Minneapolis, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

My old pal Seth who was stationed overseas for a few years in Kosovo and Iraq came home with the drive to learn how to fly. After instruction with Will Outlaw, a great local flight instructor whom I've flown with before, Seth is now a full private pilot.

Now that the weather is starting to pull out of winter, we took a quick trip from Crystal Airport down to Winona. Glad to have someone else to fly with and it's good to get back up in the air again. I hadn't flown in a few months.

Got a couple shots including Red Wing, Afton Alps and Minneapolis. See my slideshow or the individual photos on Flickr.

Rusk County Airport, Ladysmith, WI, originally uploaded by s4xton.

Christine and I took some photos around Saint Paul, MN, Ladysmith, WI, Shell Lake, WI and down the Saint Croix River. (Flickr Slideshow)

Sunset at the South Dakota Border, originally uploaded by s4xton.

Took a sponanious road trip with Flickr pal Kendra to take photos of old signs. We kept driving until we ended up in Watertown, South Dakota.

The gas station we stopped at in Watertown was also a café, a truck stop and restaurant that had a bar and casino upstairs. I figured as long as we're at a gas station with a bar and casino we might as well do as Romans do. The bartender pressured us to get a beer but we firmly resisted. I explained how far we had to drive back home but that didn't seem to matter much. She then insisted she give us sodas instead and we agreed. Put in $20 into a Duces Wild machine and after about ten minutes of playing ended up at $36. Cashed out and gave her a tip for the Cokes.

About 450 miles of driving in total. A great way to spend a Saturday.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, originally uploaded by s4xton.

I like Minneapolis too, though.

Saint Paul Sunset, originally uploaded by s4xton.

I love Longfellow but I miss living in Saint Paul.

Apotheosis of Washington, originally uploaded by s4xton.

It's hard to sum up a fantastic week in Washington. Thanks to everyone who helped make it a home away from home for me.

Visit my Flickr Set. (Slide Show, Map)

Also: Regan's post, Mike's photos, Mike's post.

Wheaton Metro Escalator, originally uploaded by s4xton.

Wheaton Metro Station has the longest escalator in the western hemisphere.

Thanks to Donika, Sara, Regan and Mike who have helped me tour around the last couple days off the beaten path and have given me places to sleep. See Mike's and Regan's posts too.

The Russell Senate Office Building Rotunda, originally uploaded by s4xton.

My next-door neighbor growing up, Sara Kloek now works for US Congressman Collin Peterson and my neighbor that used to live three blocks away from me, Tim Schumann, now works for US Senator Amy Klobuchar. Thanks to my old neighbors, I got a fantastic tour of the capital buildings.

Thanks to everyone who commented and IMed regarding my camera shopping. I ended up getting the Nikon D40 that I was leaning towards and I love it. Started playing with it over lunch at Maplewood Nature Center and took it up to Mille Lacs with Christine after work.

My pipe dream for camera ownership seems to becoming close to a reality: Having a decent quality camera in my mobile device for quick stuff and immediate posting and having a nice, affordable and smaller DSLR that has the features I need for higher quality photography. After playing with Dave Lee’s Nikon D50 for a bit (used to take the photo above) and some research in the last few weeks, I am thinking about the following: The Apple iPhone apparently will sport a 2.0 megapixel camera but there is no information about what kind of lens it will have or anything yet. Most cameras in mobile devices suck so I’m hoping that Apple will pull through. Honestly I don’t need more than 640×480 because the photos I take with my mobile device will be viewed on the internet and not printed. I hope they focus on quality instead of how many pixels they can pack. I want it to take the place of my point-and-shoot. I also hope it takes iPod-sized video. That’d be a dream come true (today I coin the term movlogcast!) The Nikon D40 (DPReview) is really starting to sound like the right choice for me for a DSLR. There’s a few drawbacks to the camera that are overcome by the pros: No built-in auto-focus requiring it to use lenses that have an auto-focus motor but I don’t see myself carrying a bunch of lenses around. No status LCD but the interface on the LCD monitor seems to be good enough. It’s small but still comfortable. Very high quality and a low price. It has the features I need and it left out some of the things that I think I can do easily without. I recently played with Tim’s Nikon D80 and determined while it might be great for him, it is certainly overkill for me. The D40 is newer than the D50 and from what I’ve read, seems to be of a bit higher quality but with a bit less flexibility. The D40 is really an entry-level DSLR but it does everything I’d want in a camera. I’m pretty close to sold on it. Anything I’m missing? Something else I should explore?