles wouldn’t be too unlike putting transmission fluid into your crank case.
Demand for fuel is at an all time high, production is limited, so here goes the price through the proverbial roof. Our capacity to refine is at it’s limit. Yes boys and girls, oil production/refining is actually up. Refining rates currently are higher than when Trump was in office.
Because of the Russian/Ukraine war, the U.S. has stopped purchasing imported oil from Russia.(The U.S. had only imported about 12% of it’s domestic supply from Russia)
With keeping free market economy in mind here, I’ll now introduce you to the Federal Reserve.
To add insult to injury to what’s already going on in the oil industry, the U.S. Fed just happened to decide that it needed to print literally trillions of dollars out of thin air and it flooded the domestic economy with it.
Here we have the perfect storm of market economics paired with increased inflation.
The last time oil was up to $120 per barrel, gas prices rose to $3.80-$4.00 per gallon. This time it’s the same, but with inflation factored in. The price at the pump now, with added inflation, is $5.00-$6.00 per gallon. As demand increases as most surely it will, and with our current rising rate of inflation, the price at the pump could quite literally go much higher.
Since we all live in a free market economy, we might do well to just STFU and roll with it.
If for some reason $7-$8 gas per gallon is untenable for you and your pocket book, you might consider actually electing people to office that know a thing or two about the free market economy. The very least we can do is to not be drawn in by all of the political bullshit from either side and look at all of this for what it really is.
Are the prices going up? Of course they are.
The best we can do in the short term is to hunker down and roll with it.
Chart sourced from: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCRFPUS2&f=M