A slide by any other name still makes me scream WEEE! |
If you aren’t a Montana native, it would seem a bit unlikely you’d be traveling south away from Interstate-90 along the general Missoula-ish swath of the state. Maybe you’re passing by that way because you’re looking for adventure, or your taking a different route to find your way to stones yellow or jelly. I can’t speak to your motivation for driving in such directions, but I can give you advice once you commit to doing so.
As far as family fun centers go, this place is about as much fun as you're going to find. They've got everything we've ever found anywhere else, plus a few extras in case you, like me, are not easily satisfied.
Their miniature golf course – which I call "regular sized" on account of me being miniature myself – is really quite exceptional. Of all the putt-putt courses I've ever seen, this one is easily in the top two. It's got slopes, slants and obstacles a-plenty, and you don't have to take it from me, because you don't have to pay to get in and see it.
Outside they also have go-carts (I mean the real deal), if you're big enough for them (which we weren't, because we were pre-kindergarten when we went) as well as an an assortment of bouncy houses to climb and enjoy as well.
LEFT: The careful observer will notice a green water balloon in mid-flight in this picture. Capturing such an instant in time is apparently quite a feat for our photographer. More difficult still is avoiding the water that immediately struck the opposing force du agua, which looked impossible from my vantage.
If the heat gets too much for you, which Montana summers very well may, you should take one of your many options to cool off. One good way to do that is with Water Wars.
For pennies on the pouch, you can get a bag of water balloons and wage your own dampest dessert jihad. You fill your balloon, pull it back in your sling-shot, and fire it at your opponent. If you're lucky, your opponent will have perfect aim, and you'll get the luxury of a quick soak to cool you off.
If that still isn't enough, you can head inside to the arcade, café or bumper cars.
The bumper car area is exactly what you think it is. It's an indoor, air conditioned bumper car arena where you can bump, scuttle and scurry from bumpy-scuttles to the best of your ability.
The arcade has all kinds of games (some with tickets you can redeem for prizes) and others where you might just win a prize. It was fun because brother Brendan dropped a token in the stuffed animal machine, and won a critter on his very first try. I thought it would make for a good day around the office, but he won the wrong prize (he got an animal when he wanted a Spiderman) he was pretty bitter… come on, brother-boss, you got a plush friend for a quarter, what's your beef?
And if you're still bursting at the thermostatic seems, you can hit the gelato bar for a classic cool-down, and I recommend it highly. If you aren't too hot, I suggest you pretend that you are, because it's totally worth it. We'll cover the café in a separate article, but for now just know it's a good value for exceptional tummy stuffings.
For hours and information about Qwival's Family Fun Center, check them out online at www.Qwivals.com.
ABOVE: It's not that we made up rules for our mini-golf game, but that we chose to ignore all existing rules and NOT make up any. It really turned to chaos quite quickly, but that was the fun of it. It had to be the fun of it, since it was all we left room for, in the absence of everything else.
ABOVE: This was our first experience among the staff with Bumper Cars. Eldest Patrick wisely stayed clear while me and my other staff colleague took turns gently bumping into one another. It wasn't a lack of horsepower so much as some fundamental absence of ability to understand the control mechanisms for the vehicles... it was fun though.
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