Day 29

 I considered doing what the students yesterday were planning, which was to take a shortcut off the official Northern Tier bicycling route and avoid approaching Fargo to the north by just continuing straight east on state highway 46. It would cut out 15 miles. But I quickly grew tired of the heavy traffic and poor shoulders, and decided that the route planners probably knew what they were doing, so I stuck with the official route. I’m glad I did. The roads were lightly traveled and had great shoulders. Consequently, however, I didn’t get as far as I had hoped. I made it to Barnesville, totally gassed after 75 miles, much of it into a moderate breeze. I checked into a motel (two in a row! So extravagant!) and looked for some dinner.

So Barnesville is in Minnesota! No more state boundaries to cross! And I have already encountered some very Minnesota things. For one, I saw my first Monarch butterfly! He didn’t sit still long enough for a picture, sadly. Also, the Minnesota accent has appeared. That was fun to hear. And for dinner I had chicken and wild rice soup - delicious, and very Minnesota. Walleye was also on the menu. Maybe tomorrow!

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