June 17 Rochester MN

This morning we slept in until 9:00 AM and were awoke by the smell of eggs and sausage wafting through the halls of the Zumbro Lutheran Church. Ron, our new ride leader had purchased breakfast and was made us a hot breakfast to supplement our cereal. After cleaning up and finishing breakfast, we departed for a tour of the Mayo Clinic. We were personally guided to the 16th floor on one of the Mayo Clinic towers and were guided through the Center for Innovation. The Mayo clinic strives to enhance and innovate patient health care and delivery. The environment fostered creativity and utilized broad open windows, glass walled conference rooms, sticky notes and a myriad of employee specialties (engineers, designers, scientists, physicians etc...). The room had the ambiance of an advertising firm or Google headquarters. We were treated to lunch and guided around the Gonda building. We saw Chihuly glass sculptures, Andy Warhol prints, and a message written by a previous rider and cancer survivor. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with local media regarding our experiences. We spent the rest of the day resting, touring, and preparing for our day tomorrow.