German Tour Operator Visits our Western Montana Lodge

It was with pleasure we entertained Dirk of Argus-Reisen and his daugher, Anna, this past weekend at our Western Montana Lodge. Dirk, owner of Argus-Reisen, a tour agency which specializes in 'ranch' vacations, came to visit our property with the intent of possibly listing us in his brochure for the upcoming year.

We found Dirk to be not only friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful, but an excellent source of information on the travel industry. He was willing to spend many hours talking to us about how to market our product more effectively. He also answered countless questions about Germany as we compared life in the US to life in Germany.

We found it interesting that their food prices are lower than ours, but their gas prices are higher. It seems Germans don't move very often, and the taxes they pay - wow, we thought we had it bad. If Dirk and Anna are anywhere near the norm, I look forward to meeting more people from Germany. And, if our visit pays off as we have reason to believe it might, that could very well be something I will get to do - in the not too distant future.

In fact, tonight we have the privilege of hosting a group of birders from England who are passing through the Centennial Valley on their way around the state of Montana looking for the many illusive (and frequent) winged visitors who call our state home. For a place which definitely qualifies as 'off the beaten path', I am constantly amazed at how many people from far away - even from the far reaches of the globe - manage to find us. What is even more amazing, is how many people who live just outside the valley - either in West Yellowstone, MT or Island Park, ID - or even Lima or Dillon or Bozeman - but have never heard of the Centennial. So much to their loss.

Nonetheless, for those of us who know and love this great valley, we are secretly a little glad it isn't better known. After all, it is the 'wildness' of the place which makes it so special.

Lady of the Lake