 Floating Conditions, Weather and Forecast for Eminence, Missouri
July 28, 2010
Welcome to Shady Lane Cabins, Eminence MO, and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. Our region offers an outdoor playground unlike any other. Eminence is the Canoe Capitol of the World and our river outfitters offer traditional float trips in canoes, tubes, kayaks, and rafts on the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers. They provide shuttle service, and will pick you in front of your cabin or the motel. Other outdoor activities include ziplining on Missouri's first zipline, horseback riding, golf, hiking, fishing, and sightseeing. A half-dozen restaurants and eateries offer a variety of foods, and local vendors will greet you with a smile. Do you have a tight budget this year? We offer a top-of-the-line outdoor vacation at affordable rates. And, we are happy to announce that the 4-lane project on US Highway 60 is complete!! It is easier to get to Eminence than ever before.
Please call us for availability. And, check out our peak season rates. We are located about 150 yards from the Jacks Fork River, and our rates reflect the fact that we are not on the banks of the river. In some cases, our equal to/better than the competition lodging rates that are one-half to one-third of "on the river" rates.
Check out our policies page to see if Shady Lane Cabins is the right place for you and your group. We have a handful of policies - no loud music anytime & music off at sunset, quiet hours 10 pm to 6 am, No Fireworks, and a handful of other rules - and they are strictly enforced. PLEASE leave your stereos and boomboxes at home - music, even at modest volumes, is our Number One complaint since all of us do not like or appreciate the same types of music. Examples - We get many complaints about Country & Western music, and we had a complaint about "disco music" a few years ago (hated disco music in the 70's, and still hates it). If somebody plays rap music, we'll get complaints from most other guests on our property. Call for suggestions of a few places nearby that tolerate a little more noise than we do.
Please join us in welcoming Eagle Falls Ranch Zipline Adventures to Eminence. This is the first zipline in the state of Missouri, and at 4,000 feet in length, it is one of the top ranked ziplines in the country - both for length and adventure !!! If you're looking for new things to do while you are in Eminence, add this one to your outdoor adventure list !!!
Sporadic rainfall is keeping our rivers at slightly above average summertime flow rates, and our rivers are in great floating condition. Don't miss your chance to canoe, kayak, tube, or raft our crystal clear, cold-flowing rivers this summer !!! Please check our real-time river levels on this page or on the river levels page for current conditions. This is a great time of year to come to Eminence and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. If you don't want to get into the water, we can keep you busy for days sightseeing the half-dozen large springs, historic Alley Spring Grist Mill, and the countryside around Eminence and Shannon County. With some luck, you may be able to find our wild horses.
The float trip from Alley Spring to Two Rivers is the most popular option on the Jacks Fork River. There are a couple of challenging chutes to navigate on the Alley Spring to Eminence section of the river. The Jacks Fork is now running at slightly above average mid Summer flow rates.
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 scenic and unique offerings along the Current - caves, bluffs, long gravel bars, and wildlife. The Current is running at slightly above average mid Summer 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.
Winter 2007/08 - Jeanie built a drive-through coffee house at the end of our drive. Watch for Captain Jack's, Jacks Fork River Coffee Company in the Summer of 2008. She is offering espressos, lattes, cappucinos, fine coffees, lemonade and tea. She has fresh-baked cinnamon rolls and scones in the morning hours. We replaced landscaping and retaining walls between the large cabins in the winter of 2007/08, and we stripped and stained our small cabins. We installed eight new heating and cooling units. Last, but not least, we installed WiFi and DSL, and although we are trying to expand the range to all of our cabins, we only have sporadic service in them. If you need service, you can depend on our Wi-Fi Zone in our office and lobby.
We stripped and stained the large cabins in the winter of 2008/09. We replaced three beds in Story's Creek Manor. We had our carpets professionally cleaned, and we repaired and freshened-up every unit.
We tackled our 2009/10 wintertime projects early. We finished our landscaping project around the large cabins by replacing rotting railroad tie steps and retaining walls. We replaced TVs in the motel with flat screens, and replaced the last ten older through-the-wall heat & air conditioners where needed. Per new state lodging code, we hardwired smoke detectors in all of our cabins. We removed the shrubs in front of the motel & office building and replaced them with flowers and ornamental grasses. We replaced a dozen bed frames and one bed. Of course, we freshened up drywall, paint and amenities in every unit.
As you can see, although our 3-year upgrade plan was completed a couple of years ago, 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 three 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 room 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. The 2010 season is our fourth season with light housekeeping. Light housekeeping (in-season, only) includes taking out the trash and replacing towels and supplies, daily. We do not make beds on a daily basis, nor do we vacuum every day. If you have a longer stay, we change sheets and thoroughly clean your unit every three or four days, depending upon the length of your stay. If you require additional services, simply inquire at the office. Why light housekeeping instead of full service?? A significant percentage of guests do not want us to move their belongings around. During peak season, there are large groups of people in most units, and our housekeepers cannot make beds, nor vacuum without moving a mountain of luggage and gear. And last, but not least, our labor costs have soared over the past three years - YET, we have held the line on our rates during that timeframe. Our peak season weekday rates, and our shoulder season (Apr/May/Sep/Oct) rates are the same as they were 10 years ago in small cabins and in the motel. We stay in motels and resorts about a dozen nights/year, and lodging rates are skyrocketing due to greatly increasing costs. But, not at Shady Lane Cabins. NOTE that we will not increase rates for the 2010 season.
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 2010!!!
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