Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
apples. The lodge's restaurant, of course, serves its signature Arbor Day Farm homemade
apple pie every day of the year.
Rooms range from $104 to $154 per night.
Arbor Day Lodge and Conference Center,
P.O. Box 817, Nebraska City, NE 68410,
800-546-5433 or 402-873-8733, www.liedlodge.org.
River of Life Farm.
After Myron McKee toured Guatemala in 1996 and saw the abject
poverty there, he vowed that he'd go home to Missouri, sell the farm that had been in his
family for three generations, and use the money to build an orphanage in Monjas, Guatem-
ala. “It broke my heart,” he remembers. “There were kids living in conditions we wouldn't
let our farm animals live in.” Before he signed away the deed, though, it occurred to him that
once the farm was gone, not only would his own family be homeless but he'd be able to help
just that one time. Instead, he hatched a plan to use his 275-acre farm fronting the North Fork
River to raise money on an ongoing basis. He wouldn't build just one orphanage—he'd build
a hundred.
McKee was already offering fly-fishing trips. The North Fork, after all, has been named
by
Field & Stream
as one of the best trout-fishing rivers in North America. Why not bring in
more tourists to his little Eden in the Ozarks? Over the next ten years, with a wing and a pray-
er, he managed to construct a half-dozen spacious tree-house cabins, all with rustic furniture,
Jacuzzis, full kitchens, at least 590 square feet of space, and eye-popping views of the nearby
springs, the Mark Twain National Forest, and the majestic river with its abundance of wild
rainbow trout. Fishing enthusiasts call the River of Life's spot on the North Fork the “mir-
acle mile.” Not only do the tree-house cabins make for romantic secluded hideaways, but,
for those wanting outdoor adventure, River of Life Farm can also arrange guided fly-fishing
trips, canoeing, hiking, kayaking, and hunting.
You know that orphanage in Guatemala? It is being joined by a second in Kenya and
soon a third in Nepal. Your next vacation might just help McKee realize that dream of a hun-
dred new orphanages.
Tree Houses at River of Life Farm start at $175 per night.
River
of
Life
Farm,
Route
1,
Box
4535,
Dora,
MO
65637,
417-261-7777,
www.riveroflifefarm.com.
Untours.
Since 1975, Hal and Norma Taussig have operated one of the most unusual travel
companies in the world. If you like guided bus trips, this is definitely a company to avoid.
Untours instead gives its clients a chance to experience a new country the way the locals do.
On these get-acquainted sojourns (the minimum stay is two weeks), you stay in an apartment,
