Day 20: Lake Ozark, MO to Emporia, KS

287.07 Miles | 4:44 Riding Time

Today is Tuesday, April 30, 2024, and it’s Day 20 of my cross country motorcycle trip.

Well, I made it to Kansas today. I’m staying the night in Emporia, KS, and I made it there just before some more thunderstorms came through. Welcome to the plains!

I got my bike about a year ago, and just yesterday, it informed me that it was due for it’s 6,500 mile service. I was on the fence about staying another night in Lake Ozark. I called the BMW dealer in Kansas City, MO (there are only two dealers in MO, and none in KS). They were able to fit me in today, which was awesome. So, I packed up and off I went—about 2.5 hours to Kansas City, MO. Thanks Ed and Tony for servicing the bike, and fixing a warranty issue as well. By the end of this trip, there will be several more services due, and at least one new set of tires needed.

Talking to a couple folks at the dealership, I decided to avoid interstate 70 to get to Colorado. Instead, I’m heading down to Emporia, KS, and then west to Pueblo, CO. I got on 35 South and it was CRAZY!

First, there was the highway itself 5-6 lanes wide in each direction. Second, there was the wind, gusting at 45 MPH. It wasn’t pleasant. But I persisted, and made it down to Emporia just as that lightning in the last couple pictures was moving in. Got to the hotel. Got cleaned up, and headed over to Applebees for dinner.

Met a few folks there. Michael was down from southeast South Dakota for a fishing event, and made friends with another guy—they made plans to go fishing the next day. Hope you had good luck. And a woman making up questions for a trivia game for her friends and family needed to know what the printer paper that had the holes on the side and perforations was called. Since I am a wealth of useless information—tractor feed. It was a good day.

Elevation Profile