My daughter and I ventured over to the east bank campus of the University of Minnesota last weekend to do a little shopping. As a new employee of the university I received a 25% off coupon to use at any bookstore. It expired at the end of June and I needed a new sweatshirt to wear to the cabin at the end of this month so I took Miss M with me and we had a fun and successful shopping trip. I also wanted to try my parking key card because I should have reciprocal parking privileges for the lot we needed to park in. And of course my key card worked so we got to park for free!!
This particular garage is under ground and the Gopher Way is attached to it. Gopher Way is a series of tunnels connecting all sorts of buildings at the University. And the university is so progressive with its lighting. They must have sensors in them to know when people are near. When you enter the doors to the tunnels the lights come on to guide you and then dim behind you as you move along. I wonder what the energy savings are for this lighting. I think it’s pretty darn cool!!
There are helpful signs along the way:
It’s a fairly short walk to Coffman and we end up at the bottom of these stairs:
At the top of the stairs we’re greeted with this huge M:
Then up the escalator to ground level:
And then the bookstore:
We had such fun checking out all the clothing!! We ended up buying a sweatshirt for each of us, a t-shirt for each of us and Miss M bought two books as well.
travels with toby 
Toby, I think working at a university would be cool. You would have a good feel for performances, good speakers, and maybe auditing a class or two.
Best wishes on your endeavors. BTG
I always thought it would be cool too. I’m so glad I finally got to find out!! definitely cool :) Thanks so much!!
Isn’t it wonderful how The Gopher Way can make for such a wonderful adventure. My heart pounded at the beginning because I wasn’t sure what it was. Sounds you had a fun shopping time. :-)
a friend who has worked at the U for over 10 years guided me to the UCard (U of MN ID) office there before I started in April. That’s the first I learned of this tunnel and I had gotten my accounting certificate at the U. never knew about them then! not a huge fan of tunnels, better when you’re with someone else. it was a fun shopping spree!
I don’t like tunnels either and would rather not be alone. At least the light came on. Imagine if they failed. No, let’s not go there. ~(*_*)!!
oh dear!! oh but the light on my phone would guide the way. whew! ;)
There’s that… :-D
Sorry… all I got was BOOKS 25% OFF… what better reason would anyone need to go anywhere?
:)