 Floating Conditions, Weather and Forecast for Eminence, Missouri
May 7, 2008
For our traveling guests, we now offer WiFi and DSL. With new equipment, we have coverage over much of our large property.
We have openings on weekdays and weekends at this point in time. Call, or send us an e-mail, for availability. Come to Eminence and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways and stay with us this Spring - there is less crowding in town, in the restaurants, on our rivers, and at Shady Lane. Ask us about our wild horses, bald eagles, and many other sightseeing opportunities !!! Redbuds and dogwoods are running late this year, and they are in full bloom. The road ditches and right-of-ways are full of wild flowers. It is a great time of year to come to Eminence and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
Many of our guests that return year-after-year have called and e-mailed to ask about damage from flooding. The Jacks Fork River crested at 16.44 ft in Eminence in mid-March, and the record is 17.8 ft (1993). The USGS predicted a crest of 20 ft which would've been devastating to properties that are on the river. Yet, we are located about 150 yards from the river and we suffered only minor, small inconveniences - gravel displacement and etc. We estimate that we can handle a 20 ft crest without flooding in the small cabins which lie in our lowest elevation. NOTE that Highway 106 between here and Alley Spring was washed out, but MoDOT, MDC, and Shannon County have completed a temporary, wide two-lane gravel road to go around it until MoDOT can bring Hwy 106 back online, hopefully before Memorial Day weekend. Our hometown of Piedmont Missouri, 60 miles east of here, suffered major damage. The Wayne County Journal Banner reported that there are no roads or bridges in Wayne County and the city of Piedmont that are not damaged - some are beyond repair. Two hundred homes were flooded, and the paper showed a 2-story home with water under the eaves. Two dozen businesses were flooded and several had incredible damage. The huge downstream flow from the Ozarks caused major flooding in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas - many rivers reached record flood levels. Properties were flooded, some homes were washed away, and the last I heard, five lives were lost. Please note the upside to the flooding - our rivers have been scoured and cleaned out. Many of the logjams and rootwads that gave you trouble in the past are now in Arkansas!! If you would like to see some Piedmont MO flood pics, check out http://tookefarms.com/flood.htm or www.waynecountyjournalbanner.com
The float trip from Alley Spring to Two Rivers is the most popular option on the Jacks Fork River. There remains a couple of challenging chutes to navigate on the Alley Spring to Eminence section of the river. Recent flooding rainfall has improved floating conditions on the Jacks Fork. It is now running at above average early spring flow levels.
Many put-in and take-out spots on the Current River make great float trips. Visit with your favorite canoe outfitter for advice. The Current is wider and slower than the Jacks Fork and is less challenging to float. You'll find many, many scenic and unique offerings along the Current - caves, bluffs, long gravel bars, and wildlife. The Current is running at above average early spring flow rates.
Our 2003/04 major project list was completed and the repairs and upgrades included - we stripped and sealed all cedar cabin exteriors. Removed all the old porch carpets from every cabin. Painted all interiors - Story's Creek Manor, cabins and motel. Replaced a few indoor carpets in the office, Story's Creek Manor, and in three small cabins. Added windows to four motel rooms and they look great! Now, we have only two interior motel rooms without windows. And, we added two 50 amp RV hook-ups.
In the winter of 2004/2005, we continued our remodel and upgrade of Shady Lane. We replaced all of the older beds on the place and we upgraded to queen size beds, bedspreads, and bedding in the small and large cabins. We put new full-size beds in the motel (not enough room for queen beds). New end tables and headboards in the cabins are rustic, hand-built log furniture. We replaced the swivel rockers with new recliners in the large cabins. We added city water and sewer to our Story's Creek Manor property. For security, we replaced every old entry door lock on the place, we added swivel door guards in the cabins, and we changed our numbering system to the 100 series in the motel to diffentiate between the motel and our cabins. For the first time in it's twelve years of existence, we had a professional cleaning service clean all of our carpets. Also, we hired a professional exterminator to provide monthly insect service.
We replaced all remaining carpeting during the winter of 2005/06, other than three small cabins and Story's Creek Manor which were replaced two years ago. We bought new recliners for the small cabins. We placed fresh gravel on all driveways and parking areas. We improved soundproofing in the motel with solid doors. And, we added deadbolt security locks in the motel.
A severe windstorm damaged every roof on the property in September 2006. We completed two projects in the winter of 2006/07 - We replaced and upgraded roofs with green metal roofing. And, the windstorm destoyed much of the horse pasture fence, so we removed it and are now mowing and manicuring the pasture into a large lawn.
Jeanie is building a drive-through coffee shop at the end of our drive. Watch for Captain Jack's Jacks Fork River Coffee Company in the Spring of 2008. She will be offering espressos, lattes, cappucinos and fine coffees. We replaced landscaping and retaining walls between the large cabins in the winter of 2007/08, and we are stripping and staining cabins. We installed eight new heating and cooling units. Last but not least, we installed WiFi and DSL, and have recently added equipment to expand the range over most of our large property.
OUR THREE YEAR REMODEL AND UPGRADE OF SHADY LANE HAS CONCLUDED, but as you can see, we are continuing to improve and upgrade our Shady Lane properties!!
Thanks to the hundreds of folks who took the time to offer suggestions and comments on our survey cards. Positive feedback shows what we're doing right. On the other hand, the constructive criticism on a handful of cards is also much appreciated. We do not take these comments lightly, and even though we provide the nicest and cleanest lodging in the Eminence area (notes from comment cards), there is always room for a few improvements.
We're working hard to earn and keep your business.
A couple of notes from comment cards, and direct comments from our guests, are worth a short discussion - the two most common concerns. A common concern is that we do not have phones in our rooms. None of the large resorts have room phones in Eminence. If you intend to get away from it all - Eminence is the place to be. CenturyTel, our local phone carrier, offered to put phones in our rooms for $20,000 - whether we wanted to hook-up all of our rooms, or just a few of them. We will not consider the addition of phones until CenturyTel rethinks their position on phone line installation costs. And, a number of comment cards suggested that we add microwaves in the small cabins. We couldn't agree more, but our insurance carrier disagrees. Microwaves are the Number One cause of home fires, and they do not want any additional microwaves on our property. Cost is not a factor in our decision and we have thought long and hard on this subject. We do not plan to add microwaves in the small cabins in the near future. We have a microwave in the office and it is for our guests' convenience.
By the way, most of our off-season work is accomplished with deposit monies. Deposits are important to you, and us, in three ways - they allow us to complete major repair, maintenance, and dozens of improvement projects in the wintertime, and they show good faith that you will arrive. Most importantly, your deposit binds us to provide lodging for you upon arrival. If you find that we made an error and we do not have lodging for you upon arrival (only once in the past five years), we will find equal/nicer lodging and we will pay the difference.
For our birdwatching guests, and to provide a natural defense from insects, we now have two complete purple martin gourd poles, six bluebird houses, four wren nest boxes, two barn swallow nesting shelves, one robin nesting shelf, two dove nesting platforms, and we have four bat houses on the shed at our home (one bat eats as many as 600 mosquitoes per night - a great benefit to our guests and others).
We planted some tree saplings, flowering trees and bushes, and ornamentals. The ornamentals and flowering trees will add a little splash of color in the Springtime and Summer in a few years, and some White Pine saplings and a Magnolia tree will remain green in the wintertime which will provide contrast to the brown and gray oaks and hickories on the property.
We want you to enjoy our improvements and upgrades at Shady Lane, and we hope you will stop by and check us out in 2008!!!
|
