The photos above were taken last week by me (Josh K.) on my very first trip in my dad's new plane. He's officially been a pilot for a couple months now, but since m'dad is a bit of a safety freak he would not allow passengers until very recently (and even now he insists that his flight instructor, Susan, come along for the ride--just in case; "Safety first!" God love 'im).
Susan suggested that we fly directly over the Minneapolis / St. Paul International Airport so my dad could get comfortable talking in whacked out pilot lingo to the various control towers in the area. So we did. Or we tried. No: my dad tried and fumbled with the correct sequence of the request; I sat back in my comfy leather bucket seat and took in the amazing view of the twin titties. Who the hell knows what actually happened. All I remember hearing is a bunch of niner-niner-whiskey this is blah blah blah requesting flyover access to blah blah blah heading southbound, over shit. In any case, we were denied access. So we flew through St. Paul instead and headed south, making stops at small airports in Owatonna and Fairbault and passing over Carleton, St. Olaf, and Gustavus Adolphus colleges before making our way back up to the Twin Cities.
From the top: The capitol building of the great State of Minnesota near downtown St. Paul | Downtown St. Paul on the Mighty Mississippi. For you out-of-towners: Minneapolis and St. Paul were built just a few miles apart on the Mississippi River. Together, they're often referred to as the Twin Cities (for obvious reasons), as evidenced in the first and second photo above (downtown Minneapolis is the cluster of skyscrapers visible in the upper right hand corner of the photo) | Downtown Minneapolis | A random lake just south of the Twin Cities | Suburbville | Frost on the window--it was 12ยบ outside | Me, getting motion sickness from watching the ground below wisk by at 150 m.p.h.
//Josh K.
We never get to see enough of you two cuties.... Joshie K, you look adorable!
Posted by: Brian | December 12, 2006 at 08:32 AM
thats awesome. i love minneapolis, only been there once but its so beautiful!
Posted by: chris | December 12, 2006 at 09:08 AM
Seriously, those are awesome pictures--what kind of camera are you using?
Posted by: Andrea | December 12, 2006 at 09:49 AM
you're so talented, love.
(how bad was the motion sickness??)
Posted by: brooke | December 12, 2006 at 09:59 AM
Hot photo! Oh, and you look good too!
Posted by: Christian | December 12, 2006 at 10:38 AM
those pics are awesome. can you have your dad fly over nyc so you can take some pics for us?
i never thought myself to be a suburbanite, but hot damn! if those are what your suburbs are like, count me in.
Posted by: bryce | December 12, 2006 at 10:39 AM
Great pictures. I now have some idea of what my friend Tait is surrounded by. And Josh, you are so dreamy!
Posted by: Ryan D. | December 12, 2006 at 12:13 PM
Cool pics! Flying in those small planes are fun!
Oh and you are cute, and have amazing eyes!
Posted by: Scott | December 12, 2006 at 12:14 PM
impressive view of the hot Josh.
Posted by: A.J. | December 12, 2006 at 12:54 PM
I agree that they are amazing pictures. A little confused with the backyard of suburbia...is that water? clouds? snow?
seriously...Joshie K. you have amazing eyes..and oh such kissable lips!! :)
Posted by: Ruben | December 12, 2006 at 02:13 PM
Great photos. But (as a SoCal immigrant) I have to wonder just how many layers you have on in that photo. It looks like at least three jackets. The thought is horrifying to me. (For reference, I'm wearing shorts today, as I don't have to go anywhere.)
Posted by: Gabriel Malor | December 12, 2006 at 02:25 PM
It is always a little confusing for me to look at my own city from an aerial perspective, but the pictures are great. Looks like a beautiful to have been flying too.
Bryce, the suburbs are totally over-rated. I grew up in a Minneapolis/St. Paul suburb called Stillwater. So boring.
Oh, and I guess I am supposed to say something about your eyes, Josh... so... your eyes are amazing, I could just get lost in them. Seriously though, you do have great eyes.
Posted by: Will | December 12, 2006 at 03:43 PM
I heard there are lots of twins in these cities...
At least that's what I like to believe
*(nice new banner BTW)
Posted by: M@ | December 12, 2006 at 04:04 PM
Beautiful pics of the Cities, Josh! I think it's great your Dad is so safety-conscious. Looks like a very comfy plane, as well.
Posted by: zinc alloy | December 12, 2006 at 08:38 PM
josh K, i didnt know you could make motion sickness look so hot.
Posted by: zeff | December 12, 2006 at 08:40 PM
Love the suburb picture, reminds me of back home!
Posted by: Giuseppe | December 12, 2006 at 10:13 PM
The houses in Suburbia look like Hollywood mansions (at least from above..), and motion sickness seems to have no visible effect on you.. I was in such a small plane once with my uncle - then I thought "what if he suddenly faints" and didn't enjoy my time after that. Glad to hear you'll always be bringing Susan :)
Posted by: Scholiast | December 13, 2006 at 04:36 AM
Woo hoo, what great pictures! It's fun to see the Cities from above. I'm guessing the third photo is Lake of the Isles, and the fourth is such classic Twin Cities (new, new rich) suburbia: McMansions near but not on a lake.
Posted by: Moncrief | December 13, 2006 at 09:19 AM
I guess I should read the captions more carefully -- third one can't be Lake of the Isles.
Posted by: Moncrief | December 13, 2006 at 10:52 AM
will - i didn't say i'd CHOOSE to live in the suburbs, but if i were kindapped and forced to live in one, that wouldnt' be such a bad one :). although, like moncrief points out, kind of lame to be NEAR but not ON the lake.
Posted by: bryce | December 13, 2006 at 03:46 PM
Those are really great photos. I have family in Minnesota but I haven't been up to visit them since I was really little. Now I want to go up there and check the place out!
Posted by: Ryan | December 13, 2006 at 04:06 PM
Wow. Thanks for the great welcome back, y'all! Minnesota's great, and I'm so fucking excited if these photos gave any of you reason to consider a visit. Yay. Come! Come! Come!
And, also: you're all getting a crisp one dollar bill in the mail as a thank you from me for the stroking of my now-inflated ego. Or would you prefer nude photos? (Of Nancy Reagan?)
Now for some specific answers to some specific questions...
Andrea: I use a Canon Digital Rebel XT SLR.
Brooke: Bad enough that the only thing I could stomach was to face forward and take photos of myself. So, you know, pretty bad.
Bryce: I'll ask. I'm serious.
Ruben: That's actually a frozen pond. Looks creepy, right?
Gabriel Malor: An outer coat, a puffy vest, hoodie, and a t-shirt. Plus mittens and a hat. I didn't need it, though: the cabin was heated; I was just too lazy to deal with removing three layers of clothing. Yikes.
M@: All I know is that Minnesota is the home of the U of M's Minnesota Twin Study, the most well-known and comprehensive study of twins ever conducted (it began in 1983 and they're still collecting data) for which my own twin sisters are participants.
Posted by: Josh K. | December 14, 2006 at 03:03 AM
hot damn those pics make me glad that I live in St. Paul. We may not have one huge skyline but damn it, we've got two medium sized ones with two totally different vibes that allow for some versatility.
oh the twin cites, how i love thee
Posted by: Andrew | December 14, 2006 at 02:33 PM
Damn, nice photos! Such clarity and interesting content.
And I really like the glasses. They're going to be my new ones with the next visit to the optomitrist.
Posted by: Schroeder | December 15, 2006 at 01:08 PM
Not that it's a competition, and sorry for even mentioning this, but as a Minnesotan*, I sort of love that your Minnesota post got more comments than many of the recent New York ones.
*Not that I don't love New York too. I do.
Posted by: Moncrief | December 15, 2006 at 03:48 PM