Everything you know about Kansas is wrong

Friends back home,

Today finds us in Round Rock, Texas, a somewhat charmless suburb of Austin, home to Dell Computers and the delicious-if-somewhat-nauseatingly-rich Round Rock Doughnuts.

Briefly on the birding, the past 48 hours have been rather cold and wet. Friday morning's birdventure was greeted with 17F temperatures, which had to be endured while standing in a field waiting for more types of longspurs to show. We managed to hear some Smith's Longspur, and also see a few American Tree Sparrows:

Gratuitous chest shot

Saturday morning, was warmer at 37F, but with a steady rain. We went birding anyway, got soaked and frozen, but did manage to find other new birds for the year. Then, a quick flight to Dallas and drive south, and here we are.

Reflecting upon our time in Kansas during the flight, I realized that a number of "facts" that are commonly told about Kansas really aren't true at all, and I'd like to correct the record:

"Midwesterners are rude"
Actually, everybody was incredibly nice and helpful; a fast food cashier took time to explain the menu to us. Even the kids were quiet and well-behaved.

"Everything is expensive"
A fairly decent dinner for two with beers was under $30 including tip, and gas was as low as $1.76/gallon. And don't even talk about real estate prices.

"It's lush and verdant"
Literally, the only green we saw was on a few juniper trees. Otherwise, everything looks like:

"The terrain is mountainous"
There were a few formations that you could generously call hills. However, most of the state we saw was like this:

In fact, Kansans are unfamiliar enough with the concept of verticality that they actually have this road sign:

"Weather is always mild and pleasant"
See above.


I think you'll agree that those myths are thoroughly busted now. Enjoy your next visit to the Sunflower State!

Until next time,
Me