Day 21: Emporia, KS to Dodge City, KS

227.06 Miles | 3:44 Riding Time

Today is Wednesday, May 1, 2024, and it’s Day 21 of my cross country motorcycle trip.

The phrase of the day reminds me of my friend Tedd—”I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles…oh yeah.” The roads in Kansas are flat and straight. There were ominous skies at the start, and a little bit of rain for the first hour or so. But, the rest of the day was sunny, but WINDY!!!!

It was a direct route from Emporia to Dodge City. I got on route 50, and stayed on it for several hours. Not much to report, except the wind. Trucks would come from the other direction and block the wind for a second. Then it was like getting smacked in the chest with a huge gust of wind from the south. And, I mean smacked—hard.

I caught up to a fellow traveller on a BMW R 1200 GS, and we were heading the same direction for quite a while. We stopped for gas and chatted for a bit—he was from Florida and heading to Colorado. I was stopping in Dodge City for the night. Safe travels my friend.

Getting to Dodge City, I went to the Boot Hill Museum. It was great, and I learned a lot about the history of Dodge City, Boot Hill, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp and a bunch of others. If you’re in the area, it’s totally worth a visit.

Happy Birthday to Hanshi John E. Hughes

Today would have been Hanshi Hughes’ birthday. For those that know me, you know that I started training in Isshinryu Karate in 1985 with Hanshi Hughes in Hackettstown, NJ.

Not only did I have the honor of having Hanshi as my instructor, but I also gained a entire Karate family. John and Linda, Andrea (and Ken and Ellie), Dan (and Shailynn and Clinton), Jeff, Ed, Cassandra, Ted, Jay, Kristyn, Scott, Tom and everyone from the dojo too numerous to mention. We have shared so much over the years.

I know you’re all thinking about the impact Hanshi had on each of us today. His legacy and his memory live on in all of us.

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