And not a prairie chicken in sight.

One of the really nice perks of being a state employee is that the vacation time is insane. Right now, I have around seven or eight weeks at my disposal, meaning—theoretically—I could take off tomorrow and not come back to work until October. (I'm guessing this explains a lot for those of you non state employees out there.) The really crazy thing is that it rolls over from year to year, so I never lose it, it just keeps piling up month after month. And that doesn't even account for the nine weeks of sick leave I've accrued. Do you know how many door knobs I'd have to lick to use all of that? 

The downside to having all of this time off is that Carrie only gets the normal three weeks—leaving me to find creative ways to spend some time off alone. Last Friday I crossed one of those days off by going on a little photo safari in central Kansas. My primary destination was the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve but I kind of meandered my way there, taking time to explore towns I had only known from highway exit signs, towns like Cassody, Cottonwood Falls, Matfield Green and Strong City. It was a great little adventure, one that saw me almost get bitten by a snake, come to the realization that everyone in the town of Matfield Green must work at the turnpike McDonald's and wonder aloud why premium gas is 10 cents cheaper than the regular unleaded I just filled up with. 

Oh, and I also captured a few photos. Here's a little sampling.