So after spending another delight filled evening with thefoamguy and his beautiful wife, this olelongrooffan arose from a slumber on the Monday after the 4th of July realizing moving on to the conclusion of this Unexpected Road Trip Adventure was necessary. (This olelongroofan does apologize to my fellow Hoons but a whole lot of socializing, intermittent internet access and other stuff has gotten in the way of getting these adventures posted sooner.) However, it has been eight days On The Road and afterall, thefoamguy needed to get back to coordinating the fabrication of foam rubber seat inserts for Bass Tracker boats, his beautiful wife needed to coordinate some medical visits for her aging parents, Bus_Plunge and his PrvtRN were preparing to get On The Road in their big blue burban and vintage Airstream and NotSoLilJim and Lil Mom have a whole dang bunch of family obligations to manage with their brood of two teenage boys and two beautiful girls. And BabySisterJoan? Who the hell knows what she has going on these days? So what is this olelongrooffan to do next? Well head down to the B’s Nest in Rockaway Beach via Branson, Missouri, of course.


And that’s what I did. Welcome Centers in the greater Branson area are nearly every block or so but the one in the lede image just struck me as hilarious. The only things missing were a confederate flag and Tow Mator. And as it was particularly rainy and windy that Monday, these ducks were resting comfortably in the parking lot out back of their “Ride The Duck” boarding station.

And just up the road a piece is Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede which sports this cool ass HHR whatever it is as its promotional vehicle. Apparently, the Dixie Stampede is a dinner show during which a bunch of cowboys and cowgirls perform stunts and tricks with live equine. Yeah, that is just what this olelongrooffan wants to do, pay a horse trailer full of money and eat dinner in a horse barn. Well, this is Branson after all so I guess anything goes.

And just so my fellow Hoons who are familiar with the greater Branson area don’t think that all is just peachy here in the middle of the Ozark Mountains, this olelongrooffan did stumble across an abandoned motel situated right on the main drag of that tourist mecca.

Right there on the main drag that is Highway 76, this storefront which is soon to house Baba’s Burgers boasts a couple of relatively rare old buggies out front. A vintage Alfa and a 76 Eldorado? What’s not to like?

And with a nod of the head to Bus_Plunge spotting the World’s Largest Ball of Twine, this olelongrooffan respectfully submits the World’s Largest Spaghetti Meatball. Yeah, only in Branson. Well maybe in MickeyMouseLand as well. And Town Cow!

And the sighting of this vintage 1915 radiator badge warrants a post of its own damn self.

Given the significance of these mountain cuts on a connector road there in Branson, MO, this olelongrooffan is gonna suggest that the costs of road building around these here parts are not cheap in the least.

As the day was aging itself, this olelongrooffan realized that I needed to get over to the B’s Nest and get settled in. Afterall, a visit to a distant grocery store was in order. Why, my fellow Hoons may ask? Bus_Plunge has owned the B’s Nest for many years now and used to vacation here nearly every weekend during the summer months. When he learned of this Unexpected Road Trip Adventure, he offered up the B’s Nest to this olelongrooffan as “we have only been down once this summer.” Yeah, the B’s Nest is located in Rockaway Beach, Missouri and is far off the beaten path to Branson. And it is a treasure.

It is a rustic cabin located on the side of a hill just up from Lake Taneycomo, in Taney COunty, MO. Lake Taneycomo is actually the White River but was later modified into a lake by a series of hydroelectric dams built by the Corps of Engineers years ago. Table Rock Lake, Lake Taneycomo, Bull Shoals Lake and Norfolk Lake make up the “chain of lakes” in southwest Missouri and Northwest Arkansas. And it is beautiful.

Rockaway Beach has been around forever, well actually 80 years or so, and while old, it is quite a treasure to those who appreciate that sort of thing. It was quite popular back in the day with all sorts of tourist happenings going on. Then Branson and Silver Dollar City came along and a bunch of marketing dollars changed all that up, in a big way. Anyway, this is the view of a slice of the old White River, now Lake Taneycomo, from the deck of the B’s Nest.

Now as there have recently been some record breaking rainfalls around these here parts, a rain water creek appeared just below the deck of the B’s Nest and these 10-12 year old boys discovered it and decided to build a dam of their own across it to create a swimming hole of their own. And they were clueless this olelongrooffan was Aunt Sis style keeping watch of their goings on from a deck of my own.
Now this olelongrooffan is certain my fellow Hoons are wondering about the name Bus_Plunge’s lake cabin, B’s Nest. Well, way back in the day, my maternal grandparents, Alphonse and Eleanor Bansbach had a river cabin just outside of St. Louis, Missouri on the banks of the Big River. My grandpa, Man, had nicknamed that cabin the B’s Nest, even going so far as to having a sign made up on some old school slate house siding with the name B’s Nest painted on it. Somehow, over the years Bus_Plunge gained possession of that sign and when he bought that lake cabin, it was naturally named it the B’s Nest. What? Did my fellow Hoons think any one of this olelongrooffan’s family could go through life with a lake cabin merely named “the lake cabin?” Yeah, the B’s Nest lives on vicariously through Bus_Plunge and, for now at least, this olelongrooffan.

And trust me fellow Hoons, the interior of the B’s Nest is as cool as the outside and the rest of Rockaway Beach. It has awesome old knotty pine boards as the interior finish. And I am not talking about paneling but old school 1×12 knotty pine boards. And unlike his miniature barn, there is not one diecast car to be seen. No, this old cabin is finished off with genuine Ozark Mountain memorabilia. Like this poster advertising a movie from the Ma and Pa Kettle series of movies of yesteryear.

And over on a rustic bookshelf where this olelongrooffan would display a ton of diecast cars and such, my kinfolk have displayed a whole dang gum bunch of cool old figurines, postcards and whatnot, along with plenty of Ozark crockery.

And Bus_Plunge, who is not a fisherman by any stretch of the imagination, has several of these mounted fishes he has picked up at flea markets and garage sales over the years. And up above? Those are commemorative plates from dang near every state in the nation.

And over by the door to get into this bit of history is an aerial photo of Lake Taneycomo and Rockaway Beach, circa 1983. Bus_Plunge could still use this to navigate his way around in his old pontoon boat as absolutely nothing has changed since that photograph was taken.

And this old poster board WANTED poster of my maternal grandfather is hanging right above the end table in the main room of the B’s Nest. Granny and Man had this poster made during a visit to Disneyland out Californey way back in the early 70’s while visiting one of my Mom’s sisters out that way. It was in the possession of this olelongrooffan for many moons until Bus_Plunge spotted it while visiting my Taj Mahal in the Birthplace of Speed a few years back while I was out in Murilee Martin’s new hometown helping out Big J renovate his 1908 built home there. Bus_Plunge and I were talking about museum pieces and he mentioned this one. I told him to snag it as Man’s old poster deserves to live on in the B’s Nest. Again, it was a pleasure to see a family heirloom living on in an appropriate place.
So, my fellow Hoons, here is this olelongrooffan, staying at the B’s Nest for who knows how long and just awaiting to see what my next adventure on this Unexpected Road Trip Adventure will be.

But know this my fellow Hoons, the fact that the B’s Nest is located just near the intersection of Beach Boulevard and Laughing Lane will surely help this olelongrooffan Celebrate Life.
Seriously, this olelongrooffan is no Rob Emslie. I can’t make this shit up.
Images Copyright Hooniverse 2015/longrooffan