West Yellowstone, Montana

We stayed one night in W. Yellowstone in a standard, two-story hotel with particle board furniture and institutional bedspreads. Arriving in town at 5 o'clock that day we were afraid if we didn't hop right on it, we may not have a place to stay. We didn't even use the breakfast tickets the next morning. We were eager to be gone, but not before finding an alternate, BETTER place to stay the next night.

We found it, in the Whispering Pines Motel on the edge of town (406) 646-1172. Initially, I wasn't sure about the cabins. They looked dark, and they'd clearly been there a while. That was before I looked inside! Heavy, pine furniture, paneled walls and ceilings, solid doors that meant business. No kitchenette here – not even a living room, in fact – but three separate bedrooms, spotless bathroom with shower, a porch for sitting, and except for the occasional truck on the highway, no noise but the ... you guessed it, whispering pines.

The young woman who checked us in was spending the summer in town with her horse. Thursday through Sunday, you'll find her barrel racing at the rodeo. 

This place is a real find. Skip over the traditional hotel and stay here instead. $70.00 a night for three of us.

Gardiner, Montana

Gardiner, Montana is at the north entrance (and according to the Chamber of Commerce, the original entrance) to Yellowstone National Park. The Yellowstone River runs right through town, and the scenery is gorgeous.

We found the Hillcrest Motel, and I went a little nuts taking pictures. This place is picture-postcard perfect. When I mentioned to the owner how much I liked the sign, she said it really needed updating. No, no! I wanted to say. The sign gives the motel a good deal of its charm, but there's more: We had a cute little cabin overlooking the busy main street and the glorious brown and green hills. There was a grassy patch out front of the office with picnic tables where an East Indian family from Wisconsin gathered while cooking a curry dinner in their cabin up the road. The resident dog, named Rusty, patiently endured the attentions of the little kids, who chased him around trying to get him to pose for a picture.

Our cabin had three beds, a clean bathroom with shower, a little kitchenette (no dishes or cooking implements), a TV, a table for eating/working, and a bench on the porch. A set of stairs led down to the street below. We tried to secure the cabin for a 2nd night, but our failure to plan ahead worked against us, and so we moved on the next day, entering the Park through the famous arch. The cost of the cabin, for three of us, was $100.00.

Davenport, Washington

The Black Bear Motel is in Davenport, Washington, the Lincoln County seat and home to a historic courthouse.

Our room ("Farmers") had two bedrooms – each with a television – a full bath with tub, and a kitchenette with a western exposure.

I could picture my mother using this kitchen in 1950 and whipping up a pineapple upside-down cake with her Hamilton Beach mixer. (And, for the modern day woman, the motel is walking distance from one of Davenport's two latte stands.)

The kitchenette contained no cookware, silverware, not so much as a mug, so if you were to settle in here for a few days, you'd need to plan ahead – though there was a microwave and coffee maker.


The room was clean and comfortable. The rate, for three of us, was $70.00.

We had a terrific dinner and margarita at the Camino Real restaurant on the other end of town, then sat on the bench outside our room and watched the sun set over the courthouse. Next morning, we were well-positioned to drive the 90 minutes to Silverwood Theme Park, north of Coeur d'Alene.