Rochester MN

So I’m not done yet, but here are the states I’ve visited or at least driven in since June 1:

1. North Carolina
2. Tennessee
3. Arkansas
4. Oklahoma
5. Texas
6. New Mexico
7. Arizona
8. California
9. Nevada
10. Utah
11. Idaho
12. Wyoming
13. Montana
14. South Dakota
15. Iowa (yeah, I was lost)
16. Minnesota

Pink arrows are places I’ve slept.

The very fact that I’ve highlighted the map indicates the pause in my dogged forward motion.  Helen and  I slept until 8! Coffee, yogurt, and then we went exploring.

Rochester is a pedestrian paradise.  MaryBeth lives on Silver Lake Park–walk out the back door and you are in a great park.  She is also in walking distance of “the preserve”– a lush wooded park through which we took a great walk last night.  Helen and I decided to walk through the park to downtown Rochester to the Post Office so I could get a flat rate PO box. Three women and a dog in my tiny subaru is going to be a challenge. It was a hike. Lovely though.

Mayo Clinic dominates the town. Fitting, therefore, that this charming metal sculpture of an old man leaning on his cane following a small child on a bicycle should decorate the park near downtown.

Rochester is in full bloom. I restrained myself, but there are flowers everywhere:

There are also some very cool buildings, this one in particular:

The title Very Cool Building means we couldn’t figure out what it was. Maybe part of the Civic Center?

We found the P.O. (finally) and got a flat rate box. On the way home, we passed Kismet, Rochester’s consignment shop.  Turns out Kismet is dog-friendly. And in we go.  Helen got a cute painted Italian leather purse. I got a summer Tilley hat, that Calliope was excited to model:

We tried a sucession of cute-on-the-hanger, hideous-on-the-body clothers, while Calli  expressed her opinion of shopping in general:

After topping off our shopping with cute earrings, we went to Great Harvest Bakery for the best veggie sandwiches ever. Our stroll to the Post Office turned into a three-hour-walk.  I’ve been reading (and doing laundry) while Helen works on a quilt. Calli has been exhaustedly sleeping.  Feels really odd to be “normal”, but great.