Back in the day, Joyce and I would travel to Southwestern College in Winfield KS to watch Aspen our youngest daughter play basketball for the Lady Moundbuilders.
The bigger part of the trip was across south central Kansas on US Highway 160 from Meade to Winfield.
We might do this a couple of times a week, depending on the game schedule. Of course, we’d come back home after the game (522 miles round trip) because we had our own business and had to work the next day.
We did this in all kinds of winter weather. We were just like the Postman, “neither rain nor snow;” well, you get the idea. We could tell you some stories!
Well, OK, just one: I got stopped in Plains Kansas by a nice sheriff’s officer well after midnight one “morning.” I don’t remember now why he stopped me, but I do remember it being so foggy that I did not know I was in Plains!
We wondered many times what had been so special as kids when we didn’t get to bed until 2 or 3 in the morning.
That stretch of 160 is scenic, hills, valleys, cedars, grass, creeks, ponds, turkeys, and deer. I was certain that in four-plus years we’d hit a deer or a turkey or something on a post-midnight trip home. But we never did.
We spent this past weekend in Wichita, and due to road construction and detours, we decided to drop down at Kingman and come home on the old basketball road. It quickly became a trip down memory lane.
We’d forgotten that the road took us through Martina McBride’s hometown. I told Joyce after she had noticed Martina’s sign that she also needed to find some deer and turkeys. She did find us some deer!
Back then, our daughter was a college basketball player. Today she’s a proud Mom, wife, and business owner, doing what it takes to make each a success.
However, it wasn’t basketball that put us on 160 this time. It was rodeo and baseball. The girl that played college basketball is now Mom to 13-year-old twins. Tenley rides for the Lazy Bucks Ranch Rodeo Team, and Camden plays multiple positions for Synergy Baseball.
Where has the time gone?
Our detour down 160 brought back lots of good memories, and we got home just after 10, not two or three in the morning like the old days. It was great fun!
We enjoyed a beautiful sunset; dinner was Subway at Love’s in Meade where the young lady who made our sandwiches treated us like we were the only customers she had had all day. It must have been because we’re old now.
A great time was had by all.