Thursday September 11 (Rochester Downtown)

It was not so cool today and, although I woke early with the two cowboys trying to wake me, finally Ganache persuaded me to get up. 

This morning Willow stayed around for quite a while and even walked under the chair I was sitting on, progress indeed! 

I then caught a bus into downtown Rochester to explore. It was strange to be back at the Mayo Clinic and be able to walk outside this time, and safely, lol! I also walked right up the Peace Plaza, it is very well named.


The Plummer Building, part of the clinic, was built in 1927 and is now on the National Register of Historic Buildings.

I wandered around looking at different stores until I found the Noble and Barnes Bookshop and purchased a couple of nice calendars to take back to New Zealand. I also purchased a great road map of the USA! 

There is a wonderful candelabra just inside the doors of the shop! Upstairs, the backdrop is a castle, and, as I looked round, wonder of wonders, I spied a Starbucks! 

So I sat and partook of a coffee while I jotted my blog notes. I have taken quite a few photos so decision time will be later. I really love the whole area with the Subway as well as the Skyway. Visitors are so well catered for here!

I went back to the bus stop and I am not sure what happened but I had to wait for 40 minutes for a bus, twice the normal time. Finally, it came along and it is only a 20 minute ride back to base! 

There was a woman on the bus who did not stop talking to the driver all the way to the Walmart stop where I was also getting off. The polite thing to say is that she has a motor mouth - here are other ways of saying the same thing but it is better not to say them here!!

Willow was out and around when I got back and once more did not take off at a rate of knots. Suzi, who is less shy than Willow, is also much more comfortable around me now!! I just had to take a photo of all the yarn Connie has in her garage, a few rugs in the making there, LOL!!