Ad astra per aspera - The state motto of Kansas meaning, "to the stars with difficulty."

Well, we've made it to our 8th state! After many, many hills in Missouri, we've finally hit flat land. The last few miles of Missouri and the first few of Kansas welcomed us with little elevation. The winds, however, were a completely different, unfriendly story. We experienced gusts up to the 30 mph. Most were not direct headwinds, but they still made our trek to Pittsburg, KS difficult. Our original route from Everton, MO was supposed to be about 60 miles, but of course, things did not go as planned. After stopping for the most delicious pie ever at Cooky's in Golden City, we found out about road closures. Two bridges on our route were under construction, so we had to re-route. The new route took us out of our way, making our total mileage about 75. It was a tough day, but knowing that we had the following day off, made it a little bit easier.

We spent the night in Lincoln Park, which is a huge city park with many different facilities (tennis courts, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, kiddie amusement rides, picnic shelters, etc.). After we found out that there were not any showers available in the park, we went to the YMCA. For $3 each, we were able to get a day pass and use the locker room facilities.