The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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May 18, 2009

Mike Pound: 30 years of memories on the road to Emporia

By Mike Pound

Globe columnist

mpound@joplinglobe.com



I’m probably one of the few people I know who enjoys the trip to Emporia, Kan.

I know I’m the only person in my immediate family who enjoys the trip to Emporia. We make the trip to Emporia at least twice a year, and to my wife and our 11-year-old daughter, Emma, the trip is mostly a three-hour trek through the wastelands of Kansas.

It’s not that my wife and Emma don’t like Kansas; it’s that they don’t like driving through Kansas.

I, on the other sunflower, have been making and enjoying the trip to Emporia on a fairly regular basis for more than 30 years. Without getting too deep here, sometimes I think of the trip to Emporia as a trip though life.

You tend to notice things on a trip you’ve been making for more than 30 years. You tend to associate certain parts of the trip with certain parts of your life.

For example, there is a stretch of Highway 171 in Missouri where a railroad track runs almost parallel with the road. Occasionally there will be a train on that track, and when there is, I think about the old Katy Railroad that had a base in Parsons, Kan. Then I think about my friend Chris Limes’ dad, Bill Limes. Bill was an engineer for the Katy and was a true original. The first time I met Bill was after he climbed out of his car on a hot July afternoon and announced that he was drier than a “popcorn (crude word).”

It was, I thought at the time, the funniest thing I had ever heard. Granted, I was only 17, but still.

When we cross over to Kansas, we drive through Parsons. Well, we used to drive through Parsons. Now, with the new highway, you don’t have to drive through Parsons anymore. But on Sunday, when we made the trip to Emporia, we opted to get off the highway. Emma thought it would be a good idea to stop at McDonald’s, and my wife thought it would be a good idea to stop at the large, 24-hour retail store in Parsons. I sort of wondered why we didn’t stop at the McDonald’s and the large, 24-hour retail store in Carthage, but I figured I should keep my wondering to myself.

Turns out they’ve moved the McDonald’s and the large, 24-hour retail store in Parsons. But Parsons isn’t a big town, so we found both of them and were back on the road in less than an hour.

My wife took her time in the large, 24-hour retail store.

A few miles north of Parsons, we passed two large farm ponds. I don’t know who now owns the land where the ponds sit, but when I was in high school, a classmate’s parents did. His parents hosted a senior class party near the ponds. I still remember that party.

As we neared Altoona, I remembered driving the same road in 1975. In particular, I remembered my right front tire snapping off in the middle of the town. I also remembered sitting in a bar in Altoona waiting for a tow truck to arrive from Parsons. I seem to remember a couple of old guys at the bar laughing at me. I can’t say I blamed them.

Somewhere between Altoona and Yates Center, there is a stretch of lush, green, rolling hills. I love that stretch of road. Over the years, the state has reworked the highway and, in doing so, has taken some of the scenic out of the scenic drive. But I still love it.

In Burlington, I make a point to look for the building that used to house the gas station operated by my mom’s cousin. Then I look for the old newspaper building. My mom used to write a high-school column for the paper. I thought that was neat when I a kid, and I still think it’s neat today.

We drove to Emporia on Sunday to see my nephew Owen graduate from high school. Several years ago, we saw Owen’s older brother, Eric, graduate from high school in Emporia. I also remember driving to Emporia to see Owen and Eric’s mother — my older sister, Mary — graduate from Emporia State University. Later, I drove to Emporia to see my youngest sister, Chris, graduate from Emporia State.

I also drove to Emporia for my mom’s funeral. And for a host of other funerals. So not every trip to Emporia has been a laugh a minute, is what I’m saying.

This Saturday, we’re going back to Emporia for our annual Memorial Day family reunion. As always seems to be the case nowadays, there will be some folks missing from the reunion. But we’ll still have fun. We’ll still laugh and share a cold beverage or two.

And I’ll still enjoy the trip.

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