"Down to earth" rich folks...

[greendog]

...check egos at the door.



BIG SKY, Mont. — There's no dry cleaner, no car wash, nowhere to get a blow dry or a manicure. Looking for a sushi restaurant? You'll have to settle for a buffalo burger at the Corral Bar & Grill. The closest place to park your private plane is at the Bozeman airport, an hour's drive down a two-lane road.

Big Sky is no Aspen, Colo. But the super rich are flocking here anyway.

The lure: the Yellowstone Club, a private, millionaires-only resort community whose amenities more than make up for Big Sky's lack of a traffic light or a designer boutique. With 22 square miles of mostly wilderness, it's the only private club in America that owns a ski mountain and a world-class golf course

More: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/20021...

[MissBrooks]

1. Let's all go there and visit?!

I can be down to earth, too!

[Squatch]

3. You won't be disappointed....Big Sky is beautiful

[tk2kewl]

12. I agree. And you don't need to be rich to enjoy all it has to offer.

see my post below. I havent been there in 5 or 6 years but I would love to go back.

[greendog]

4. Somehow, I don't think we're invited...

...but if we are, I can be pretty "down to earth" myself (if I try really hard). ;)

[tk2kewl]

10. there is a great place nearby that is inexpensive

and has easy access to Yellowstone's north entrance in Gardiner, MT.

It's called Chico Hot Spring Lodge. I haven't gone there in a while but I went every other year or so through the 90s. You could get a room (w/o private bath) for no more than $40/night. They also have an outstanding restaurant and private and public pool areas fed by natural hot springs.

And there is a great hot spring spot in the Gardiner River (Boiling River) right near the 45th Parallel Bridge. It's a short hike from the road and is heaven on earth.

[greendog]

13. Next time I'm down that way...

...I'll have to check out the Gardiner River hot spring...looks wonderful. Sadly, there are no hot springs here in the Flathead Valley, but we do have almost everything else.

[tk2kewl]

14. I have been up through there too on my visit to Glacier

I miss visiting Montana. I had a fried who lived there all through the 90s so I would visit often. My friend moved to Denver, also a decent place to visit, but Yellowstone and Yosemite are among my favorite places on Earth.

[Squatch]

15. Almost "The Park Formerly Known as Glacier"

[tk2kewl]

16. yeah right...

but the name for the park on the other side of the border ain't bad.

[Squatch]

17. The Alberta Rockies are ammmmmmazing.

Almost got trampled by a heard of mustang up there.

[greendog]

18. Glacier is incredible...

...visit sometime in September or October after the tourist rush...the place is sublime (and quiet).

[smbolisnch]

2. Bad Link

But it sounds like someplace I'd want to stay as far away from as possible! :)

[greendog]

7. New link...

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050102/asp/business/story_4202098.asp

[Warpy]

5. We never see the super rich

They use different airports, have concierge medical care and fly off to VIP wings in big city hospitals if they need to go in, hide behind tinted glass and down winding dirt roads in the middle of what we would consider to be noplace. We never see their houses except from commercial jets eight miles up.

They have no need for commerical establishments because they have servants to provide the same services. They have no need for a traffic light because there are too few of them to require it and they intend to keep the rest of us at a great distance.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

8. On the other hand...

I used to have a Sunday School Teacher by the name of Mrs. Dillon. Oh, we kids loved her. Just a wonderful person, as was her husband.

One day, we went to their modest farm, to go basseting, which is like riding to the hounds, except you walk, chase a rabbit with some Basset Hounds, and the rabbit gets away. Then you have a picnic and go home.

On the way home, Dad hands me and my brother each a dollar bill and tells us to look at it closely. So we do and we don't get it. So he points to to a name on the bill:

C. Douglas Dillon

Secretary of The Treasury and Head of The World Bank.

You would never have known by the people they were.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. I worked on a congressional campaign this last cycle.

The candidate and her husband were two of the finest people I have ever met and a real friendship and affection blossomed between them and all of the people from the rural section of the district(The district is a weird one that runs, in something of a crescent, from well-to-do suburbia to pretty grim rural).

We all were invited to their Christmas Party. So we went. We turned onto their street, and the guy driving drove right by their address. I told him we passed it. He said "Nah. They don't live THERE!". I convinced him they did. So, finaly, we went to the house.

Easily, one of the most expensive and luxurious homes I have ever been in, and I have been in a few. The party was attended by a crowd that reeked of old money and new cashmere. You could cut the smell of it with a Taco Bell Plastic Spork.

But no airs and graces. We were treated beyond warmly and graciously, by the hosts, the guest and even the wait staff. ;-)

I had forgotten that wealth was not a prerequisite for having your good manners surgically removed. There are fine people out there who just happen to never have to work another day in their lives.

They are my good and well-loved friends now. People like them have clout and they do give me a certain amount of hope.

[greendog]

9. Agreed...

...I've met several very nice folks who happen to be very well off. The folks I know don't hide in a gated community. On friday night they're down at the local saloon eating pizza and drinking beer with the rest of us. Some of them are even somewhat liberal.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

11. These people give no ground to anyone...

In their progressive beliefs. The husband was very successful in the financial sector. That said, they understand the fundimental fact that when everybody does better, everybody does better.