July 19 Day 49 Mora 38 miles
Flatter terrain. Some headwind. More trees, less cultivation. Michele insists that she sensed a change in the land within an hour after crossing the Red River into Minnesota. For my part, I have trouble finding anything to say about the land because it has all looked about the same to me for several days. I passed much of the morning singing "The Ballad of the Green Berets" as I pedaled. My companions want to cover more miles, more miles! The spacing of the next towns compelled them to acknowledge the benefit of taking a short day and stopping at Mora. Mora is a very attractive town of about 3,000 that capitalizes on links to Swedish heritage. The Kenebec County Fair is on so we'll go watch the draft horse pull this evening. Mora was founded by a gentleman who platted the town, served as city attorney, and treasurer. After he eventually absconded with the town treasury, it was discovered that he had done in his first wife, embezzled funds from the wife's family business, fled to Canada, changed his name. He was eventually discovered in nebraska, where he had done in a second wife.