Saturday March 3, 2007 was a cold day, winter just doesn’t want to go away quickly.  Even though it was still cold at least it was a nice sunny day, perfect for a hike.  Both Pete and Bob joined me for this hike.   

Pete wanted to get a haircut and he goes to this barbershop on Rochester Road on the north side of town.  We decided to park somewhere near Pete’s barbershop and Bob and I would walk while Pete was inside.  Then after Pete was done we would do some more hiking around the downtown area before stopping somewhere for lunch. 

Pete drove and we did indeed park in this little lot right behind the barbershop.  Pete went inside and Bob and I headed south.  We passed an elderly lady that was out walking enjoying the day.  She was wearing a large purple scarf to help keep her warm on this cool windy day.  We had only gotten about ¾ of a mile when Bob realized he didn’t have his blue thin hood that he wears over his head when it is cold.  He was sure he had brought it with him and was afraid it might have fallen out of his pocket or maybe he just left it in Pete’s car.  We decided to double back going the same way we had come to see if we could find the blue hood.   

We were almost back to the car when Pete called me on my cell phone.  I was wondering why Pete would be calling so soon.  He was already done and calling to let us know he was done.  They must have been able to get Pete seated right away because we certainly weren’t gone very long.  Turns out we didn’t find Bob’s blue hood on our way back, but it was in Pete’s car.  Once Bob got the hood the three of us were back out walking.   I guess it was fortunate that Bob and I returned so quickly while looking for the blue hood, otherwise we might have been a couple miles away when Pete called. 

After Pete’s haircut we moved the car to another lot just a little further south.  We parked near a new place called Jox Sports Bar.  Ironically I think Jox is located where another old Irish pub used to be.  We thought about trying our Jox, but it was closed.  I don’t know if it wasn’t open for business yet or maybe they just didn’t open for lunch on Saturdays.  We looked in the windows and the place looked dirty.  Needless to say we didn’t end up eating at Jox. 

As we walked around downtown Rochester we talked about our options for lunch.  We finally settled on Gus O’Connor’s Irish Pub.  We had been to this place before, but not very often.  The few times I have been there the food has been good, but on the expensive side.  And, me being cheap it is hard for me to justify going somewhere that is more expensive than one of my favorite places.  For a change of pace and due to convenience we decided to have lunch at Gus O’Connor’s.  It wasn’t real busy, but for some reason service was very slow.  My meal was OK, not great more on the average side.  Neither Pete of Bob much cared for their meals.  I think it may be a while before we go back to this place, if ever.  It does have a nice atmosphere inside and doesn’t seem too smoky, but when the service is bad and the food just average it is very difficult to justify higher than normal pricing. 

We made the short hike back to Pete’s car in a matter of just a few minutes, ending our hiking for this day.  I think this may have been the first time I saw Pete without a dew rag, he was showing off his new haircut.  Looking at Pete’s haircut I can see why he was done so soon.  He got it cut really short all over.  Almost like a buzz cut. 

Following are the statistics from this hike, I estimate, and I am really estimating here because I really don’t have a good feel for how far we hiked this day, we went around 4.0 miles.     
David Lindquist