I slept well next to the groaning and mutterings of the RVs around me. I packed up, made a cup of French press coffee for the road, and headed up to the road to walk myself to a point where I would be more likely to get a ride.

It was a beautiful morning, and a bit of cloud cover made for a pleasent walk.

I passed a couple more boat ramps and my optimism soared, even if I had to wait all day, surely some day trippers would be heading to town later.

After about 5 miles I hit the dam, I guess the Lake Owyhee dam was a test run for the Hoover Dam back in the day.

At the base of the dam were a few houses and some more camping. I could see a few fishermen in the river. I will get a ride today!

I sat down by the entrance to the community at the base of the dam and made myself a new hitching sign. The one I made last night said “help to Ontario” and I made another that said “help to town”. I didn’t want to limit myself.

After about an hour a few cars had passed, but when a truck with a top camper passed, it slowed down and backed up. Oh please…

Mark & Karna Berg hopped out and made room for me in the truck. The couple was from Albany, Oregon and was taking their first vacation in years. It was so nice to be in the truck knowing I had my ride. After a while they mentioned their plan was to head to Paulina Lake just outside Bend, and they would be happy to take me all the way back to town. What!?!?! Yes please. The Bergs saved me a whole day of trying to get home. What incredible generosity.
In Vale we stopped for lunch where I treated us all to some big burgers, then I sat back to relax on the 4 hour drive back home.

Done and done!