This place takes me back to my younger years when my dad would pile us into the gold 1969 Cadillac Sedan de Ville with the white vinyl top and, as he would say, "take a nice, slow ride to VB." There was no Disneyland or Wally World for the Nolda family - only Van Buren. The man wasn't joking when he said nice, slow ride either. Somehow he would stretch a 3-hour drive into 40 days and 40 nights. It took so long to get there with Bob Nolda at the wheel that I swear I saw a dove with an olive branch in its beak before we'd arrive.
Sometimes we'd stop at Elephant Rock State Park or Johnson's Shut Ins on the way down, but it still took us a million years to get there even if we drove straight through. Remember that nice, slow ride thing? The man lived by that rule. I can't count the numbers of drivers that passed us while cursing in my formative years.
We'd stay at the cabins at Big Spring State Park or the Starlight Motel, which was operated by Rev. Chuck Browning and his family back in my day. We played Family Feud many a time out on the lawn with Chuck, Jr. at the Starlight... Ah, the memories...
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| Me, my mom and brother in a cabin at Big Spring State Park. Notice the raging inferno in the background. Sometimes I don't know how I lived. |
Well, the tradition continues. Julia and I head down 55 to 67 to 34 to 21 to 60 at least once a year to bask in the former glory of the Nolda Family Sacred Vacation Land that is Van Buren, Missouri. We might opt for 55 to 60 if we want to hit Boomland near Sikeston or avoid the near death experience of the curves of 34 near Piedmont. There might not be a lot going on in town during January, but it's great to be there nonetheless. The Jolly Cone might be closed, but the Float Stream Restaurant is always open for business and Skip's got the cabins ready and warm at the Rising Sun.
When I called Skip to make the reservation, he said that he had added some cool things since our last visit, so that, of course, piqued my interest. When we arrived we saw that a former oak tree had been carved into a tower of various animals, about which Skip was quite pleased. I, however, was much more excited by his other new additions - two "mammoth" donkeys named Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. My God in heaven, these animals rocked! They came running when we walked up to the fence and they were so friendly that if the didn't weigh half a ton, they would make nice lap donkeys. If I didn't own four Dings, I'd have mammoth donkeys, which I prefer to call Los Burros. I really wish that Skip was my neighbor.
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| Los Burros |
So if you're looking to get out of town, head down to Van Buren, Missouri. Stay at the Rising Sun, feed the burros an apple or two and pet the farm kitty, but watch out for his Freddy Krueger-like finger knives (aka claws). Check out the Rising Sun by clicking HERE.
See more photos of Los Burros HERE.
